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In this bonus episode of the first season, historian and Western Front Association Trustee, Gerry White delves into Ireland's military history from 1912 to 1923. Gerry, who served forty-three years in the Irish Defence Forces and retired in 2017, brings his expertise and insights to the discussion. The talk begins with the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Irish Volunteers. In 1912, the Ulster Volunteer Force was established by Unionists in Ulster to resist home rule for Ireland. In response, the Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913 by nationalists to support the cause of Irish independence. Gerry goes on to explore the impact of World War I (1914-1918) on these groups. As the war broke out, both the UVF and the Irish Volunteers split on their positions regarding the conflict. Many Irish Volunteers joined the British Army, forming regiments such as the Irish Guards and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. During the discussion, Gerry White highlights the significant contribution of Irish divisions during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. He specifically mentions the 10th (Irish Division), the 16th Irish Division, and the 36th Ulster Division. These divisions, composed of Irish soldiers from various backgrounds, fought bravely in the grueling battles on the Somme, leaving a lasting impact on Irish military history. The discussion then moves to the significant event of the Easter Rising in 1916. Gerry highlights how the Irish Republican Brotherhood, alongside other nationalist groups, staged an armed rebellion in Dublin. Although the Rising initially failed, it had a profound influence on Irish public opinion and laid the groundwork for future independence movements. The focus then shifts to the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), during which the Irish Republican Army (IRA) emerged as the military wing of Sinn Féin. Engaging in guerrilla warfare against British forces, the IRA targeted police, military installations, and British sympathizers. This conflict ultimately led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, which resulted in the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland (remaining part of the UK) and the Irish Free State. The final topic discussed is the Irish Civil War (1922-1923), which was triggered by the split within the nationalist movement following the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Gerry explains how those who supported the treaty, led by Michael Collins, formed the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State, while those opposed, led by Éamon de Valera, organized the anti-treaty forces. The ensuing civil war saw clashes between these factions, resulting in the defeat of the anti-treaty forces and the establishment of the Irish Free State. Aside from his extensive military service, Gerry has represented Ireland at the Centenary Commemoration of the Battle of the Somme at Thiepval in 2016. He has also authored several books and articles on aspects of Irish military history for the period 1913 to 1923 and frequently lectures on the subject. Currently, Gerry is actively involved in building the WFA organization on the island of Ireland.
The struggle of the French Resistance against the Nazi Occupation of France remains one of the most famous chapters in World War II history. It has been immortalized in numerous film and books. However the story of the dozens of Irish people who served in the Resistance has been almost completely forgotten. In this podcast I interview Dr David Murphy from Maynoooth University who has researched the Irish people who served in the Resistance.While the writer Samuel Beckett is the most famous David reveals the forgotten history of other Irish volunteers and their experience of the war.**I am currently working on a new series on the history of podcasting. I have interviewed some of the biggest names in podcasting and now I am looking for your input. I would be really grateful if you could complete this short survey on your experience as a listener at https://irishhistorypodcast.ie/listenersurvey.**If you are aware of Irish people who served in the Resistance David is working on a database and you would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with him at david.murphy@mu.ieBecome a supporter & access dozens of exclusive podcastsPatreon www.patreon.com/irishpodcastAcast https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory
This episode as previously stated will be something a bit different as I move away, just for a short while, from the usual tried and tested format. Todays guest is Nick Schofield and although Nick had a brief dabble with wargaming when he was younger he hasn't rolled a dice for many years. My guest works in the church and has studied in Rome so there is no wonder that he has gained an interest in looking at the British and Irish Volunteers in the Papal Army during the 1860s. So with my first ever non-wargaming guest I have shifted things around a bit so regular listeners will notice that the tried and tested format has been put aside for this one episode. I chat with Nick about his background and his wargaming experiences before moving onto the history of the St Patricks Battalion and the Papal Zouaves using his book Victorian Crusaders, published by Helion as my guide. It was a great chat with Nick, he's very engaging and clearly knows his stuff and it was lovely for me to talk to someone about a subject I am very interested in as well as stepping outside the comfort zone of my regular format, its definitely something I will do again in the future. Nicks book is available from Helion direct and also from many other book sellers, link below Victorian Crusaders | From Musket to Maxim 1815-1914 | Helion & Company Hope you enjoy this little excursion from the Wargames path and I will see you in 3 weeks time for another episode. Until then Sithee Regards Ken The Yarkshire Gamer
On Friday's Morning Focus, Pat was joined by Colm Liddy who is a local history author. Colm discussed his new book that is set be launched next Wednesday which is called 'Nan Hogan'. The book describes the crucial role Nan Hogan played as the leading member of Cumann na Mban in County Clare during the War of Independence. Cumann na Mban were founded in April 1914 and were set up as a form of female assistance in arming and equipping Irish Volunteers.
On this episode of The Good, The Bad and The Pure Evil, I look at Jennie Wyse Power was a business woman, politician and although didn't take up arms in the Easter Rising 1916 she participated in it in other ways. Her home and restaurants would be used for meetings of Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers. Strong, outspoken and capable Jennie was a force not to be reckoned with.
Europe explodes into World War I and the Irish Volunteers experience a schism. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sarah-hayter/support
The Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizens Army plan their next move. Also a teenager 2000 miles away fires a shot that would change the 20th century. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sarah-hayter/support
To what extent did the military tactics of Thomas Ashe's (5th) Fingal battalion of the Irish Volunteers in 1916 prefigure those of the IRA in the War of Independence, 1919-21? To what extent did the sack of Balbriggan in September 1920 provide the template for subsequent reprisals by Crown force? To discuss the role of Fingal (North County Dublin) in the revolutionary decade join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion with John Dorney, Marie Bashford Synnott, and Frank Whearity. The Hedge School series of podcasts is produced by History Ireland and the Wordwell Group. For more information or to subscribe, visit historyireland.com This Hedge School is supported by Fingal County Council and the Creative Ireland Programme 2017–2022. Image: The aftermath of the sack of Balbriggan by Black and Tans on 20 September 1920
William Butler Yeats - Easter,1916 - The Poetry That Inspired Things Fall Apart Hi, I'm Christy Shriver, and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us. And I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast. We have just wrapped up our four part series on Chinua Achebe and his groundbreaking book Things Fall Apart. Generally, between books, we take a moment to look at a poem or a shorter piece that in some way connects to the longer piece we have been discussing. This week and next week, we want to discuss W. B Yeats, the Irish poet who wrote the poem “The Second Coming” from which Achebe took the title of his book. Christy, what can you tell us about this poet, beyond the fact that he won the Nobel prize for literature in 1923? Should we really like him? Bottom line- is he boring for those of us who aren't poetry heads? HA!! Well, as you know- I'm always trying to pitch the idea that poetry is for everyone- you don't have to be a melodramatic person all caught up in their feels to find value in poetry. It's a tough sell, and every year when I get new kids in class- I have the arduous task of making this case. In fact, school starts for me tomorrow- if you're listening to this in real time, we are recording this in the fall of 2021 and school is starting back for us this week- and even though I am teaching all American Literature this year- this year- from AP all the way to regular English and all the levels in Between- I'm starting with the Irish poet William Butler Yeats- and actually this poem that we're talking about today. The reason I'm doing it- for one thing- Yeats is on my mind- but the bigger reason is because this poem is an occasional poem- an occasional poem is where you are moved by an occasion and this occasion provokes feelings that need to be recorded. My students are coming back to school after being locked in their homes- some of them have not been out in a year and a house. The first thing we are going to do is write an occasional poem, and we're going to model it after Yeats. If you're a teacher and interested in this assignment, it's on our website, but otherwise, my point is- Yeats was a guy who knew how to say things that we feel and here he conveys strong emotions about the identy politics of his day- something we all know a little bit about these days. But Yeats has become popular because he knows how to express things people understand and identify with. The Coen brothers were inspired by him in their movie “No Country for Old Men” . He's shows up in episodes of Cheer's, the band the Smith's have alluded to him and even Joe Biden in a foreign policy speech has alluded to the very poem we're talking about today. But to answer your question, yeah, if we should like him- that's always difficult to say. Honestly, he's from an era that's long gone and from a part of the world, that's different than for many of his readers. He's also little difficult to dissect because he loves symbols. Those were a lot of disclaimers there. BUT, if you do get into him, there are a lot of people that actually enjoy his work- not just poetry heads. You'll see him on a lot of those brainy quotes. I guess that's true. I actually just saw a meme on LinkedIn that quoted him. So, because Yeats has such a large body of work and is so complicated, we're going to spend this week talking about him and the poem “Easter, 1916” then next week we'll move to the poem Achebe uses for his book title, “The Second Coming”. It's harder to understand than the one we're doing today. It's slightly apocalyptic and so complex, but don't think it doesn't have intrigue- Yeats had a complicated romantic life in general that we'll talk about some today, but ultimately it resulted in a strange but successful marriage with a woman, named George, who besides having the