Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast

One of the most enduring stereotypes of early US history is the Mountain Man. This figure often appears as the tough and resourceful frontiersman familiar from films like The Revenant. The stereotype is rooted in fact and in recent months Damian has been researching the Irish men who found themselves in the American West during the early nineteenth century. Fin and Damian explore this history along with who these men were and what brought them into the Rocky Mountains. They also look at how they interacted with Native American tribes in the region.

What can a micro-history of emigration, the story of a single townland, or even a single family, reveal about the wider Irish emigrant experience? In this episode, we trace the remarkable journey of the Clune family of Tyredagh Upper, Co. Clare, whose multigenerational migration to Norwalk, Connecticut offers insight into how local origins shaped settlement patterns in America.We’re joined by Dr. Jane Halloran, historian, genealogist, and founder of Dalcassian Origins, to discuss her research on this chain migration and the powerful community networks that carried families like the Clunes across the Atlantic. Through their story, we uncover how one family’s path could influence patterns of migration from Ireland, and shed light on the wider 19th and early 20th century Irish emigrant experience.Further Reading Dr Jane Halloran Dalcassian Origins: http://www.dalcassianorigins.com/Tyderagh Upper: https://www.townlands.ie/clare/tulla-upper/tulla/newgrove/tyredagh-upper/Norwalk Connecticut: https://www.townlands.ie/clare/tulla-upper/tulla/newgrove/tyredagh-upper/

Michael Phelan, born in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, rose to prominence as one of America's most gifted billiards player and showmen. In New York he encountered Hugh Collender, from Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, an exiled Irish nationalist who decided to turn his talents to business after the failed rising of 1848.Phelan’s flair and Collender’s enterprise combined into one of the great economic successes of 19th century Irish America. Together they built Phelan & Collender, a company that revolutionised billiard-table manufacture and helped define an American leisure industry. This episode traces how two Irishmen, shaped by different beginnings but united by drive and ingenuity--and eventually by close family ties--carved out a partnership and business empire that became a household name in Gilded Age America.

Wisconsin isn't the first state that springs to mind when it comes to the Irish American Diaspora. But though often more associated with Germans (and German beer!), Wisconsin had a notable Irish presence. Today, Milwaukee is even home to Irish Fest, the largest Irish festival in the United States. In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Tim McMahon of Marquette University to uncover the fascinating history of the Irish communities who made Wisconsin their home.We chart their stroy from the early arrivals of the nineteenth century to their lasting influence in the twentieth, tracing how Irish immigrants shaped places like Milwaukee — building neighborhoods, parishes, and a distinct Irish-American identity in the heart of the Midwest.We explore dramatic moments like the tragic Lady Elgin disaster- a maritime catastrophe for both Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Irish- and the later political and cultural connections maintained with Ireland. Tim also discusses Éamon de Valera’s visit, and the story behind that iconic photograph of De Valera in a Native American headdress.Dr Tim McMahon: https://www.marquette.edu/history/directory/timothy-mcmahon.phpMilwaukee Irish Fest: https://irishfest.com/

In this episode, Fin and Damian trace the Irish legacy scattered across the American map through the placenames they left behind. The journey takes them from Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill, named for a Wexford battlefield in hopes of attracting Irish immigrants, to Menlo Park, California, the major tech hub with roots in a Galway inspired ranch. They uncover how Irish immigrants, Irish Americans and Irish politicians and miners left their mark — through places like Glendalough State Park (in Minnesota, not Wicklow!), Roscommon and the "Irish" counties of Michigan, and the Texas ghost town in Texas that came to be called “Ireland.” From Avoca, Nebraska to "Dublin Gulch" in the California desert, we pick some of our favourite American Irish placenames to explore.

In the early 1880s, crates of California dynamite found their way to London — not for trade, but for terror. Irish revolutionaries in the United States were plotting bombings in the heart of the British Empire, and San Francisco, with its deep Irish roots, became a key outpost in the transatlantic campaign.In this episode, we speak with renowned author and historian Dr Myles Dungan about his new historical novel The Red Branch, set in 1883 San Francisco and inspired by these real-life dynamiters, secret societies, and British spies. We explore the real history and real characters behind the fiction--along the way charting the story and experience of Irish immigrants in the City by the Bay.Sound by Kate Dunlea.ShownotesMyles Dungan. The Red Branch (Etruscan Press, 2025)The History Show RTÉ Radio OneMyles Dungan WebsiteMyles Dungan Publications