Irish History Podcast

In the mid 19th century Mormonism was one of the fastest growing religions in the world. However when Mormon missionaries arrived in Ireland in 1840 they failed to establish a foothold. Over time Ireland gained a reputation as the most hostile country on earth for Mormons.

This podcast explores why this was the case. The answer is the complexities of Irish identity, our relationship with Catholicism and scandals surrounding the 19th century Mormon practice of polygamy...

The story of the Samson is one most bizarre shipwrecks in Irish history.

When this enormous sea crane ship crashed into the Irish coast, it's owners got more than they bargained for...

In the 1780s work began on a new city in Ireland. Called New Geneva it was designed to provide a new home for exiled revolutionaries from Switzerland.

Today there are few traces of this now lost city. This masks a fascinating and dark history. When New Geneva failed, life there descended into barbarism and brutality...

We've been on an extraordinary journey since the show launched 14 years ago. From medieval battlefields to revolutions we've shared ringside seats to some of the greatest moments in history. My plan for 2024 is to embark on an even more ambitious journey with you. All is explained in this short episode...

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New York, Boston, and Chicago dominate the history of Irish migration to the United States. However by 1900 one of the most Irish cities in the US was Butte Montana. Situated high in the Rocky mountains, Butte was just one of hundreds of Irish communities dotted across the American West. 

Beginning back in the California Goldrush of the 1850s, tens of thousands of Irish immigrants ventured into the American West...

In the past decade, podcasting has taken the world by storm. The advent of smartphones and the ground-breaking podcast 'Serial' would see podcasting surge in popularity.

In 2020 alone over a million new shows were launched. But does it have a future? Some are not convinced.

In the second and final part of my series on the history of podcasting I look at how podcasting became so popular and where it’s heading...

‘You might not be a revolutionary, but you are living through a revolution.’

Podcasting is much older than you might imagine. A decade before the true crime show Serial took the world by storm, creators were making some of the earliest shows.

This podcast is a nostalgic trip through the early days of the internet in Ireland when podcasting emerged. Brian Greene who was making shows in the mid 2000s shares his memories of the early days of podcasting...

It’s a dark evening in early November 1847.

A carriage makes it's way through lawless starving countryside in North Roscommon.

A gun shot rings out, a man falls dead.

A family mourns but a community rejoices.

While the Great Hunger of the 1840s resulted in one million deaths, this one murder encapsulated the stark choices facing that generation of Irish people in a one gripping story. It is retold in this episode...

In the mid 1860s, Andersonville became one of the most feared places in America.

This sleepy corner of Georgia gained notoriety in the later stages of the US Civil War when the Confederacy opened a prison camp there. Nearly one third of all prisoners who entered Andersonville never left. 

Among their number were hundreds of Irish men. This podcast tells their stories.

I am joined by historian Damian Shiels who runs the Andersonville Irish project...

Writing histories of people who led secret lives is difficult because they leave few records. Yet that is precisely what my guest in today’s show has done. In this podcast, Dr Maurice Casey, shares the fascinating history of Rose McKenna and Sydney Arnold and how he uncovered their secret lives.

In the early 20th century, this Latvian-Irish couple participated in two revolutions in Ireland and Russia...