interesting ability to dictate messages from the other side, as in ghosts and stuff- was 18 when they met, btw-he was 46. So there you go…stay tune… Ha- okay! I can see how that age gap might turn some heads, especially at the turn of the 20th century. So, can we expect symbols and philosophy? That's some of it. But also, his body of work is so large; it's complicated; it has a lot of variety. He started out talking about all the myths and beauty of his home country. But he didn't stay there. His work is romantic; it's political; it's spiritual- he didn't just write poems either, he wrote plays- but in all things the one thing that is true in all of it is that - his work is Irish- there is so much magic and mystery embedded in this history and culture of Ireland- those of us who don't share the heritage of leprechauns, fairies, and magic are at a disadvantage by never having visited the amazing end of the rainbow we call Ireland. I know that's a sore subject with you. To get personal for a minute, Christy and I have gone with students on EF or Education First on several trips to Europe over the last few years. In 2020, we had a trip planned with students from here in the Memphis area to tour Ireland and Scotland. We were finally going to go but, of course, Covid struck the world, and that got cancelled. Ireland is still on the bucket list, hopefully we'll get lucky soon to be able to discover for ourselves the beauty and the mystery of the place- but until then, we will live vicariously through Yeats, U2 and most recently- The Derry Girls- Yes, I'm not ashamed to admit we watch and love that show. It is a fun show- and really contextualizes in some very funny ways this ethnic challenges Ireland faces. Poor James Maguire, one of the characters on the show is English- born- but has to attend an all girls school for his safety- due to his accent. Their making fun, but we all know, of course, that racial tensions and identity politics can get ugly in a hurry. Anyway, getting to Achebe, and Yeats, it's really not surprising to me that Yeats caught Achebe's attention. And in many ways has a lot in common with Chinua Achebe. Well, they are from two very different places in the world, how do you mean? Well, first of all, and this is a big one- both men were men between two cultures- and this is something those of us outside of Great Britain or even Europe don't always have in the forefront of our minds. The Irish and the English are NOT the same people group. The Irish are descended from the Celts; The English are Anglo-Saxon. The Irish, like the Igbo, had a different language for centuries and in Yeats day when he visited the country side- it was the heart language of many of the country people. The Irish are Catholic; the English are Protestant. But the Irish are also animistic in many ways, especially the country people, and it was this culture that enchanted Yeats as a child, as did the animism of the Igbo for Achebe. Of course, the largest similarity between these two men are their lived experiences with colonialism. Yeats lived through the Irish Independence, as did Achebe through the Nigerian one. Both experienced the violence of transition and post-colonialism. Again something a lot of the world forgets about. We think of colonialism in terms of Africa, Asia and the Americas, but the English efforts to colonize Ireland date to the 1500s, so we are talking about a long term antagonism and complicated history. And William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1865 in an English protestant household to a promising middle class lawyer. So, you can already see the set up for a front row to political conflict. 1865, for Americans means the Civil War, but for those in Ireland, there was another horrific crisis. Just like the stable crop in Nigeria is the yam; the staple crop of Ireland was the potato, and in 1845 a strain of white mold hit the potato crop and a great famine broke out. Literally millions died of starvation and millions of others were forced to take their chances crossing the ocean and fleeing to America. Besides just the natural catastrophe of the agricultural disaster, an even worse problem was the British government's reaction to it. There was a lot of prejudice in England towards the Irish, which we talked a little bit about when we talked about Frankenstein and Mary Shelley, but basically the government basically did too little to feed a starving population. In fact, a lot of absentee English landowners- and who those guys were were basically were the hedge-fund owners of their day, those guys went so far as to still export Irish food supplies and evict poor tenant farmers who couldn't pay their rents. So, beyond being a natural disaster, the natural disaster brought out the worst in many people and so as these things often do- natural crisis turned political. Many more Irish, even Protestant ones, who otherwise may not have been political people, began to see the importance of Self Rule in Ireland- Many who called Ireland home whether they were ethnically Irish or ethnically English began to strongly support political changes that would be costly. And that of course is Yeat's family's case- except with a twist. Yeat's father, decided when Yeat's was two that he was going to leave Dublin and move to London to attend art school. At first pass feels slightly irresponsible. I think his wife thought so. William's mother, whose family was rich and from the countryside- was not a fan of urban London bohemian poor person life. In fact, she couldn't deal with it and broke down emotionally. Her depression got to the point that she became bedridden and basically droped out of the picture until her untimely death. So, we have children, who, like many of us, are dropped into multiple cultures and are displaced. We have little William, his brother Jack, and two sisters who are basically living in household where their parents hated each other. They also, for the most part, lived in poverty, but they had this wealthy side of the family who lived well but far away in Ireland, in a town called Sligo. During the school year, Yeats lived this impoverished life in a London slum where he was the Irish poor kid, but in the summer he would go to his grandparents fancy house in Sligo, this nice town on the coast. However, Sligo is a Catholic area, so even though he can identify with the people in this community because he's from the same countyr, he's not from the same ethnic or religious group. He's the Protestant outsider kid from London. Except he's not even really protestant either is he. No, he really isn't- and I guess that's the Bohemian art side of this father. His father did not believe in Christianity, which as we know, in that time period was a majority view. And I guess that's what made the folklore and animism of the Irish culture so attractive to little William. In Sligo, he learned about Irish folklore- which is something I don't know a whole lot about, except that it's magical- literally. And we know he loved all this because he wrote about later in life. He talked about people he knew growing up that taught him about magic and ghosts and would swear they had seen fairies. He gathered these stories in his head and used them as inspiration for his early writing career. Well, like we talked about last week, lots of people all around the world are animistic, so is it possible that the cultural tradition of the people in Ireland, also in some ways connects to several beliefs of the Igbo. I think that's likely fair to say. Irish mythology certainly has a pantheon of gods, and ancestors also play a role in all of that. Yeats was definitely an animist as we'll talk about next week with a serious piece “The Second coming”, but his career started here with these fanciful stories. One famous poem called, “The Stolen Child” is based on this idea that sometimes fairies steal human children, and it seems thatYeats likely really did believe in fairies. He kind of reminds me a little bit of William Blake, in fact, a lot of Yeat's stuff reminds me of William Blake, especially the spiritual stuff. And I want to be careful here not to get into the weeds here, but one time someone asked him if he really did believe in fairies, to which he responded something to this gist of- well, none of us really know what we do and don't believe until we're put to the test- and in fact, our behaviors say more about what we believe than what we tell people whether we realize it or not- which is kind of an interesting response. I guess he's wanting to say, all of us believe in things we won't own? We claim to not believe in ghosts until we step into a haunted house and then no matter what we say, we run out like crazy people away from them. I think it's something like that. W. H. Auden when he wrote a poem eulogizing Yeats referenced this part of him as his silliness- but says it this way, “you were silly like us” and though it's strange to believe in fairies- and maybe silly- Yeats is kind of honest about his strangeness or silliness. And is that what people like about him? Do you think Part of the reason he could feel the strangeness of things so deeply has to do with this multi-cultural upbringing? Being, to use Achebe's words living at a crossroads of cultures. I do, just like Achebe. And he definitely feels for the birth of his nation-- and that's the poem we're going to talk about today, “Easter, 1916” but before we go there, there's another part of him that has fascinated the world- another strangeness. Yeats had a strange fascination with this woman named Maud Gonne. Who is she? I would say, Maud Gonne is what Brittney Spears might call a Femme Fatale. Oh dear, Brittney Spears makes an Irish appearance! I think Yeats would have like Britney, actually. But anyway, the story goes that Yeats writes a poetry book. It gets published and actually becomes pretty popular. One person who noticed it was a woman named, Maud Gonne. She was independently wealthy- very rich in fact, young, beautiful, well educated and an extremely aggressive Pro-Ireland political activitist and actress. Like Yeats, she was from Ireland, but Anglo-Irish- so not ethnically Irish, but from Ireland. I know that gets confusing. After Yeat's book came out, she went to see him in London, and he immediately fell in love with her. They hung out for the 9 days she was there in London- and apparently that was enough to inspire a 45 year infatuation. He was going to be in love with her for most of his life. He proposed to her more times than I can find out- exactly- I've heard numbers like 18 times- she rejected him every single time. He wrote love poem after love poem for her. He wrotes plays for her to act in. Sounds a little bit like Petrarch and Laura- he seemed to enjoy unrequited love- the impossible woman. Yeah- except it gets weirder. Yeats, was absolutely convinced Maud was this virginal innocent rose. Even after birthing two children with a married French journalist, sadly one child died. The other, however, did not, Iseult. Anyway, Yeats- in the face of insurmountable evidence- believed Maud was virginal until finally she told him the truth years later that the child was actually hers. How did that go over? Well, at first he quit writing poetry about her, but then he did what most men would do who can't get over their femme fatale even after 45 years. Oh, and what is that? He waited until the Iseult turned 22, and then tried to talk her into marrying him. By her, do you mean the daughter? Or did he try to get the daughter to talk her mother to marry him. Oh no, you were right the first time. He proposed to the daughter- and she seriously considered it. Well, there you are. I'm assuming she looked like her mother. You assume correctly. She looked uncanningly like her mother did at that age. Nice. So, are we to assume it's a physical obsession that lasted all those years? Part of it, I guess. I'm