Episode 34: The Religious Divide

Belfast's streets erupt into bloodshed with 30 dead in the space of 5 days. Historian Éamon Phoenix tells Tara and Declan how his grandfather survived World War I only to come close to being killed in the sectarian violence blighting the city. Please be advised that some listener ... Show More

Treaty talks are reaching a critical point in London. In Belfast, Tara and Declan delve into the past at the Linenhall Library, while in Cork listener Robert Bogue has been learning about his grandfather's time in the Irish police. Meanwhile, Declan's hungry... 

Amid death and violence across the island of Ireland at this time, one incident stands out. The McMahon family is targeted one night by a gang believed to have been made up of RIC men, led by DI John Nixon. Tara and Declan hear how the Cavan man came to be linked to a number of k ... Show More

“In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms.” The proclamation of the Irish Republic, delivered by Patrick Pearse in Dublin, marked the beginning o ... Show More

In recent years, the media has depicted Rwanda as a model of unity, development, and recovery. Dr. Cantrell II argues that not all is as it seems in Revival and Reconciliation: The Anglican Church and the Politics of Rwanda (University of Wisconsin Press, 2022). The book argues t ... Show More

In Losing a Kingdom, Gaining the World, Dr. Ambrogio A. Caiani tells the story of the Catholic Church in the modern age. Beginning with the aftermath of the French Revolution and the democratic rebellions of 1848, Caiani follows the Church's evolution that sees three popes be ... Show More

Abraham Lincoln, unlike most of his political brethren, kept organized Christianity at arm’s length. He never joined a church and only sometimes attended Sunday services with his wife. But over the course of his life, the erstwhile skeptic effectively evolved into the nation’s fi ... Show More

Three years on from Martin Luther’s publication of the Ninety-Five Theses - a shocking attack on the corruption of the Catholic Church and the selling of indulgences - his radical new ideas and brilliant use of the printing press had unleashed chaos in Christendom. Still in Witte ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the momentum behind rebellion in Ireland in 1798, the people behind the rebellion and the impact over the next few years and after. Amid wider unrest, the United Irishmen set the rebellion on its way, inspired by the French and American revolutiona ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the momentum behind rebellion in Ireland in 1798, the people behind the rebellion and the impact over the next few years and after. Amid wider unrest, the United Irishmen set the rebellion on its way, inspired by the French and American revolutiona ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1691 peace treaty that ended the Williamite War in Ireland, between supporters of the deposed King James II and the forces of William III and his allies. It followed the battles at Aughrim and the Boyne and sieges at Limerick, and led to the di ... Show More