Irish funerals and wakes are one of the more famous aspects of our culture. Often taking the form of a celebration, it has been said we do death well. However the modern Irish funeral is not the timeless tradition we often imagine. In this episode of the Irish History Podcast I explore the strange history of Irish funerals and the lost world of 19th-century death customs.

Drawing on folklore and first-hand accounts, I explore the history behind the banshee (bean sí) and other less well known death omens. I also trace the strange and unsettling rituals, superstitions and wake traditions that once surrounded death in Ireland - customs that can be difficult to relate to today.

From the banshee to the grave, this is a journey into a lost world of grief, ritual and belief.

Written, researched, and presented by Fin Dwyer

Sound: Kate Dunlea

Voice Actors: Aidan Crowe and Therese Murray

If you want to learn more about wakes, check out this episode recorded in the Irish Wake Museum https://shows.acast.com/irishhistory/episodes/the-irish-wake-a-history

Sources

* Patricia Lysaght, The Banshee: The Irish Death-Messenger https://archive.org/details/bansheeirishdeat0000lysa

* St. John Seymour, True Irish Ghost Stories https://archive.org/details/trueirishghostst00seymiala

Duchas.ie, the National Folklore Archive

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4602737/4599804/4634242

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427971/4362341/4466724

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4649683/4646384/4650807

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427866/4351921/4435336

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4649683/4646384/4650807

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758475/4747226/4779806

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5008831/4959379/5072669

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4623003/4622767/4630843

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4742070/4732588/4819790

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922035/4920905/4955848

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922258/4864961/5021036

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4706331/4703491/4726094

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"Intercourse between Bolshevism and Sinn Féin" These were the words one British newspaper used to describe the relationship between the Irish Republican movement and the fledgling Soviet Union during the Irish Revolution. It was an unlikely pairing. Ireland became a deeply conservative, Catholic country where communism was viewed with suspicion and fear. Yet during the Irish War of Independence, as British forces fought republicans across the island, whispers of Soviet support and communist sympathy rippled through both Dublin and London.

But how real was this link? Did the IRA truly seek Soviet weapons and backing? And what did Moscow make of Irish republicanism? This episode uncovers the remarkable and forgotten story of how Ireland and Soviet Russia came to view each other as potential allies, and why that relationship would ultimately collapse. This is the third episode in Brothers in Pain ia groundbreaking series by Dr Brian Hanley that explores the international dimensions of the Irish War of Independence.

Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley. Check out Brian's publications here https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php

Producer: Fin Dwyer

Sound: Kate Dunlea

Note from Brian :

In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;

Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Dublin's gay community, Irish Independence and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922 heralded anything but freedom. While the new state promised change, the gay community faced decades of repression, arrest, and severe punishment. Yet despite this, they continued to build lives, relationships, and communities in the shadow of fear.

In this episode, I am joined by historian Aevrill Earls to discuss her book Love in the Lav, a fascinating history of the community in Dublin in the decades after Irish independence. While repression is central to the story, this conversation also uncovers a more complicated picture of the community's relationship with wider Irish society and the ways people navigated a world shaped by surveillance, stigma, and silence.

Get you copy of Aevrill's book Love in the Lav

Become a supporter of the show patreon.com/irishpodcast

Get you copy of Love in the Lav

In Ireland - https://www.hodgesfiggis.ie/book/love-in-the-lav/averill-earls/9781439924167

In the US Bookshop.org - https://bookshop.org/p/books/love-in-the-lav-a-social-biography-of-same-sex-desire-in-ireland-1922-1972-averill-earls/99753665e753ea33?ean=9781439924167&next=t

Aevril Earls is Associate Professor of History at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, Executive Producer of Dig: A History Podcast, and co-convener of the Reminiscence and Remembrance Oral History Project for LGBTQ+ Ireland.

Sound: Kate Dunlea

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Keep handing it to the Micks. The Roman Catholic Irish are, and always have been, the only un-Americanised people in the United States.”

These words came from a supporter of Admiral William S. Sims, an ardent opponent of Irish republicans in the United States in the 1920s. This episode of Brothers in Pain explores the crucial battle for American public opinion during the Irish War of Independence.

While the equivalent of over one hundred million dollars was raised for republican organisations and for victims of the war of independence in Ireland, there was also strong opposition to Irish independence in the United States. Leading American politicians regarded Britain as a key ally, while groups like the Ku Klux Klan despised what they saw as immigrant politics. This podcast tells the history of this crucial battleground in the Irish War of Independence. Brothers in Pain is a groundbreaking series by Dr Brian Hanley that explores the international dimensions of the Irish War of Independence.

Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley

Producer Fin Dwyer

Sound Kate Dunlea

Note from Brian :

In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;

Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the outbreak of World War II, Ireland declared itself neutral. But neutrality didn't mean the country was untouched by the conflict. Known as the The Emergency, the war left people in Ireland facing invasion fears, severe rationing, and an uncertain future. Thousands of Irish men and women crossed the Irish Sea to serve in Allied armies and work in British wartime industries.

The memories of Ireland's wartime experience is now at the cusp of living memory. In 2025 Waterford Treasures Museum, talked to those who had memories of the war. In this episode, I speak with Donnchadh O'Ceallacháin about these memories. Donnchadh reveals how the war affected Ireland. From the scarcity of everyday goods to the courage of Irish soldiers at D-Day, these stories chronicle a remarkable time.

Become a supporter today and get early access to ad-free episodes including the latest episode of the new weekly series Brothers in Pain which is available now https://www.patreon.com/posts/153901266

Check out Waterford Treasures Museum: https://waterfordtreasures.com/

Sound by Kate Dunlea

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"There were spies, informers and degenerates of every kind and we were here to do business." These were the words an IRA activist describing his desperate, shadowy quest to source weapons for the IRA in Europe. But who were these people who traded weapons and information to support the IRA campaign in Ireland. \

In this episode of Brothers in Pain: The IRA in a Revolutionary World, Dr. Brian Hanley goes beyond the battlefields to uncover the hidden networks of the Irish Revolution. From the dangerous underworld of the continent to clandestine shipments across the Atlantic, we meet the smugglers, gun runners and fixers who operated in the shadows. This is the true story of the individuals who made the revolution possible in the face of impossible odds.

Support the show: www.patreon.com/irishpodcast

Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley

Producer Fin Dwyer

Sound Kate Dunlea

Note from Brian :

In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;

Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon,

Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick

Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John

Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry,

Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt

Guterl and James R. Barrett.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Irish War of Independence often conjures images of guerrilla fighters on lonely mountainsides, on the run from the Black and Tans. While that is part of the story, Ireland’s struggle for independence unfolded against the backdrop of a world in total crisis. As empires frayed and global movements for equality surged, the IRA sought out their own 'Brothers in Pain' navigating a shadow world of smugglers, gun runners, and unlikely international allies from the Soviet Union to the United States.

This overlooked international dimension is the focus of a new series on the Irish History Podcast, hosted by historian Dr. Brian Hanley. This marks a new chapter for the show as we expand to two episodes per week.

Brothers in Pain: The IRA in a Revolutionary World officially begins this Friday, March 20th. In this preview episode, I speak with Brian about what you can expect from this unique series as we uncover the story of the Irish Revolution as you have never heard it before.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 17th, thousands of St. Patrick's Day Parades take place across the globe. New York's parade, dating back to the 1760s, draws three million people and reinforces the stereotype that the parade is an American invention. Yet parades have been taking place since at least the early 17th century. The real origins of St. Patrick's Day Parade are far more complicated, and far more contentious, than anyone imagines.

In this episode, originally released on Transatlantic, the Irish American history podcast I make with Damian Shiels, we explore this history with Dr. Cian T. McMahon from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Cian challenges the myths surrounding the parade's origins and reveals how it became one of the world's most contested cultural events. He examines how it reflects the constantly changing nature of Irish identity and explores how women and LGBTQ+ activists fought for the right to participate in a celebration that was often fiercely controlled.

Cian T. McMahon is Professor of History at the Department of History and Honors College at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He was the co-editor of The Routledge History of Irish America and is the author The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine and The Global Dimensions of Irish Identity: Race, Nation and the Popular Press, 1840-1880.

Note from Fin: I have updated this episode since it was first published to correct a mistake in the original version. In the intro, I mistakenly referred to the LGBT community as the "LGB community", omitting the T. I understand that this term is often used in a way that denigrates the trans community. That was entirely unintended on my part, and I am very sorry.

Sound by Kate Dunlea.

Listen to American Emigrants in Irish Folklore on Transatlantic, An Irish American History Podcast: https://shows.acast.com/transatlantic/episodes/37-memories-of-home

Support the show: Patreon.com/irishpodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.