sure, it would be a fascinating psychological study, if people do stuff like that. He definitely was enamoured with Maud Gonne's beauty, but they also connected spiritually. They both shared a lot of these animistic beliefs, not fairies, but connecting with the other world and things like that. But, one other thing that really attracted him to her was her politics. She was a extremely vocal spokesperson for the Irish homeland- something Yeats believed in too. He wasn't as big of an advocate as she was because she was for violence and he was against that, but she had real conviction. She gave speeches, organized protests, did a lot of the things we seen political activitists do today- all of this was to overthrow British rule. Well, let me add that in the late 1890s, this would have been very progressive. Gender stereotypes were deeply entrenched during this time period, especially in Ireland. It's unusual for a man of this period to find this kind of independence so irresistibly attractive. I agree, but Yeats is one of those men that is attracted to strong women- Maud Gonne and her daughter weren't the only ones. He had a very deep and personal relationship with another woman named Olivia Shakespear, who actually was in love with him and whom he blew off. He also was besties with another powerful Irish nationalist woman named Lady Augusta Gregory. She actually worked with him on an important project to help create an Irish theater, and even supported him financially. Anyway, the reason I bring all this up besides the fact that it's just kind of interesting, is that the poem Easter, 1916 is a political poem, but it's deeply personal as well. Yeats did that sort of thing a lot- he would take a world event and make it personal. The poem “Easter, 1916” is considered the most powerful political poem every written in the English language- of course that's always arguable. But it is powerful. But it also connects personally. In 1903 Maud Gonne- the ultimate unattainable woman- actually marries someone else- ending for a time Yeat's continual marriage proposals. She marries an Irish revolutionary named Major John MacBride. And not long after this, political chaos is breaking out all over the world. Tell us about it, Garry. Well, just in terms of Ireland, after the potato famine- which I cannot overemphasize how serious that is, we have what has been called The Land Wars. To oversimply, in the 1800s rural tenant farmers were starving, they couldn't pay their rents, they got evicted by rich often absentee landlords, and then violence erupts. By this time, concessions were being made and many tenants were buying their own property. The Irish were making progress towards a better life, but it's a mess. Many were still leaving for America; many were still convinced they needed their own country. The country is totally divided. In 1914, Britain finally approves Home Rule, which means that Ireland won't be independent, but will rule itself. This seems great, except World War 1 breaks out and home rule doesn't get implemented. And Yeats is not really on team Radical- like Maud Gonne is. Maud Gonne wants complete independence and an Irish state. Yeats is for Ireland, but he believes England will keep faith; Home Rule will be a reality and no one else really needs to die over this. His, like many Irish people, was a middle of the road, ready for compromise kind of attitude. He wants reconciliation between the people groups, which makes sense if you think about his upbringing. But here's the complication with World War 1- what are the Irish supposed to do? They want to rule themselves, they've been promised they are going to be given this opportunity with Home Rule, but now they've been told, we'll we get around to doing that later. We have a bigger problem and we can't deal with this right now. Oh and by the way, we need you to send your young men to fight. The Irish are in an existential double-bind. Now they find themselves having to decide do that fight FOR the British against the Germans or do they run the risk of Germany winning? Many Irish chose to fight with the British. Now think about what does this mean? Christy, you have strong feelings about World War 1- what do you think? I really do- I hate WW1- it was just the worst. It means trenches, poisonous gas, trench foot, it means awful political propaganda. It means little children as young as 14 lying about the age and people knowing they were lying about their age and dying in those awful trenches for reasons they couldn't even tell you. It means everything awful. Ha! True- tell us how you really feel. Well, it's so sad. Anyway, I guess for the Irish, it means, if they fight for the British, they earn the right for some sort of independence. Yeats believed, and I use his words, the British may still “keep faith.” Well, that brings us to the year 1916. The year has been going on for a while now. In Ireland there were basically two political parties- one for fighting for the British, another against. There was an Irish Militia= the Volunteers- of this group- there were the National Volunteers and then the Irish Volunteers. You can probably guess which one was for supporting the war and which one was more interested in creating a free state of Ireland. I'm going to say the Irish Volunteers. Yep, and I hope this isn't hard to follow- but here's what happened- we have two groups of people. During the week of Easter 1916, we have many of the Irish Volunteers making the decision that they were going to take the opportunity that the British were distracted by the war and declare independence. They picked Easter because of the idea of Jesus Rising again, the Irish rising again, so around 1600 go downtown, stage a rebellion, take over a bunch of buildings most prominently the Post Office and declare that Ireland is now a Republic. The British, of course, respond by bringing in troops. It gets violent, 485 are killed- half of those civilians. 1800 are taken to prison in Britain. It's a big riot. For the most part, most Irish people don't support this movement. However, the British make a terrible political mistake. They choose to execute 16 of the leaders of the rebellion. This caught everyone by surprise and outraged the people of Ireland. Yeats was in the group. It wasn't that he thought what the rebels did was right, but he understood their frustration, and the English owed them some sympathy. Exactly, and the irony is not lost on anyone that during this same week over in Hulluch, where they were fighting the Germans, the Germans had just released an extremely deadly poisonous gas attach on an Irish division of Volunteers and 442 had died just from the gas poisoning on the first day of the attack alone. And here's the personal connection, one of the men executed by the British for being a leader in the rebellion was Maud Gonne's husband, McBride. Yeats is very moved by everything. He's moved by the rebellion and he's devastasted by the response of the British in executing the rebel leaders. He says this in a letter to Lady Gregory, “I had no idea that any public even could so deeply move me,” He was not even in Ireland at the time. He further told her later, “I am very despondent about the future. At the moment, I feel that all the work of years has been overturned, all the bringing together of classes, all the freeing of Irish literature and criticism of politics.” In the poem, which we're getting ready to read, he talks about four of the rebels specifically. A couple of them he liked. He hated McBride, not just because Maude Gonne had married him, but because he physically beat her and her daughter and since they were Catholic she couldn't divorce him. McBride was a horrible person, but he knew him. Dublin was a small town, and everyone knew everyone involved. When Yeat's writes at the end of the poem that all has changed- changed utterly. He means exactly that. There is no going back to the way we were thinking before. Yes- the Irish war for independence starts in 1919 and by December 6, 1921, there is a free Irish state. The poem was not published until 1920, so that's halfway between the war years, I guess. It helped unify the Irish into wanting independence- he was famous. He also made what happened in Dublin personal to everyone. What's interesting about the poem is that it doesn't necessarily make the people who were executed holy martyrs- he even wonders if it was worth their lives. What it did was, kind of say, well, maybe they were too fanatical, maybe they should have done it, maybe they shouldn't, but that's in the past now. Now, I'm going to wear Green- and we all know that's the color representing Ireland, the Emerald Island. Let's read the poem. We'll read it stanza by stanza, and then we'll make some more comments at the end. I have met them at close of day Coming with vivid faces From counter or desk among grey Eighteenth-century houses. I have passed with a nod of the head Or polite meaningless words, Or have lingered awhile and said Polite meaningless words, And thought before I had done Of a mocking tale or a gibe To please a companion Around the fire at the club, Being certain that they and I But lived where motley is worn: All changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. First thing to notice is that it's in the first person. I- have met them. These people- these were people I knew before the war. For the most part, I didn't even care a lot about these people, “I have passed with a nod of the head or polite meaningless words”. He points out that he had even made fun of them, “thought before I had done of a mocking tale or a gibe…at the club”- maybe he had thought they were just the crazy radical people they sat around drinking laughing at the less educated types. Notice that he throws in the word “motley”- that's the outfit court jesters wore, the fools- they were clowns until- all changed, changed utterly- a terrible beauty is born. And it is that phrase, “terrible beauty that people love so much”. It's an oxymoron. What happened was terrible- the rebellion was terrible- but they were doing it for something beautiful. Their ideals were honest. There death is giving life to something that is important to all of us- they were proven to be right. but the actors in this comedy are going to transform into players in a tragedy as we move through the stanzas. Let's read the second one, That woman's days were spent In ignorant good-will, Her nights in argument Until her voice grew shrill. What voice more sweet than hers When, young and beautiful, She rode to harriers? This man had kept a school And rode our wingèd horse; This other his helper and friend Was coming into his force; He might have won fame in the end, So sensitive his nature seemed, So daring and sweet his thought. This other man I had dreamed A drunken, vainglorious lout. He had done most bitter wrong To some who are near my heart, Yet I number him in the song; He, too, has resigned his part In the casual comedy; He, too, has been changed in his turn, Transformed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. So in this stanza, he describes four people. Four people he knew. I do want to point out that these four people are not the four most important people in the rebellion. They aren't the most significant rebels. He picks them because they were personal friends. “That woman” “That woman”- Constance Markievicz- wasn't executed, but she was from Sligo- where we went to play as a child in the summer. She was his childhood friend. She also was a really good human. She was rich and born to privilege. She actually was the first woman ever elected to parliament, and later the first woman in Europe to ever have a cabinet position. So, she was important, but by the time she died she had given away her entire fortune and died in a ward, among the poor where she wanted to be”. She was arrested, but was not executed during the uprising. Then