Murder at Mother Mountain
Ellen Kennedy was born into in Western Tipperary in 1803. Her youth was one nurtured by violence. Hunger and food shortages were common.
EP 1/5
Ellen Kennedy was born into in Western Tipperary in 1803. Her youth was one nurtured by violence. Hunger and food shortages were common. The stark inequalities lead to frequent outbreaks of violence.
EP 2/5
In part 2 of Murder at Mother Mountain Ellen’s life changes forever on March 10th 1846 when the violence that overshadowed her life finally comes to her door...
EP 3/5
The trial begins in Nenagh Courthouse in August 1846. What lies ahead for the accused is more uncertain than ever - murder in 19th century Ireland carries the death sentence.
EP 4/5
The trials are over, the sentences have been passed down and there is nothing left but the punishment. However as we have seen in the story so far, this is story is if anything unpredictable.
EP 5/5
In the series finale ‘Redemption’, we follow Ellen’s life in Australia where a strange and unexpected redemption awaits.
Deep Dive
This is deep dive looks at the pre-Famine catholic church. While religion was very important during Ellen Kennedy's childhood, the catholic church emerging from centuries of repression was a very different organsation than it is today. In this podcast Salvador Ryan, professor of Ecclesiastical History in Maynooth, discusses religion and wider spiritual beliefs in the decades before the famine.
Deep Dive
Sex, Love & Marriage have been central to the story so far. In the second deep dive interview I chat with Dr Sarah Anne Buckley and we explore how attitudes to these topics differed in the 19th century.
Deep Dive
In the third deep dive of Murder at Mother Mountain I am joined by Dr Niamh Howlin to explain how murder investigations & trials worked in the 1840s. Niamh is an expert on 19th century law and she explains how the process worked before DNA, forensics or even the concept of a trial by a jury of our peers existed!