Twelve Podcasts of Christmas
Twelve different enthralling episodes for the twelves days of Christmas for you to delve into.
EP1/12
While not very seasonal, it was one of my favourite shows of 2019. I stumbled across the story of Mollie Gilmartin by accident in an archive and I was immediately intrigued. Ultimately I spent a few weeks tracing her fascinating but tragic life. This episode was really enhanced by Muireann Hogan’s great narrations.
EP2/12
In 1957 Skorzeny was welcomed to Ireland at a reception that included none other than Charles J Haughey, the later Taoiseach. This two part podcast is a gripping investigation into why Skorzeny was here, who he was working with and why so many in Ireland were willing to welcome this notorious individual.
EP3/12
This three part podcast series investigates one of Ireland’s most enduring murder mysteries. Maamtrasna is a remote mountain community on the Mayo-Galway border. Events there in August 1882 shocked the world when a group of unidentified individuals attempted to brutally massacre three generations of the Joyce family.
EP4/12
Released in the summer of 2018, the Mulranny Police Conspiracy looks at a forgotten chapter from Irish history. In 1898, the Royal Irish Constabulary turned on the small community in the west of Ireland town of Mulranny Co Mayo. In what proved to be a bizarre and intriguing story this lead to a prolongued and bitter confrontation in this picturesque town.
EP5/12
Created in 2016, this is the only podcast I have made about my own family. In 1906 my grandaunt, Mollie Dwyer, emigrated to the USA when she was 15 years of age. Her emigrant experience was very different to most.
EP6/12
Bridget Cleary was the last woman burned alive as a witch in Ireland. This happened when my grandfather was alive. Need I say more? Listen to the full story here.
EP7/12
The Irish woman Lola Montez, born Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert took Europe in the mid 19th century. She initially gained notoriety for risque dances that left little to the imagination – she was known to wear nothing beneath her tutu. She had a string of famous lovers and everywhere she went she caused scandal even triggering a revolution!
EP8/12
Hubert Butler (1900-1991) is a forgotten Irish hero. In 1938-39 he traveled to the Nazi Third Reich to help Jews escape persecution. While he ultimately helped save 150 people from the holocaust, he was not celebrated in Ireland. Instead after he revealed how the Catholic Church was involved in supporting the Nazi allies in Yugoslavia he suffered what was in effect, internal exile.
EP9/12
In 1845 the population of Ireland was heading towards 9 million with many people surviving on a diet of potatoes. This has lead many to claim that the island was overpopulated. In this podcast I head to a remote village of Inver in Erris to see how the population has changed over the past 150 years.
EP10/12
In the 1890s the serial killer Jack the Ripper terrorised London killing several women. Over the last 130 years the murders have been surrounded by conspiracies that focus on the murderer rather than the women who were the victims.
EP11/12
This deeply controversial topic needs little by way of an introduction. It asks if the Great Famine of the 1840s was a genocide on the part of the British Government. It is part of my Great Famine Series. It was the most popular episode of 2019.
EP12/12
This is the first in the current series Partisans – Irish Stories from Spanish Civil War. This podcast introduces the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and how it related to Ireland. Its really gripping history that begins at the battle of Stalingrad!