What was Sinn Féin’s totemic first move after winning a majority seat in 1917? Were the IRA’s methods during this early stages of the war as violent as they are commonly believed to have been? How sectarian was the IRA? What crucial strategy did the Irish adopt in order to overwhelm English efforts to re-establish control in Ireland? As a victor of the First ... Show More
Yesterday
607. Nelson’s Lover: The Scandalous Lady Hamilton
Who was Emma Hamilton, Horatio Nelson’s strikingly beautiful, and famously fashionable mistress? How did she raise herself up from dire poverty, to become a model, actress, dancer, and even an international celebrity? And, why was theirs one of the most famous love affairs of all ... Show More
1h 13m
Oct 5
606. Enoch Powell: Rivers of Blood
Who was Enoch Powell, the deeply controversial British conservative politician? Why is he the father of Brexit, and possibly even Reform? And, how did he come to make his inflammatory ‘Rivers of Blood speech’, in 1968? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Enoch Powell - one of th ... Show More
1h 16m
Mar 2025
239. Ireland’s Fight For Freedom: The Rise of The IRA (Ep 2)
The Irish republicans who led the Easter Rising of 1916 are tried for treason by the British government, and sentenced to death. Some are so unwell they have to be tied to a chair to be killed, and the brutality of these executions turns the tide of public opinion in Ireland, inc ... Show More
1h 2m
Feb 2025
232. Colonising Ireland: The First Plantations (Ep 2)
In 1607, after launching a failed rebellion in Ulster against the English, Hugh O’Neill and other Irish nobles are forced to flee Ireland, and their lands are confiscated. In response to the revolt, an insidious narrative about Irish people emerges in Tudor England, describing th ... Show More
40m 59s
Jul 9
NORAID: Did Irish Americans Fund the Provisional IRA?
In this episode, we explore the fascinating and controversial story of NORAID, the Irish American organisation at the heart of the new documentary NORAID: Irish America & the IRA. Joined by the film’s producer, Jamie Goldrick, we unravel the history that made NORAID so influentia ... Show More
44m 32s
Mar 2025
235. The Viceroy, The Psychopath, and The Merchant: The Irish in Empire (Ep 3)
Ireland may have been England’s first colony but, by the 17th century, Irishmen were carving out their own imperial legacies in India. Gerald Aungier, an ambitious East India Company official, saw Bombay as a new frontier for plantation and trade. Drawing from his family’s planta ... Show More
53m 58s
Sep 24
The Rising Storm: The American War of Independence & Ireland
This episode is part of a wider series on the 1798 Rebellion, but you can enjoy it as a stand-alone story.When the American Revolution broke out in the 1770s, it sent shock waves across the Atlantic, transforming Irish politics and society. To explore this enthralling story the e ... Show More
43 m
Mar 2025
234. Battle of the Boyne: Clash of Two Kings (Ep 2)
The Restoration reinstates the monarchy in England, Scotland & Ireland, and Irish Catholics believe that they will get their lands back for their loyalty to the king. And when the openly Catholic King James II succeeds his older brother, they are even more hopeful. But English Pr ... Show More
43m 12s
Apr 2025
How Did the American Revolution Start?
On 19th April, 1775, just over 250 years ago, the opening salvos of the American Revolutionary War were fired at the battles of Lexington and Concord. Elite British Redcoats went head-to-head with the famed provincial Minutemen in bloody skirmishes across the Province of Massachu ... Show More
1h 18m