we have “This man”- Patrick Pearse- was executed. He was a fellow poet and a huge ring leader. Yeats says he rode that winged horse- that's Pegasus the pure white horse with the wings . “This other his helper and friend is a reference to” Thomas McDonagh- Pearse and McDonagh started a school together and were teachers in Dublin. Yeats had been a guest lecturer for them many times. He respected how they were building a generation of Irish thinkers. “This other man”- John McBride- an abusive person – he was a drunken, vainglorius lout who had done most bitter wrong to some who are near my heart- but he still includes him here in his little list of actors. He calls what they were involved with a “casual comedy”. But is it funny? Of course not. It got serious really quickly. Well, what I see, with the possible exception of McBride- these were good sincere people that were targeted by the British- not a bunch of thugs. I think so- and that takes us to the third stanza- it's a little more philosophical and abstract. Hearts with one purpose alone Through summer and winter seem Enchanted to a stone To trouble the living stream. The horse that comes from the road, The rider, the birds that range From cloud to tumbling cloud, Minute by minute they change; A shadow of cloud on the stream Changes minute by minute; A horse-hoof slides on the brim, And a horse plashes within it; The long-legged moor-hens dive, And hens to moor-cocks call; Minute by minute they live: The stone's in the midst of all. This stanza is harder to follow, Christy. True, one of the things that is so hard about Yeats, and we're going to talk about this way more next week with the poem “The Second Coming” is that he holds symbols in such high regard. He thinks of them as way more interesting than just one thing representing something else. So, when we see something here, like we do in this poem that looks like it might be a symbol, we have to think of it more deeply because that's how Yeats's thinks of it. So, what is a symbol and how do we know if something IS a symbol or not? That's a great question. I tell students all the time, something might be a symbol for something else if it looks out of place. If something that shouldn't be so important is given more importance than it regularly deserves. Here's an example, if I'm an elegant model, and everything I wear is extremely expensive, in the latest fashion, all that stuff, and I show up to an event, and I wear this very tattered and old looking bracelet around my arm- you know- that must be a symbol. You wouldn't be wearing it if it weren't. You ask about it, and you find out it belonged a relative who had passed away or something like that- and all of a sudden it makes sense. Things like that. So, in this stanza, it starts out like we would expect- all the hearts of the people he'd been talking about have one purpose and then this purpose is connected to a stone- and not just connected he uses the word “enchanted to a stone”- what the heck does that mean/. Well, to you or me who aren't Irish- it may mean nothing. But if you're Irish, you likely know that one of the names of Ireland is the Island of the Stone of Destiny. You may also know that in Irish folklore the Stone of Destiny was one of the four sacred talismans of the goddess Dana and all the kings of Ireland were crowned upon this inauguration stone and their destiny was tied in with the magical powers of the stone. And if you really know your folklore, as Yeats did and often referenced in a lot of other poetry, you may also know that this stone is enchanted but sometimes fatal. Okay- so if the stone is symbolizing Ireland, what does this stanza mean? Well, that's the thing about ambiguous writing- you have to decide what you think, and people don't agree. What we know for sure, is we see this image of something that stays the same- a rock- if we take it to mean a symbol of Ireland, then he's making a statement about his homeland. It's something that survives- but as things change like the living stream- it can be fatal too. To be Irish is to have a heritage, for all of its beauty and magic, is not always safe- the stone troubled the living stream. But then again, this is just my interpretation. Some people thing the stone represents the coldness and the stream represents Ireland, so don't be afraid to read it and make your own ideas. That's what poetry is all about- words bringing emotions to the surface and meaning different things to different people. The last stanza is left cryptic in some ways because it writes out people's names again very specifically, but there's a lot of other images that can be difficult. Let's read it and finish out. Too long a sacrifice Can make a stone of the heart. O when may it suffice? That is Heaven's part, our part To murmur name upon name, As a mother names her child When sleep at last has come On limbs that had run wild. What is it but nightfall? No, no, not night but death; Was it needless death after all? For England may keep faith For all that is done and said. We know their dream; enough To know they dreamed and are dead; And what if excess of love Bewildered them till they died? I write it out in a verse— MacDonagh and MacBride And Connolly and Pearse Now and in time to be, Wherever green is worn, Are changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. So, here we see all of a sudden all these rhetorical questions. He's asking the obvious question of is something like this worth it? Is it justified? Are there things we shouldn't do, even if the cause is noble? He literally askes, “Was it needless death after all?” He asks the obvious political question- England may have kept her end of the deal. Did they love too much? Then he kind of ends by immortalizing these names. Kind of like saying, well, it's too late to know now. We will never know because the sacrifice is made. They will be immortalized. Just so you know, Maude Gonne hated the poem. The poem was first pubished just for friends- so she got an early copy. She said this, “Easter 1916, No, I don't like your poem. It isn't worthy of you and above all it isn't worthy of the subject- though it reflects your present state of mind perhaps, it isn't quite sincere enough for you who have studied philosophy and know something of history know quite that that sacrifice has never yet turned a heart to stone though it has immortalized many and through it alone mankind can rise to God. You recognize this in the line which was the original inspiration of your poem, ‘a terrible beauty is born' but you let your present mood mar and confuse it till even some of the verses become unintelligible to many”. She went on and on but then got to the part about her husband to which she said, “as for my husband he has entered eternity by the great door of sacrifice which Christ opened and has therefore atoned for all”. You can tell she felt free to share her mind. Ha! Well, most of the world disagrees with her and has found it worthy. I do want to come around to just a couple more interesting quirks before we leave it. If you were to gray out all the words and just look at the form- Yeats deliberately wrote the poem to look like a column but a broken one- it's skinny, the lines are short and fractured. If you were to put this poem next to a picture of the shelled building on Sackville Street where the riot occurred, it would like kind of similar. The poem is to be the monument that outlives the photograph of the scene the most of us will never see. And he did that on purpose. Yep- that's why Poets write in verse- they can do stuff like that which you can't do in a story. Also, another point to notice- he signs and dates the poem, but the date is weird. It's not the date of the Rising, instead it's September 25, 1916 presumably the date he finished writing it. But the date of the uprising is encoded in the lines. There are four stanzas- the fourth month- April- the first and and third stanza have 16 line (the year) the second and forth have 24 – the dates. It's a strange way to date a poem, but the date of the event is embedded the the structure. Then we have the date at the end. And so we have to ask, Garry, what happened on that date? Well, I'm assuming you are meaning WW1- that date overlaps with the horrific Battle of the Somme. In that battle alone, the British lost almost 500,000 young lives many of them Irish. I guess it's a final irony. Why did Yeats included the date when he usually didn't date his poems? Maybe as a way of reminding his readers, and here we are. It's not over yet. A terrible beauty has been born- I have written a monument for those who dreamed of a new Ireland- but this new Ireland will have to negotiate a new modern world order- it will not be a casual comedy- and no matter where you fall on the spectrum of identity politics- we will all remember and wear Green. And of course- all of this during Holy Week of Easter, 1916- nothing could be more ironic. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed learning. Little of the history of Ireland as it is personalized for us by the great William Butler Yeats. This episode we looked at his most famous political poem, next week we will look at the poem that inspired the title for “Things fall Apart”. We look forward to it and hope you do too. As always, text this episode to a friend, spread the word about the podcast on your own social media, and help us grow.
On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by Gerard Shannon to discuss Seán Russell, the former Chief of Staff of the IRA. Russell continues to be a deeply controversial and divisive figure to the present day and his statue in Fairview Park, near Dublin's city centre, has been frequently vandalised, and at one stage decapitated. Russell joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and fought in the Easter Rising. After being interned in Frongoch, he fought in the War of Independence, rising to become IRA Director of Munitions in 1920. He fought with the Anti - Treaty IRA in the Civil War and was interned by the new Irish government. He remained with IRA after his release and became Quarter Master General. It was his actions during the Second World War that would lead to his continuing notoriety. As chief of staff he oversaw the ill fated bombing campaign in British cities in 1939. In 1940, following a tour of the United States, he travelled to Genoa and then onto Berlin where he held discussions with German military intelligence and received explosives training with the Abwehr. As he was travelling back to Ireland aboard a German U - Boat he suffered a burst stomach ulcer and died. Gerard Shannon is a historian from Skerries in Co. Dublin and a graduate of the School of History and Geography in DCU. He is currently working on a biography of the IRA Chief of Staff during the Civil War, Liam Lynch for Merrion Press. You can find his website at gerardshannon.com Gerard has written two articles on Russell for the Irish Story website which are available here: https://www.theirishstory.com/2020/07/02/the-only-irishman-that-was-incorruptible-sean-russell-and-the-ira-part-one-1893-1930/#.YL_5tvlKjIU https://www.theirishstory.com/2020/07/13/worthy-successor-of-tone-and-casement-sean-russell-and-the-ira-part-two-1931-40/#.YL_52_lKjIU Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.
This is the second episode in a series regarding Irish politician Eamon De Valera. As Dublin prepares to celebrate Easter, Eamon De Valera Commander of the 3rd battalion of the Irish Volunteers prepares his men to seize their independence of Great Britain. The 1916 Easter Rising becomes the launching pad for the nationalist movement and De Valera. This podcast seeks to cover each of the major locations involved in the rebellion; with a focus on Boland's Bakery. The material in this podcast serves to cover the International Baccalaureates' paper two topic 8 - Independence Leaders.
