What were the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed in December 1921, following negotiations between the UK and Sinn Féin? How was it received by the Irish people? What was the process by which it was agreed between Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Michael Collins, and Arthur Griffith? Why did Éamon de Valera object to the treaty, and how did this sow the ... Show More
Aug 20
593. The Fight of the Century
Why did two men - John Heenan and and Tom Sayers - illegally meet in a field in Hampshire, in 1860, to brutally fight one another, captivating Britain in the process? What can the fight tell us about the nature of Britishness in the 19th century? Was this the birth of boxing? Who ... Show More
57m 19s
Aug 13
591. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Manhunt for the Killer (Part 2)
How was President Abraham Lincoln murdered on Good Friday 1865, at Ford’s Theatre, just five days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender? Who was John Wilkes Booth, the racist actor with southern sympathies, who assassinated him? How did he escape before the shocked eyes of the packed t ... Show More
1h 7m
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
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
Mar 2025
237. The Great Famine: The Irish Exodus to America (Ep 2)
The legacy of the Great Famine continues to shape not only Ireland, but the Irish diaspora in America, Canada, and the UK. In the mid-1800s, starving families fled the country in search of survival, gathering at the docks to board “coffins ships” sailing to Liverpool and the east ... Show More
45m 58s
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
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