Podcasts

While there were optimistic hopes that the First World War or ‘Great War’ would be ‘the war to end all wars’, post-1918 Europe, including Ireland, instead experienced a ‘Greater War’—a series of civil, border and ethnic conflicts—that lasted at least until 1923. How did Ireland fit into that paradigm? Was it typical or atypical of the period? Join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion with Niamh Gallagher, Robert Gerwarth, John Horne, and Bill Kissane. The Hedge … Read more

One of the unsung successes of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was the establishment of the all-island body, Waterways Ireland, with responsibility for canals and waterways. But what drove the construction of the former in the first place? How important were they to the Irish economy at their height? How and why did they decline? … Read more

Dáil Éireann sought not only to take back the political control lost in the 1800 Act of Union, but also the fiscal and monetary powers lost with the merger of the Irish and British exchequers in 1817. It also established a parallel legal system, the ‘Dáil Courts’, and, especially after the local elections of 1920, … Read more

On 9 September 1921 over fifty IRA prisoners staged a break-out—one of several during the War of Independence—from Rath internment camp in the Curragh, Co. Kildare. To mark its centenary, and to discuss the wider significance of prisons and prisoners in the revolutionary period, join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion with James Durney, Mary McAuliffe, William Murphy, and Liam J. … Read more

Listen to author Colum Kenny in conversation with History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, as he discusses the story of a remarkable man’s efforts to help starving people during the Irish Great Famine. He reveals their terrible experiences inside and outside one of the national ‘workhouses’ and throws new light on the relationship between class, religion and poverty … Read more