In the latest installment of the War of Independence series we look at the famous 1918 election from the perspective of a forgotten Sligo woman Sarah Garvey who started a riot on election day! The results of this election lead to the historic meeting of the first independent Irish parliament - the Dáil. Then to conclude the episode we travel to rural Tipperary, and a place called Soloheadbeg. On January 21st 1919 members of the Irish Volunteers ambush by a convoy of explosives - an action widely considered to be the opening shots of the war. You can find the posters mentioned at irishhistorypodcast.ie/shopAdditional research was by the archivist and historian Sam McGrath, sound was by Jason Looney, additional narrations are by Aidan Crowe and Therese Murray and the artwork for the series is by Keith Hynes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
About the PoemLament of Thomas McDonagh is a poem written by Francis Ledwidge for his close friend, Thomas McDonagh, who was executed for his role in the Easter Rising in 1916 in Ireland. The Easter Rising was often called a poet’s rebellion because so many of the organizers were writers, such as Thomas McDonagh & Padraic Pearse. Similarly, Francis Ledwidge’ s poem blends natural imagery with political sentiments. Lament for Thomas McDonagh explores the theme of rebirth throughout, bringing in images of springtime, the Christian resurrection, and political renewal. ____________________________________About the PoetFrancis Edward Ledwidge was an Irish war poet and solider.He was born in Slane, Co Meath in 1887 and one of a family of 9. He one of the co-founders of the Slane branch of the Meath Labour Union and a found member of Slane Branch of the Irish Volunteers. He remained a member of the Irish volunteers but with the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, Ledwidge nonetheless, enlisted in the British Army joining Lord Dunsany’s regiment – the 5th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers- Sometimes known as the Poet of the Blackbirds, he died in July 1917 – just aged 29, during the Third Battle of Ypres in Belgium during WW1 ___________________________________How to Listen and followYou can listen to the podcast , My Poetry Readings, on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts by clicking on any of the links above or on the podcast websiteYou can also subscribe and follow the podcast on social media by clicking on the links either on the top banner or the links below:-Facebook - @mypoetryreadingsInstagram - @mypoetryreadingsTwitter:- @mypoetryreadin1Youtube:- My Poetry Readings with Declan Walsh___________________________________Now for the promotion bit!I hope you enjoy and looking forward to hearing any comments or suggestions that you may have .If you have enjoyed , please spread the word , like , share (etc!) -by clicking the 'Share Episode' link above. If you can, please leave a review and star rating on Apple Podcasts. This will help others to also enjoy the podcast.Thanks for listening - Till next time..Slán go fóillDeclan______________________________________________Other linksGrace - Jim McCannGrace - The CoronasGrace - Rod StewartThe Francis Ledwidge Museum RTE Nationwide Documentary
Join Lorcan Collins for an episode on the life of Michael Joseph O'Rahilly, known as The O'Rahilly who was killed leading a charge against a British machine gun on Moore Street in Dublin during teh Easter Rising of 1916 in Ireland. The O'Rahilly was the Director of Arms for the Irish Volunteers and drove around Ireland cancelling the 1916 Rising only to join in when he discovered it was going ahead.
Episode 4 is on the forgotten poet and Irish rebel Joseph Campbell who penned the words to the traditional airs My Lagan Love and The Gartan Mother's Lullaby. Not only that, Campbell was a founding member of the Ulster Literary Theatre (c.1904) and the Irish Volunteers (1913), he took part in the Easter Rising (1916), became a Sinn Fein Councillor in 1921, and was interned by pro-treaty forces during the Irish Civil War in 1922/23.Podcast theme music via Jason Shaw at www.audionautix.com Cover image produced using the A R Hogg Collection: PRONI Ref: LA/7/8/HF/3/9Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historicalbelfast?fan_landing=true)
On Easter Monday, April 24 1916, 1,200 members of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army mustered in Dublin and declared the formation of the Irish Republic. Marxist and Irish Republican, James Conolly, led the Irish Citizen's Army in hopes that the Easter Rising would touch off a revolution in Ireland that would lead to the establishment of a Workers' Republic, the death of the British Empire, and the beginning of a socialist world revolution. Over a century later, Ireland is still ruled in the north by what remains of the British Empire, The Republic of Ireland is Bankers' Republic, and hopes for the world revolution are a nostalgic memory... for now. Manifesto of the Irish Socialist Republican Party (Connolly):https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1896/xx/isrp.htmConnolly and the Paris Communehttps://jacobinmag.com/2016/04/james-connolly-paris-commune-easter-rising-tactics?fbclid=IwAR2NFon_XDCsFniTFdsVD1qM_u3m23fbJ88qKzokacYaSqghGlaPIAevu40Socialism Made Easy (Connolly) -- the only long-ish one:https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2017-07-26/james-connollys-socialism-made-easy-1909-11-political-action-laborEaster Rising Proclamation (original text):https://www.onthisday.com/photos/easter-proclamation-of-1916Socialism and Nationalism (Connolly):|https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1897/01/socnat.htmhttps://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1897/xx/scirenat.htmSocialism and Religion (Connolly):https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1901/evangel/socrel.htmSocialism in Ireland (Connolly):https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1908/03/socinire.htmDirect Action in Belfast (Connolly):https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1911/09/diract.htmThe Hope of Ireland (Connolly):
In this episode we talk about Ireland between 1917 and 1918, focusing on how Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers were able to rebuild themselves after Easter Rising. Transcript Theme Sound: Symphony no. 5 in Cm, Op. 67 – III. Allegro Image designed by @GraphicsHub3 References: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-35876886 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frongoch_internment_camp http://www.easter-rising-frongoch.wales/ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/27/welsh-village-frongoch-summons-ghosts-irelands-revolutionary-past https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/the-prison-where-michael-collins-thrived-and-william-halpin-went-mad-1.2908461?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fheritage%2Fthe-prison-where-michael-collins-thrived-and-william-halpin-went-mad-1.2908461 https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/diarmaid-ferriter-the-1916-prisoners-released-on-christmas-eve-1.2915580 https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/1916/after-the-rising/frongoch-university-of-the-revolution-34466342.html https://www.theirishstory.com/2017/12/04/interview-tomas-macconmara-on-1917-in-ireland-and-the-death-of-thomas-ashe/#.Xov1vnJOnIU https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/carrying-a-cross-for-ireland-thomas-ashe-in-profile […]
For this weeks episode Kevin told Jason all about Erskine Childers and his part in the Howth Gun-Running of 1914, where 1000's of German guns were delivered to the Irish Volunteers, as well as his life during the Civil War / War of Independence. We've done a couple of episodes around that period for the centenary so expect to see a few more coming up this season! This episode also features some shite talk about Kevin's dog, Antz and Harry Potter
For this weeks episode Kevin told Jason all about Erskine Childers and his part in the Howth Gun-Running of 1914, where 1000's of German guns were delivered to the Irish Volunteers, as well as his life during the Civil War / War of Independence. We've done a couple of episodes around that period for the centenary so expect to see a few more coming up this season! This episode also features some shite talk about Kevin's dog, Antz and Harry Potter
In the hopes of stopping Sinn Féin's dramatic growth the British government introduced proportional representation for all local elections held in Ireland in 1920. But just as it did in the 1918 general election, Sinn Féin stormed the polls and were in a position to appoint a number of Lord Mayors when the new councils met on the 30th of January. In Cork, a respected member of the Gaelic League and a vetern of the Irish Volunteers, Tomás MacCurtin, was elected when the opposition failed to agree on a candidate but his tenure would be short lived. On the 20th of March 1920 MacCurtin was killed during a raid on his house by individuals with blackened faces. British authorities said it was the result of an internal feud in the IRA but evidence pointed to a murder squad set up within the RIC. References: Maurice Walsh - “G2: In Defence of Ireland” T. Ryle Dwyer - “The Squad” Tim Pat Coogan - “Michael Collins” Moirin Chavasse - “Terence MacSwiney” Irish Volunteers: Cork City and County - http://diarmuidlynch.weebly.com/corks-irish-volunteers.html Proportional Representation, Sligo - http://www.sligoarts.ie/media/Proportional%20Representation.pdf Local Government Elections - https://www.dail100.ie/en/long-reads/local-government-elections/ Cork County Council, minutes from 1920 - http://sp1ral.corkcity.ie/services/corporateandexternalaffairs/archives/otherdocuments/cork1920-enduringthemost/extractsfromcouncilminutesfor1920/ The Killing of Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain - http://homepage.eircom.net/~corkcounty/maccurtain.html Ireland's Wars: The Murder of Tomás MacCurtain - https://neverfeltbetter.wordpress.com/2019/11/12/irelands-wars-the-murder-of-tomas-mac-curtain/ Bryan Fergus Molloy - http://www.bloodysunday.co.uk/castle-intelligence/mulloy/molloy.html Alan Bell, shot Mar 1920 in Dublin - http://www.bloodysunday.co.uk/castle-intelligence/thomson/bell/bell.html Social Media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/theirishnation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIrishNationLives/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirishnationlives/ Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/theirishnationlives iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-irish-nation-lives Main Sources: Military Archives - http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie Century Ireland - https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland Diarmuid Lynch, Irish Revolutionary - http://diarmuidlynch.weebly.com/ Atlas of the Irish Revolution Maurice Walsh - “Bitter Freedom” Charles Townshend - "The Republic" Michael Hopkinson - ”The Irish War of Independence” Diarmuid Ferriter - “A Nation and not a Rabble” Richard Abbot - “Police Casualties in Ireland 1919 - 1922” Photos: Military Archives NLI Flickr account Wiki Commons
The Bachelors Walk Massacre of 1914 was a turning point event in the Irish revolution, shocking Dubliners and packing the ranks of the Irish Volunteers. Yet today the event is largely forgotten, without so much as a plaque honouring the victims. Guest: Lorcan Collins, Historian and Author. Hosted by Donal Fallon (www.comeheretome.com)
