the dear derry podcast

meet my first guest, jimmy toye.jimmy is bogside royalty, a man who was present at some of the most prominent moments in derry history, including the battle of the bogside and operation motorman. his family ran a shop in the heart of it all, and he tragically witnessed the deaths of annette mcgavigan and damian harkin, and during bloody sunday, hugh gilmore and barney mcguigan. he later gave evidence at the saville inquiry.he also witnessed the death of the first soldier killed in derry, corporal jolliffe.comments will be turned off due to the sensitivity of the content and out of respect for jimmy, the victims, and the people of derry.if you want to send jimmy some love, message me and i will pass it on.full link to the podcast available on all your favourite streaming platforms

this episode is the second part of paula's interview. if you haven't listened to part 1 yet, i'd recommend going back and listening to that episode first.

in this episode, i sit down with one of my oldest and dearest childhood friends, paula. her life hasn’t been easy, from caring for her mammy most of her life, to surviving a serious burn as a child and a burst stomach ulcer as an adult. but through it all, paula remains strong, funny, kind, and full of heart.we talk about a lot, growing up on a council estate, the highs and lows of mother-daughter relationships, addiction, and what it means to love someone through it. we also chat about bomb scares, the bulgarian mafia, and that wild night the ra chased us out of rosemount with guns.

this episode is the second part of angelina's interview. if you haven't listened to part 1 yet, i'd recommend going back and listening to that episode first.

in this episode i sit down with my teenage muse angelina. we talk about our teen years together, before we were friends, i was actually her bully. truth is, i was threatened by her confidence, beauty, and authenticity.we get into our love of romanticising fame and hollywood, toxic mother-daughter relationships, class, religion, autism, generational trauma, and the anglicisation of derry girls.

everyone needs that one friend who’ll call them out. for me, it’s natasha, my childhood best friend. she’s strong, rebellious, loyal, and hilarious and in this episode, we talk about her daddy being shot by the brits, bulimia, motherhood, teenage rebellion, and the time she caught me wearing three pairs of knickers. we even argue over things i wrote in my book. this episode was recorded two years ago, but we recently revisited it together, chatting about generational trauma in ireland and there’s a part two coming in the future, because we’ve still so much to say, especially both coming from masculine and republican backgrounds.

this episode is the second part of my mammy's interview. if you haven't listened to part 1 yet, i'd recommend going back and listening to that episode first.

in this episode i sit down with my beloved mammy June where she rightfully challenges my statement that she emotionally neglected me. we discuss her childhood, from when she heard a banshee before her daddy died, being used as a human shield by the brits when she was out selling bingo tickets, to witnessing the monaghan bombing. we also talk about the nuns, her brothers being interned in long kesh prison, soldier dolls, and a pretty awkward conversation about periods. we also have a pretty honest chat about the cycle of addiction in our family, and her own journey of overcoming alcoholism.