Living on the Wrong Side of History: My Family Secrets

Irish History Podcast by Fin Dwyer

Jul 8, 202638:26Society & Culture

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 history. Someone in the GPO in 1916 or in the IRA in 1920. We like to think they ma...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from Irish History Podcast.

The Golden Age of Irish Smuggling

Sep 9, 2026 - 28:35

The 18th century was a golden age of Irish smuggling. It's estimated that as many as one third of all lux...

Why Did Nazi Germany Bomb an Irish Village in 1940?

Aug 26, 2026 - 40:52

Become a supporter at On 26 August 1940, two German aircraft crossed the coast of County Wexford and flew...

The Sinking of the Lusitania

Aug 19, 2026 - 1:02:40

On 7 May 1915, the passenger liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 off the coast...

Ireland’s Shipwrecks: History from the Depths

Aug 12, 2026 - 55:15

Every year, fragments of long-lost ships wash ashore on Irish beaches. They are remnants of the thousands...

Broken Promises: Why Irish Independence Failed the Irish Language

Jul 29, 2026 - 43:40

In 1922, Ireland gained its independence. The new state promised to revive the Irish language. A century...

Progress at Any Cost? The Dark History Behind Ireland’s Electrification

Jul 22, 2026 - 33:25

In the 1920s, the newly established Irish Free State embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering pr...

Hitler’s Irish Relatives: The Strange True Story

Jul 15, 2026 - 20:23

A video version of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts On the day Hitler invaded Poland, another...

The Irish Crown Jewels Robbery: Ireland’s Crime of the Century?

Jun 24, 2026 - 47:22

In the summer of 1907, the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from the heart of British power in Ireland, und...