Irish History Podcast

Divorce and sex magic are not things we associate with medieval Ireland. However for over one thousand years Irish society was governed by a unique and radically different legal system called Brehon Law. In this podcast I interview Dr Gillian Kenny (twitter.com/medievalgill) who explains what Brehon Law was and how it worked. She challenges widely held misconceptions and explains how divorce existed in medieval Ireland given it was banned in modern Ireland until 1995!.And then of course there is the sex magic.Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution. Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10 you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This subject needs little by way of an introduction. It is one of the most controversial debates in Irish history. It continues to overshadow relations with our nearest neighbour - Great Britain.In the 1840s one million Irish people died and another million famine refugees fled the island. The Irish population fell by 25% in less than a decade.Over the past 25 years calls for the Great Famine to be defined as a genocide have gained in popularity. In this podcast I tackle the issue head on answering whether British government policy and their actions in Ireland in the 1840s were genocidal.Support my research at www.patreon.com/irishpodcastContact@irishhistory on twitterEmail info@irishhistorypodcast.ieBecome a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution.  Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at  www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10  you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(I am currently researching the final episodes in the Great Famine series. The next show on the Great Hunger is still two weeks away but in the meantime I have this pretty special bonus podcast.)-----One of the things that makes medieval history so interesting is that the very basics of life are astounding and fascinating in equal measure. We are endlessly intrigued byWhat did people ate?Life expectancyHow people died?What was healthcare likeIn a few weeks a new exhibition opens in my hometown of Kilkenny in the Medieval Mile Museum. This exhibition is centred around skeletons of three people discovered during recent archaeological excavations in the city. This podcast interviews the team of experts behind the excavations in a warts and all look at the lives of our medieval ancestors. (Thanks to Colin O'Drisceoil, Dr Linda Lynch, Shiela Dooley & Grace Fegan for their time.Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution.  Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at  www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10  you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the Great Hunger over 250,000 people were evicted by their landlords. Most of these people were left destitute with little hope in an Ireland decimated by the Great Famine. In this podcast I look at the struggle that took place between tenants and landlords in the final phase of the Great Hunger. The show tries to understand why landlords and their agents acted in such a ruthless manner and why the government in London actually encouraged this process. This episode focuses in on the town of Kenmare and the surrounding Ring of Kerry to see how this played out in one community.Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution.  Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at  www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10  you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In August 1849 Queen Victoria arrived in a famine ravaged Ireland. Contrary to what we might expect there were no protests and in many places the Queen received a rapturous welcome. However this only tells part of the story. This podcast takes you on a journey deep into one of Dublin's most notorious slums - St Michan's. There we follow the lives of a poor couple George and Bridget Shea. Their experience of the Great Famine was in its own unique way intertwined with the Victorias visit. This story provides us with an evocative, fascinating and revealing contrast to the royal visit while also explaining the strangely passive response to the monarch's arrival in Ireland. This episode also covers later 1849 as Dublin finally emerged from the Great Famine.**I have two live shows coming up**Dublin - The Stoneybatter Festival, June 22nd, 4.30 pm @ The Elbow Room, StoneybatterWaterford - Grady's Yard July 13th Waterford with Snugcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast (the second show on the town of Clogheen) introduces Richard Burke, a man who had a very unusual experience of the Great Famine. Between 1845 and 1848 he was the clerk of Clogheen Workhouse and Richard's life provide us with unique insights into this institution which was central to how the Great Hunger affected this community. The workhouse was where stories of kindness and cruelty played out side by side. The show includes an testimony from Michael Doody, an inmate in Clogheen Workhouse in 1848 which is a fascinating first hand account of life inside this building.Overall workhouses had a huge impact in every community across Ireland during the late 1840s. The shocking statistic that one in three people who perished in the Famine (over 300,000 people) died in workhouses highlights their importance in the story of the Great Hunger. Richard Burke's experiences in Clogheen give us a greater understanding of why they were so important not only in this town but across ireland.The next patrons-only podcast will focus on a fascinating murder mystery that relates to todays show. This will be exclusively available on www.patreon.com/irishpodcast.For Further reading I recommend Edmund O'Riordain's book The Famine in the Valley which is available for free online. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a return of the Great Famine Series. Focusing on the town of Clogheen in South Tipperary, this two part episode follows the lives of three individuals Robert Davis, David Keane and Richard Burke. Their stories delve into the fascinating yet often violent struggle for survival in Ireland during the Great Famine. While the show focuses on Clogheen the accounts are reflective of wider experiences.The podcasts also examines controversial topics such as the export of food and the violent resistence to those exports. I also reveal stories of those who profited during the famine and try to answer why many Irish people who seemed like decent people continued to export food in the midst of the famine. The show includes dozens of primary sources including two previously unpublished letters written from Clogheen and Boston giving a first hand perspective of what life for Irish people was like in the 1840s. I would like to thank Ted Reilly and Martin Nutty for their help in New York without whom this episode would not have been possible. Credits:Aidan Crowe read David Keane's Letters Maurcie Casery narrated Robert Davis's report Mark O'Dwyer voiced the words of James Fraser and Ferguson the pawnbrokerFurther Reading: O'Riordain, E. The Famine in the Valley Available for free hereBecome a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution.  Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at  www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10  you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hellfire club is an 18th century ruin in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains. The building has a scandalous history and is considered by some to be one of Ireland's most haunted locations. A few years ago Neil Jackman of Abarta Heritage led an archaeological excavation on the site. This podcast is an interview with Neil. He reveals the history behind this building, where the folklore and mythology originates and what he uncovered in the course of his excavations.Picture: Abartaheritage.ieBecome a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution.  Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at  www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10  you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we think of Irish Emigrants in the USA, images of New York or Boston spring to mind. However on a recent trip to the US I visited friends in Nebraska where I found a very different Irish American history.Located in the midwest - the landcape and climate in Nebraska are pretty extreme - its very different from the large cities on the Eastern Coast.In this podcast I look at how Irish emigrants survived on the Great Plains in the 1870s and 1880s. Their accounts are fascinating - from sleeping in tents in brutal winters to an Irish American man who sold something called 'The Great Remedy' that could cure anything!Become a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution.  Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at  www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10  you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1892 Peig Sayers married & moved from Dunquin in West Kerry to the Great Blasket Island. Her life provides us with fascinating insights into what marriage was like in the late 19th century (a combination of a first date and moving in with your in laws!).Peig's later life also details how events like the 1916 Rising, the Great War and the War of Independence played out on this remote island. The podcast concludes with the story of how and why the Great Blasket was abandoned in the mid 20th century...Thanks to Niamh Ní Riain of the NLI, Ciaraíoch & Sean Sheehy for their narrations.This podcast is supported by Irish Newspaper ArchivesBecome a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory📢June 2023 Update - New Walking Tour 📢I am thrilled to announce my brand new walking tour in Ireland's oldest city, Waterford. Join me and explore 1,000 years of history from the Vikings to Cromwell & Strongbow to the Irish Revolution.  Enhanced by wireless headsets 🎧 you will hear the sounds of the city through the ages and the words of the people who made history in Waterford. Tours take place each Saturday and places are strictly limited to 15 people. Book your place today at  www.Irishhistorypodcast.ie/tours*New Book: A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders *My new book A Lethal Legacy - A History of Ireland in 18 Murders is available for Pre-Order now. If you order your copy today at Easons and use the promo code FD10  you get a 10% discount Easons https://www.easons.com/a-lethal-legacy-finbar-dwyer-9780008555993Promo code FD10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.