Why Didn't Irish People Eat Fish During the G...

In 1922, Ireland gained its independence. The new state promised to revive the Irish language. A century later, English still dominates daily life. What went wrong?In this episode, I speak to John Walsh of the University of Galway, author of One Hundred Years of Irish Language Po ...  Show more

In the 1920s, the newly established Irish Free State embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in its history: the Shannon Scheme at Ardnacrusha.This was a state-of-the-art hydroelectric plant that paved the way for the electrification of Irish society. The schem ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why the potato crop failures in the 1840s had such a catastrophic impact in Ireland. It is estimated that one million people died from disease or starvation after the blight and another two million left the country within the decade. There had been ...  Show more

In the 1840s, famine hit Ireland with devastating consequences. But what were the circumstances that turned a potato blight into a catastrophe that shattered societal structures and caused around a million deaths? Padraic X Scanlan speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the causes and i ...  Show more

How did the memory of the Great Famine shape Irish identity? Could it have been prevented? From 1845 to 1852, a disease decimated potato crops across Ireland. Farmers of small plots who relied entirely on this monoculture were launched into complete destitution. Desperate famili ...  Show more

Christine Kinealy answers listener questions on the devastating famine that struck Ireland in the mid-19th century Christine Kinealy answers listener questions on the causes and consequences of the devastating famine that struck Ireland in the mid-19th century. Speaking to Ellie ...  Show more