In August 1919 Cathal Brugha sought to formalise the relationship between the government and the Irish Volunteers by having them swear and oath of allegiance to Dáil Éireann. Brugha might also have been trying to out maneuver the Irish Republican Brotherhood who were recruiting Irish Volunteer officers with an aim to influencing the organisations course of action in the years ahead. The oath would have little impact on either the IRB or the government's control of the army but it would cause the Irish Volunteers to adopt the title of the Irish Republican Army. References: Fergus O'Farrell “Cathal Brugha” Peter Hart - “Mick; The Real Michael Collins” Richard Abbott - “Police Casualties in Ireland 1919 - 1922” Social Media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/theirishnation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIrishNationLives/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirishnationlives/ Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/theirishnationlives iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-irish-nation-lives Main Sources: Military Archives - http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie Century Ireland - https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland Atlas of the Irish Revolution Maurice Walsh - “Bitter Freedom” Charles Townshend - "The Republic" Michael Hopkinson - ”The Irish War of Independence” Diarmuid Ferriter - “A Nation and not a Rabble” Photos: Military Archives NLI Flickr account Wiki Commons
Following Éamon de Valera's departure to the United States Michael Collins was finally in a position where he could begin his war against British Intelligence. It was clear that the Irish Volunteers could not hope to win in a fight against the British military but Collins believed that wiping out their spy network in Ireland would give the Volunteers a chance. In July he orders Dick McKee and Mick McDonnell of the Dublin Brigade to assemble a group of men for “special duties”, the first of which is the killing of a DMP Detective Sergeant. This group will later go on to form the Squad. References: T. Ryle Dwyer - “The Squad” Peter Hart - “Mick; The Real Michael Collins” Tim Pat Coogan - “Michael Collins” Richard Abbott - “Police Casualties in Ireland 1919 - 1922” BMH Statements: Eamon Broy WS1280 James Slattery WS445 Social Media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/theirishnation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIrishNationLives/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirishnationlives/ Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/theirishnationlives iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-irish-nation-lives Main Sources: Military Archives - http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie Century Ireland - https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland Atlas of the Irish Revolution Maurice Walsh - “Bitter Freedom” Charles Townshend - "The Republic" Michael Hopkinson - ”The Irish War of Independence” Diarmuid Ferriter - “A Nation and not a Rabble” Photos: Military Archives NLI Flickr account Wiki Commons
In this episode we study the structure of the Irish Volunteers, charting how their increase aggression in 1918 and 1919 eventually led to a war finally kicking off. Support The History of Ireland by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/historyofireland See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
After successfully stopping conscription Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers started increasing pressure on the British. This led to an inevitable clash with the Royal Irish Constabulary. In this episode we investigate the RIC, looking at how Sinn Fein turned the public against them and how this was an integral first step towards all out hostility. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In April of 1918 two Irish Volunteers were killed in raid on an R.I.C. station at Gortatlea in County Kerry. Months before Soloheadbeg this was an early action in the War of Independence. On the 18th of June the Ballymacelligott Company set out to take revenge for their fallen comrades. Tadhg Kennedy http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1413.pdf Thomas McEllistrim http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0882.pdf Dying for the Cause: https://www.mercierpress.ie/irish-books/dying-for-the-cause-/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theirishnation
This paper will highlight the continued leadership that southern unionists gave to the unionist position across Ireland during 1919-1922, not least by acting in an advisory capacity to the British cabinet. Highlighting the active role played by the Earl of Midleton upon replacing Sir Edward Carson as the leader of Irish unionism, it will demonstrate how continued influence over Irish financial institutions allowed southern unionists to play a critical role in the negotiation of a truce during the spring and summer 1921, in turn limiting the potential of the Dáil’s initial revolutionary programme of nationalisation. The Sinn Féin programme of consolidating the authority of the Dáil as a national government by means of affiliating local government bodies was altered in the summer of 1921 by the creation of a liaison arrangement of joint policing by the Royal Irish Constabulary and Irish Volunteers with equal responsibility for maintaining the peace. The significance of this development will be assessed according to the contrasting perspectives, or propagandas, of the Sinn Féin government and its unionist critics since 1919, while it will also be considered how it impacted upon the ‘army unity’ negotiations of 1922 when efforts were made to turn the Irish volunteer movement into a regular territorial army. Although not a party to articles of agreement for a treaty in December 1921, southern unionists continued to act as key intermediaries with the British cabinet during 1922. This paper will conclude by assessing the degree to which southern unionists were able to capitalise upon nationalist divisions during 1922 and if guaranteed southern unionist representation in the proposed Irish Free State Senate was or was not a potential significant counterbalance to the powers that the Dáil was to assume as a legislative assembly in December 1922. Dr. Owen McGee is a history graduate of UCD and the author of well-received books on Arthur Griffith (Merrion Press, 2015) and The IRB (Four Courts Press, 2005), which won the NUI Centennial Prize for Irish History. In addition to being a qualified archivist, he is currently completing a degree in digital humanities at University College Cork for which he is working on data visualisations of Irish historical records dating from 1919 to 1925.
In this episode we examine the world's descent into the First World War and how it impacted the escalation in tensions between the nationalists and unionists, who by 1914 had received large illegal shipments of guns. Now armed, both sides looked to the passing of the Home Rule Bill, since the House of Lords could no longer veto the Bill. The war forced both sides to look to events other than those occurring in their ruddy island, and with this new focus came decision time for the nationalists, led by John Redmond. Redmond's decision to call for Irish support of the war is examined here in the context of the time that it was made. Redmond's expectations and hopes for what Britain would grant to Ireland after the war revealed his motives, but his stance cost the unity of nationalists at home, as the Irish Volunteers split, and the group that elected to remain neutral set themselves on a path which for some would lead to the 1916 rising. Remember history friends, you can help this podcast and ensure that this... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This is an extract of an interview with Fionan Lynch for the Irish Life and Lore 1916 Oral History project. Fionán Lynch was Captain of F Company in the week before the Rising, during a period which he describes as “a week of rumours”. On Good Friday 1916, Fionán Lynch was ordered to go to King Street and Church Street, where he was to be positioned during the week. He recalls reading, with Gearóid O’Sullivan, the Countermanding Order issued by Eoin MacNeill in the Sunday Independent, following which they brought the newspaper to Seán McDiarmada at 44 Mountjoy Street, who was bitterly disappointed. The quietness of the first three days of Easter Week are described, as is the heavy fire of Wednesday morning at North King Street, and the house to house fighting, resulting in many civilian casualties. The handing over of the arms of the Irish Volunteers after the surrender is described, and the character of The O’Rahilly is recalled. Fionán Lynch also details the journey to Portland Prison in England Fionán Lynch describes the reception afforded to the Volunteers on their release from prison and return to Ireland. His subsequent work in canvassing with Tomás Ashe in Clare is also recalled, as is his attendance at the first Roger Casement Commemoration in Tralee, Co. Kerry, in 1917. That year, he was arrested and sentenced to two years imprisonment in Mountjoy Jail, where he and others went on hunger strike, resulting in the death of Ashe. Fionán Lynch records the fact that he was the last person to speak to Ashe before his death. To hear more, go to Irishlifeandlore.com
Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave recalls his father, WT Cosgrave's involvement during the Rising with the Irish Volunteers at the South Dublin Union.
Patrick Holahan was an officer in Na Fianna Eireann, and joined the Irish Volunteers in the Easter Rising. He tells the story of the raid on the magazine fort in the Phoenix Park, which marked the beginning of the Rising. His son Sean reads his statement here, and discusses his memories of his father.
http://history.radio.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Show26.mp3 On this episode, we discuss the landing of arms for the Irish Volunteers in Howth in 1914. We also discuss the Bachelor's Walk Massacre that happened that same day. We were joined by Pádraig Yeates. Pádraig Yeates is a distinguished social and labour historian and the author of Lockout, the standard work on the great 1913 labour dispute. He is also author of the acclaimed A City in Wartime, A City in Turmoil and A City in Revolution.
Frank Thornton had a long and eventful career in the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Army. Here he describes in his own words the treatment meted out to him after the surrender in Easter week.
As a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, Patrick J Bermingham was expected to disarm the Irish Volunteers returning from Howth with their consignment of rifles in 1914. However, given the fact that the Ulster Volunteers hadn't been stopped in their gun running attempts, he found this unfair and decided to do something about it.
Paddy Joe Stephenson was Quartermaster for D Company, 1st Battalion of the Irish Volunteers. In a memoir, read here by his grandson Jimmy Stephenson, he describes his daring efforts to procure arms for the Easter Rising, as well as his experiences fighting in the Mendicity Institution near the Four Courts during Easter week.
A member of the Irish Volunteers since its inception, John S O'Connor served in the 1st Battalion of the Irish Volunteers during the Easter Rising, fighting in the Jameson Distillery in Smithfield. In this fascinating recording from 1966, the 50th anniversary of the Rising, we hear a first-hand account of his experiences during the week and after.
How the Irish Volunteers landed a consignment of rifles into Howth Harbour.
What does Easter, the Titanic, and Abraham Lincoln all have in common? Windy City Irish Radio celebrates the arrival of Easter Sunday, and commemorates the 102nd anniversary of the Titanic sinking and the 149th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Join hosts Mike Shevlin and Tim Taylor for an hour of stories and music by U2, We Banjo 3, Eileen Ivers, Gaelic Storm, The Celtic Fiddlers, Irish Volunteers, Glen Hansard, The Saw Doctors, James Taylor, and Steve Goodman. Find us and Like Us on Facebook! Listen live each Wednesday night at 8pm on WSBC 1240AM Chicago and WCFJ 1470AM Chicago Heights. Contact us at tim.taylor@windycityirishradio.com for dedications, inquiries and compliments. For more information, www.windycityirishradio.com.
