Irish History Podcast

Until 1981 a woman was considered the property of her husband under Irish law. A husband could even sue another man for damaging his property if he had an affair with his wife. Referred to as 'criminal conversation’ these trials were demeaning and humiliating for the women involved. 'Women on trial looks' looks at the story of Alice Morton. When her marriage fell apart in 1919, she found herself at the centre of a sensational divorce and criminal conversation trial. When this developed into an early 20th century sex scandal, Alice went on the run rather than be subjected to such humiliation.The episode follows Alice's story as she evaded private detectives, and a court system stacked against her.Sound: Kate DunleaAdditional Narrations: Aidan Crowe and Therese MurrayRead more about criminal conversation trials:Adultery in the Courts: Criminal Conversation in Ireland by Niamh Howlin https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2787632Ireland’s criminal conversations by Diane Urquhart https://journals.openedition.org/etudesirlandaises/3162Support the show Patreon - https://patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast+ https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory

On June 22nd 1922, the British Field Marshall, Henry Wilson was shot dead in London. The assassination sparked a major political crisis in Ireland. The British government blamed the killing on a faction of the IRA opposed to the recent Anglo-Irish Treaty. When they demanded action be taken against them, Michael Collins oversaw an attack on an IRA unit occupying the Four Courts in Dublin. This sparked the Irish Civil War.Over the last century the incident has been shrouded in controversy.  Many at the time and since have accused Michael Collins himself of ordering the attack on Wilson. In this episode I am joined by John Dorney to discuss the assassination of Henry Wilson, the fallout and who was responsible.  My exclusive supporters' series on the Irish Civil War with Dr Brian Hanley of Trinity College Dublin continued this week on Acast+ and Patreon. Ep #1 explains backdrop to the war, while Ep #2 profiles Michael Collins, his involvement in the war and his death in August 1922.My guest on this week’s show is John Dorney. John’s website theIrishstory.com is one of the leading online resources on Irish History. He also the co host of the Irish History Show https://irishhistoryshow.ie/

In the second part of my exclusive supporters' series on the Irish Civil War, Dr Brian Hanley and myself look at the opening months of the war. This phase of the conflict was heavily shaped by one man in particular - Michael Collins. Therefore the show begins with a detailed conversation on Collins. We then discuss how the war began looking at some of the early skirmishes. Then to conclude the episode we finish with a discussion on the death of Collins in August 1922.