The Golden Age of Irish Smuggling
The 18th century was a golden age of Irish smuggling. It's estimated that as many as one third of all luxury goods entering Ireland were bro...
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Irish History Podcast
The Irish History Podcast brings you on a journey through Ireland's fascinating past. This podcast is not just dates but an enthralling account of Ireland's history, looking at daily life th...
Episodes
20 of 479 episodes
Why Did Nazi Germany Bomb an Irish Village in 1940?
Become a supporter at https://www.patreon.com/c/Irishpodcast On 26 August 1940, two German aircraft crossed the coast of County Wexford and...
The Sinking of the Lusitania
On 7 May 1915, the passenger liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 off the coast of County Cork. The enormous ship...
Ireland’s Shipwrecks: History from the Depths
Every year, fragments of long-lost ships wash ashore on Irish beaches. They are remnants of the thousands of shipwrecks scattered around our...
Broken Promises: Why Irish Independence Failed the Irish Language
In 1922, Ireland gained its independence. The new state promised to revive the Irish language. A century later, English still dominates dail...
Progress at Any Cost? The Dark History Behind Ireland’s Electrification
In the 1920s, the newly established Irish Free State embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in its history: the Shannon...
Hitler’s Irish Relatives: The Strange True Story
A video version of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/irish-history-podcast/id363368392 On th...
Living on the Wrong Side of History: My Family Secrets
Family history is often where the heroic version of the past falls apart. We like to imagine our ancestors standing on the right side of his...
The Irish Crown Jewels Robbery: Ireland’s Crime of the Century?
In the summer of 1907, the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from the heart of British power in Ireland, under the noses of the police, the mil...
From White Settlers to Fascists: The IRA’s Troubling Allies
Irish republicans had many natural allies during the War of Independence. Irish communities in the United States offered vital support, whil...
The Battle for Liverpool and New York: The Irish Revolution in the Atlantic World
Liverpool and New York haunt the story of Irish independence in a way few other places do. Though separated by more than 5,000 kilometres of...
Ogham: The Mystery of Ireland’s Oldest Writing
Ogham is Ireland’s oldest known writing system, dating back more than 1,500 years. If you have ever seen strange lines carved along the edge...
Taking the War to England: The IRA in Britain
'We are doing this because you are doing it in Ireland'. These were the words of an IRA volunteer in Manchester explaining attacks in Britai...
A Conspiracy of Fear & Silence: The Maamtrasna Murders
In August 1882, a brutal mass murder in a remote valley in the west of Ireland shocked the world. At Maamtrasna, a family, the Joyces, were...
Daily Life in the Middle Ages: Worse Than You Think [Listener Favourite]
A recent hospital visit means there is no new episode this week, but it reminded me of this classic from early 2024! Tune in to find out mor...
Dublin Port Has Seen It All: 1,200 Years of History.
Dublin is famous for its Georgian squares, medieval cathedral, castle and revolutionary history. But the cornerstone of Dublin's history is...
Solidarity, Suspicion and Conspiracy: Jews and the Irish Revolution
As the Irish Revolution broke out, Europe was gripped by political upheaval, fear of revolution, and rising antisemitism. In conservative an...
Drogheda & Beyond: The Terrifying Reality of Siege Warfare in Ireland
Between 1641 and 1653, Ireland was engulfed by devastating war. It was a period of extraordinary violence, famine and social collapse. The d...
Forgotten Allies: How Egypt and India Supported the Irish Revolution
During the Irish War of Independence, republicans in Ireland looked far beyond Britain and America for support. In Egypt and India, they fou...
Operation Green: Hitler's Plan for Ireland
In 1939, Ireland declared itself neutral in the Second World War. But neutrality did not mean the island was safe. Indeed, both Germany and...