The Smugglers & Gun Runners: Who armed the IRA?

"There were spies, informers and degenerates of every kind and we were here to do business." These were the words an IRA activist describing his desperate, shadowy quest to source weapons for the IRA in Europe. But who were these people who traded weapons and information to support the IRA campaign in Ireland. \ In this episode of Brothers in Pain: The IRA in a Revolutionary World , Dr. Brian Hanley goes beyond the battlefields to uncover the hidden networks of the Irish Revolution. From the dangerous underworld of the continent to clandestine shipments across the Atlantic, we meet the smugglers, gun runners and fixers who operated in the shadows. This is the true story of the individuals who made the revolution possible in the face of impossible odds. Support the show: Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley Producer Fin Dwyer Sound Kate Dunlea Note from Brian : In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars; Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The Smugglers & Gun Runners: Who armed the IRA? is an episode from Irish History Podcast by Fin Dwyer.

This episode is 29:58 long.

This episode was published on Mar 20, 2026.

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