Celtic Lughnasadh and another story from our Scottish Shanachie, Duncan We've been away for nearly 6 weeks now. Unbelievably, with all of the ups and downs that life throws at you, we're still here! We're back - and to make up for our absence we bring you the biggest Celtic Myth Podshow Special ever - again!! It's just over an hour and a half long! If you like to listen to the show while commuting, it might be an idea to split it up into two halves. If you stop just after our visit to see Duncan, you'll be all set for the story in the last half. The Lughnasadh show has six wonderful pieces of music, a dreamy story, a poem and a beautifully sung version of that poem. We've also got a section about the festival of Lughnasadh from The Religion of the Ancient Celts by J. A. McCulloch. Full show notes, details and Contributor pages over at our main Website at http://celticmythpodshow.com/autumn Running Order: Intro 0:41 News & Views 2:05 At the Edge of the Cornish Sea by David Helfand 3:11 Lughnasadh from Religion of the Ancient Celts 6:12 Middleton Moor by Kiss the Mistress 15:19 Autumn by Francis Ledwidge 21:40 Black Dog of Loneliness by Orient XPress 23:31 The Shadow of Old Dreams by Andy Guthrie 28:07 Rowan & Bracken by Odd's Bodkin 33:01 Nami's Trees by Keith Wilson 37:18 Autumn by Linda Ballew 1:11:06 Listener Feedback - Deb 1:13:28 Celtic Language Podcasts, Pt.1 1:15:20 Scottish Gaelic 1:15:43 Welsh 1:18:20 Cornish 1:20:05 Lughnasadh Dance by Damh the Bard 1:21:36 Celtic Language Podcasts, Pt.2 1:26:40 Irish Gaelic 1:26:56 Breton 1:30:10 Well Below the Valley by Omnia 1:31:36 Outtakes 1:36:42 We hope you enjoy it! Gary & Ruthie x x Released: 19th Sep 2009, 1hr 40m We love hearing from you! Email garyandruth@celticmythpodshow.com, or call us using Speakpipe News & Views We say hello to all of our online friends, especially those on Facebook and Twitter and send out a huge welcome to the new people joining us from Myspace. Welcome all! We inform our listeners about the wonderful video interview with Ruthie taken by our friend, Paul Newman (catch up with Paul on Bandcamp). Paul has had a recent bereavement and we send our love out to him. At the Edge of the Cornish Sea by David Helfand David Helfand composes and performs original and traditional music on Celtic Harp, mandocello, guitar, keyboards and percussion. Many of David's compositions were born through improvisation and drawn on the inspiration found in the power of music from many wondrous cultures. "As I returned from my maiden voyage from the land of Britain full of awe, unspeakable joy and deep reservoirs of inspiration, slowly the music started to speak. From the high craggy cliffs where the ruins of Tintagel castle lay overlooking the dark waters off Cornwall's shore, to the ancient majestic ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and the dark mysteries of the Tower of London, the swirling maze of the city's streets and the magic of the standing stones on Salisbury Plain, I swam deep in the waters of imagination. Shortly after returning home and embarking on creating "At the Edge of the Cornish Sea", I soon shared with the world, dark grief and immense sadness as the two towers crumbled to the earth creating its deep grave of shattered lives and dreams. What once seemed important became insignificant against the dark clouds of sorrow." You can find out more about David on his website or on our Contributor Page. Lughnasadh Scant records remain of the ancient Celtic religion, beyond some eleventh- and twelfth-century written material from the Irish Celts and the great Welsh document Mabinogion. This classic study by a distinguished scholar, first published in 1911, builds not only upon the valuable hints supplied by the surviving texts but also upon the still-extant folk customs derived from the rituals of the old cults. A masterly and extremely readable survey, it offers a reconstruction of the essentials of Celtic paganism. The Celt is portrayed as a seeker after God who links himself by strong ties to the unseen, eagerly attempting to conquer the unknown by religious rite and magic art. The earliest aspect of Celtic religion lies in the culture of nature spirits and of life manifested in nature, and this book offers fascinating glimpses into primitive forms of worship, depicting Celtic rites centred on rivers and wells, trees and plants, and animals. The Druids maintained an optimistic view of the afterlife, and the author presents the subject from the comparative point of view, drawing upon evidence from Celtic burial mounds to elaborate upon ancient beliefs and customs related to the culture of the dead, including rites of rebirth and transmigration. Unabridged republication of the edition published by Constable and Company Limited, 1911. Project Gutenberg With gratitude for music provided by Anne Roos Middleton Moor by Kiss the Mistress Kiss The Mistress was formed 18 months ago and in that time has moved from folk club floor spots to main act bookings. Their debut CD About Time, released on the 20th March 2009 is already receiving rave reviews and their CD launch at the famous Cambridge Folk Club a fantastic night, attended and enjoyed greatly by an appreciative audience who had traveled from across the Eastern region to attend. You can find out more details about Kiss The Mistress on their website or on their Contributor Page on our website. Autumn by Francis Ledwidge Francis Ledwidge, the Irish nationalist and poet, was born in Slane on 19 August 1887 the son of a poor labourer. Leaving school at the age of 14 he worked in various manual labour positions while developing a love for and honing his own poetical talents. It was in 1911 that Ledwidge first received notable recognition for his poetry. Having sent a collection of his poems to well-known author Lord Dunsany he received a favourable response, Dunsany assuming the role of mentor to Ledwidge, introducing him to the Dublin literary scene. Although possessing moderate Irish nationalist views Ledwidge nevertheless signed up with the British Army - the Irish Volunteers in October 1914 - to serve in France and Flanders during World War One, on the basis that it was unreasonable to expect others to fight for the freedoms that he would later enjoy. Despite his initial reluctance to enlist he nevertheless argued that his service with the British during World War One was in no way incompatible with his nationalist views: rather, he believed he was furthering the cause of Irish independence from Britain. Archive.org Black Dog of Loneliness by Orient XPress Orient Xpress is a transCaucasian Indie Guitar band with Azeri passion, Irish soul, Essex Blag, Polish spirit, and a whole heap of loveliness. The sort of band that a 15yo crazy will love but his mum will too (from their Myspace page). You can find out more about Orient Xpress on their Contributor Page. The Shadow of Old Dreams by Andy Guthrie We are incredibly privileged to have Andy as a Contributor to the show. He tells stories that are alive in his family today and that have come down through the ages. He says: The old Legends are a passion and a Joy, and the writings of Fiona Macleod are inspiration, in all I do. I have been a Head gardener of 31 years for large house, and sill working, I see the years come and go from spring to winner, and love it all. I retell the old stories. You can read more about Andy on his Myspace page or on our Contributor Page. Rowan & Bracken by Odd's Bodkin Odd's Bodkin is a trio comprised of Kenny Klein, Anna Klein, and Stephanie Rosalyn Mitchell, performing Celtic-Gypsy-Pagan-Sea Shanty music at ren faires, Pagan events, and other venues. Their music ranges from serious to whacky, and their shows are a bit unpredictable. Original and Traditional British Isles, Celtic, and Gypsy music, Sea Shanties, Ballads and Weird Songs. Our new CD is available now on our other website, on this site, or at the Southern California Renaissance Faire and our other tour venues. You can find out more about Odd's Bodkin on their website or our Contributor Page. Nami's Trees by Keith Wilson Keith’s spiritual and musical paths seemed to somehow converge in Ireland, the homeland of his pre-revolutionary war American ancestors. Several of his previous band’s most memorable performance experiences, in which the audience connection could only be described as magical, took place in Dublin. He will return to Dublin for his first solo acoustic performance (as Saint Narcissus) at Eamonn Doran’s on August 14, 2009. In the intervening years, Keith has re-discovered his Celtic roots in Ireland as well as his new-found spiritual roots in their ancient Christian practices. Through immersion in research of many things Celtic, his writing continues to be heavily informed, inspired, and influenced by the world of Celtic myth and reality. You can find out more details about Keith on his Contributor Page on our website. Autumn by Linda (Mum) Ballew Ruthie's Mum sent us a beautifully sung version of Francis Ledwidge's poem Autumn in a superb coincidence for the season. We are so very proud of her version and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Linda spends her time helping others with a type of healing called 'Laughter Yoga'. You can find out more about this form of healing at the laughjoyfully.com website. She tells us that times are USA 6am, UK 11am - twenty minutes or so - US 1 712-423-3900 , Uk 001 712-432-2900 pin for both - 607 1292 # only Long Distance charges may apply. 365 days a year plus special occasions upon request. Birthdays, anniversaries, rites of passage, pagan and Christian rites - no charge but notice is needed for preparation. August SHE'LL come at dusky first of day, White over yellow harvest's song. Upon her dewy rainbow way She shall be beautiful and strong. The lidless eye of noon shall spray Tan on her ankles in the hay, Shall kiss her brown the whole day long. I'll know her in the windrows, tall Above the crickets of the hay. I'll know her when her odd eyes fall, One May-blue, one November-grey. I'll watch her from the red barn wall Take down her rusty scythe, and call, And I will follow her away. Listener Feedback from Deb in Kentucky We read a wonderful message from Deb from the Hudson Valley, NY. Celtic Language Podcasts 1 - Scottish Gaelic One Minute Gaelic One Minute Gaelic provides an introduction to basic Gaelic. With this course you will not become fluent, but you will acquire a range of useful expressions which you can use while on a trip to a Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland. Your efforts are guaranteed to make a good impression on people you meet. The phrases included in this course have been specially chosen to help the learner make fast progress on the basics of Gaelic, with each new episode building on previously-learned knowledge. You can find the podcast on iTunes, catch it with this Feed, or from the Radio Lingua website, Radio Lingua. Gaelcast Welcome to Gaelcast, where programs filled with news, interviews, stories, music and more in Scottish Gaelic and English will be podcast every other week. Gaelcast was founded by three people who have been involved in journalism, technology and Gaelic-language activities in the United States for many years: Mike MacKay, Ed Bradshaw and William (Liam) Cassidy. Mike and Liam, who have learned Gaelic, often may be heard as foreign commentators on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal in Scotland. Liam and Ed also are involved in music, performing in the band known as Na Maragan. Our aim is to produce audio programs that will be interest Gaelic speakers learners and native speakers wherever they may be in the wide world. You can find the podcast on iTunes, catch it with this Feed, or from the Gaelcast website. Letter to Gaelic Learners Letter to Gaelic Learners is informative, educational and interesting. A special programme, in the form of a 'letter', specifically aimed at Gaelic learners who already haver some knowledge of the language. The text and audio file for Roddy Maclean's "Letter to Gaelic Learners" is available here each Friday afternoon. Listen while you read by clicking the listen icon on the Alba website. You can find the podcast on iTunes, catch it with this Feed, or from the Alba website. Little Letter to Gaelic Learners Little Letter to Gaelic Learners is a simple letter for established Gaelic learners. Roddy Maclean has created this letter for learners who have progressed beyond basic learning, but find the Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh (Letter to Gaelic Learners) too advanced. Accompanying text is available in both English and Gaelic. Listen while you read by clicking the listen icon on the Alba website. You can find the podcast on iTunes, catch it with this Feed, or from the Alba website. - Welsh Learn Welsh Podcast A podcast to help people learn to speak the Welsh language in a fun and simple way. The Learn Welsh podcast is designed tgo teach you conversdational Welsh that will help you to underestand other Weklsh speakers and to be understood yourself. You can find the podcast on iTunes, catch it with this Feed, or from the Learn Welsh Podcast website. Say Something in Welsh (Southern) SaySomethingInWelsh is a new, simpler and faster way to learn Welsh. You don’t need to read or write or do any revision – you just start speaking normally and naturally from the very beginning. But we don’t expect you to take our word for it! You can find the podcast on iTunes, or from the Say Something in Welsh website. Say Something in Welsh (Northern) SaySomethingInWelsh is a new, simpler and faster way to learn Welsh. You don’t need to read or write or do any revision – you just start speaking normally and naturally from the very beginning. But we don’t expect you to take our word for it! You can find the podcast on iTunes, or from the Say Something in Welsh website. - Cornish Radio an Gernewegva Podkast yn Kernewek gans Mathew Clark. A podcast in the Cornish language. You can find the podcast on iTunes, or from the Radio an Gernewegva website. Lughnasadh Dance by Damh the Bard Damh is a modern-day Bard whose spirituality, and love of folk tradition, is expressed through his music, storytelling and poetry. Drawing on the Bardic traditions his performances are both entertaining and educational, weaving a tapestry of myth, peace, and anthems that speak directly to the heart, but never without a good splash of humour. Listen to this amazing song, originally written and performed by Gwydion Pendderwen. He released his first album, Songs for the Old Religion, in 1975, followed by a book of his music and lyrics titled Wheel of the Year in 1979. His second album, The Faery Shaman, was released in 1982. Both albums and the songbook were well-received by the Pagan community; the songbook included many songs which became classics within the community, and the two albums have since been collected as a two-CD set titled The Music of Gwydion, available from Serpentine Music. Gwydion also served for a time as a court bard to the West Kingdom of the Society for Creative Anachronism. You can find Damh's music on iTunes, or from his website, Pagan Music. He is also the voice behind Druidcast, the official podcast of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD, for short) - modern day Druids. You can find Druidcast here and find out more about OBOD here. You can find out more details about Damh on his Contributor Page on our website. Celtic Language Podcasts 2 - Irish Gaelic One Minute Irish One Minute Irish provides an introduction to basic Irish, or Gaeilge. With this course you will not become fluent, but you will acquire a range of useful expressions which you can use while on a trip to an Gaelic-speaking area of Ireland. Your efforts are guaranteed to make a good impression on people you meet. The phrases included in this course have been specially chosen to help the learner make fast progress on the basics of Irish, with each new episode building on previously-learned knowledge. You can find the podcast on iTunes, catch it with this Feed, or from the Radio Lingua website, Radio Lingua. Rí - Rá Weekly Irish lessons for kids or beginners in a fun and easy to learn format. Brought to you by the creators of ri-ra.ie, online and interactive irish lessons for kids. Sadly, we could only find three episodes of this fine show. You can find the podcast on iTunes, or with the Feed address, or from the Rí - Rá website. Blás Is é atá sa phodchraoladh seo ná míreanna ó chláracha Gaeilge BBC Raidió Uladh. Is é Blas príomhchlár Gaeilge an stáisiún, a chraoltar Luan, Máirt, Déardaoin agus Aoine á chur I láthair ag Lynette Fay, Tomaí Ó Conghaile is Brian Mullen. I rith Chraobhann Iomána agus Peile na hÉireann, tugann an clár An Domhnach Mór deis do lucht tacaíochta agus díograise na gcluichí a dtuairimí féin a nochtadh ina leith. Rogha míreanna ó na cláracha seo ar fad atá sa phodchraoladh. Bain sult as! You can find the podcast on iTunes, or with the Feed address, or from the Blás website. An tImeall The original Irish language podcast begun in July 2005. You can find the podcast on iTunes, or with the Feed address, or from the An tImeall website. Lá Irish language news and politics podcast. You can find the podcast on iTunes, or from the Lá website. An Líonra Sóisialta Irish language news and politics podcast. You can find the podcast on iTunes, or catch the Feed, or from the An Líonra Sóisialta website. - Breton Keleier ar gwia A tech podcast in the breton language. You can find the podcast on iTunes, or catch the Feed, or from the Keleier ar gwiad website. RCF Rivages: Buhez Activities and culture in the Breton language. You can find the podcast on iTunes, or catch the Feed, or from the Keleier ar gwiad website. Well Below the Valley by Omnia With eight CDs and a DVD to their name, OMNIA is one of the pioneers of the "PaganFolk" movement in Europe and has harvested international acclaim on many Pagan, Folk, Medieval, Gothic and Fantasy festivals, as well as in many theatres. OMNIA's sound is a mix of the deep earthy tones of Luka Aubri-Krieger's didgeridoo, the incomparable harp, hurdy-gurdy and bodhran playing of Jennifer Evans-van der Harten, the unmistakable "DADGAD" guitar-groove of Joe Hennon, the flutes, bouzouki, drums, and ironic dialogue of front man Steve "Sic" Evans-van der Harten and the deep tribal drumbeats of Mich Rozek. All of this is entwined and bound by haunting and powerful vocals singing in English, Gaelic, Breton, Latin, Finnish, German and Hindi... You can find out more details about Omnia on their Contributor Page on our website. Get EXTRA content in the Celtic Myth Podshow App for iOS, Android & Windows Contact Us: You can leave us a message by using the Speakpipe Email us at: garyandruth@celticmythpodshow.com. Facebook fan-page http://www.facebook.com/CelticMythPodshow, Twitter (@CelticMythShow) or Snapchat (@garyandruth), Pinterest (celticmythshow) or Instagram (celticmythshow) Help Spread the Word: Please also consider leaving us a rating, a review and subscribing in iTunes or 'Liking' our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CelticMythPodshow as it helps let people discover our show - thank you :) If you've enjoyed the show, would you mind sharing it on Twitter please? Click here to post a tweet! Ways to subscribe to the Celtic Myth Podshow: Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Special Thanks Tavola Rustica, for selections from all albums used during the Nami's Trees story. See the Contributor Page for details. For incidental music: Diane Arkenstone The Secret Garden. See the Contributor Page for details. Kim Robertson, Angels in Disguise. See the Contributor Page for more details. Jigger, Time Ticks Away. See the Contributor Page for more details. For our Theme Music: The Skylark and Haghole, the brilliant Culann's Hounds. See their Contributor page for details. Additional Sources OBOD And, of course, the Awen - inspiration and imagination! Extra Special Thanks for Unrestricted Access to Wonderful Music (in Alphabetic order) Anne Roos Extra Special thanks go for permission to use any of her masterful music to Anne Roos. You can find out more about Anne on her website or on her Contributor page. Caera Extra Special thanks go for permission to any of her evocative harping and Gaelic singing to Caera. You can find out more about Caera on her website or on her Contributor Page. Celia Extra Special Thanks go for permission to use any of her wonderful music to Celia Farran. You can find out more about Celia on her website or on her Contributor Page. Damh the Bard Extra Special thanks go to Damh the Bard for his permission to use any of his music on the Show. You can find out more about Damh (Dave) on his website or on his Contributor page. The Dolmen Extra Special thanks also go to The Dolmen, for their permission to use any of their fantastic Celtic Folk/Rock music on the Show. You can find out more about The Dolmen on their website or on our Contributor page. Keltoria Extra Special thanks go for permission to use any of their inspired music to Keltoria. You can find out more about Keltoria on their website or on their Contributor page. Kevin Skinner Extra Special thanks go for permission to use any of his superb music to Kevin Skinner. You can find out more about Kevin on his website or on his Contributor page. Phil Thornton Extra Special Thanks go for permission to use any of his astounding ambient music to the Sonic Sorcerer himself, Phil Thornton. You can find out more about Phil on his website or on his Contributor Page. S.J. Tucker Extra Special thanks go to Sooj for her permission to use any of her superb music. You can find out more about Sooj on her website or on her Contributor page. Spiral Dance Extra Special thanks go for permission to use Adrienne and the band to use any of their music in the show. You can find out more about Spiral Dance on their website or on their Contributor page. SaveWe finish off by wishing you 'Hwyl Fawr', which is Welsh for 'Goodbye and have fun'! Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save