The Ireland Podcast

Episode 30 is a chat with another living legend: Andy Irvine. Andy has played with Sweeney's Men, Planxty, Patrick Street, Mozaik, LAPD and Usher's Island. As a duo Andy has teamed up with Dónal Lunny, Paul Brady, Mick Hanly, Dick Gaughan, Rens van der Zalm, and Luke Plumb

Conversation includes: Phil Coulter; Des Kelly; the Planxty deal; the dancehall gigs; the first Planxty gig; Johnny Moynihan and the bouzouki; strings; Paddy Maloney; being a troubadour; and an acoustic artist; Paddy Glasgow and Glasgowbury; Kevin Burke; playing for oneself; potential alternative careers; Andy’s father; writing; musical arrangements of Planxty; Liam O’Flynn; setlists; engine room vs touch players; playing with Donal Lunny; deteriorating during Covid; plectrums; favourite recording experiences; Bill Whelan; a great version of Planxty; John Faulkner and Dolores Keane; the best gigs; why Andy still performs; holiday plans as well as other topics.

We are extremely grateful to Andy for joining us on the podcast. It is conversations like this that justify the existence of The Ireland Podcast.

Relevant Links

https://www.andyirvine.com

Additional Links

William Taylor - performed by Planxty

Andy Irvine with Paddy Glasgow on the Small But Massive Podcast

The Chieftains with Frank Zappa

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Episode 28 is a ramble in the economic forests with Patrick Collins: Ireland being the richest member state of the Europe Union; tax avoidance; dodgy metrics; gross domestic product vs gross national product; Apple vs. Italy; Davos vs. Oxfam; neoliberal economics; Francois Holland; Adam Smith; Thatcherism; market dominance and moligopolies; the environment; the breakdown in trust for key institutions of democracy and the exponential rise of corporations; living wage; Yanis Varoufakis; dignity; teleological notions; The five stages of Rostow's Economic Theory; carbon offsetting and carbon credits; the cost of living and housing crises; the impact of Google in Ireland; the Irish government’s investment in Intel; nine of the top 10 global tech companies having a serious presence in Ireland; the European Court of Justice vs. Apple; The Troika; The Big Short; markets being a collective hallucination; John Maynard Keynes; pre and post 2008 in Ireland; the Irish vs. Greek economies; the spatial articulation of capital with regard to Irish villages; Celtic Tiger No. 2; IDA and Enterprise Ireland; Ireland having confidence in itself and companies being embedded within Ireland; living wage; technofeudalism; as well as other topics.

Relevant Links

https://www.universityofgalway.ie/our-research/people/geography-and-archaeology/pcollins/

https://www.orpenpress.com/books/galway-making-a-capital-of-culture/

https://www.urbanlabgalway.com/

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Episode 21 is the third in a series celebrating the 1500th anniversary of St. Brigid. Firstly we have Mollie (from ‘IrishWithMollie’) teaching us how to say Happy Saint Brigid’s Day in Gaelic followed by a conversation with photographer Deirdre Brennan. Deirdre has photographed 60 women named Brigid around the island of Ireland and these images will be projected at Barnardo Square in Dublin from 1st to 5th February 2024.

00:00:23 Irish With Mollie

00:07:31 Greetings with Deirdre Brennan

00:07:41 Looking For Brigid introduction

00:08:51 The call out and help from Keith Nolan

00:12:13 Discussing the project

00:20:13 My Bloody Sunday (project)

00:21:57 The Irish State Is 100 Years Old (project)

00:24:30 Bloody Sunday

Some of the Brigids

00:26:26 Bridget McDermott

00:27:40 Bridget Brownlow

00:28:32 Bridget Harper

00:30:05 Breege Corr

00:31:30 Bridget Connors

00:33:27 Brigid McDonnell

00:34:59 Travelling around Ireland

00:35:48 Funding

00:38:41 Bridie Gribben

00:39:27 Bríd Logue

00:41:20 Brigid Kavita,

00:43:10 Brigid Raven Smith,

00:44:25 Brigid Leahy

00:46:38 Bridie

00:47:38 Bridgeen Bustinza

00:48:48 Bonnie Brigid Cartin

00:49:23 Brigid

00:49:55 Bríd

00:50:36 Brigitte Bardot

00:52:07 Brigid the baby

00:53:21 Brigid Whinnery

00:55:01 Briege Morrison

00:55:56 Brigid Smyth

00:57:58 Mo Mowlem

01:00:30 How has Deirdre’s view of Brigid changed?

01:01:36 The three deaths

01:03:21 Talking Derry Girls Podcast

01:04:01 Plans for the future

01:05:38 James Joyce

Relevant Links

https://deirdrebrennan.com

https://www.irishwithmollie.com

https://dublin.ie/whats-on/listings/shine-on-brigit-at-barnardo-square

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This is the second episode in a series celebrating Saint Brigid of Kildare - one of our three patron Saints, with the other two being Patrick and Colmcille.This week is all about the 1500th anniversary of Saint Brigid and we thought it would be a good idea to chat with someone who has a good grasp of the facts of what the lady, Brigid of Kildare was all about.

In the previous episode Fender was talking with Paula O’Brien who works for Kildare County Councila and she mentioned that “Sister Rita” really knows a lot about Saint Brigid. So it was a no brainer for me to go to the religious centre of Ireland when it comes to our only female patron saint.

Sister Rita Minehan is what we call a Brigidine sister. Sister Rita is based in Solas Bhride which translate’s as Light (or flame) of Brigid. (Solas is the Gaelic for light.) To quote from their website:

“Solas Bhride is a Christian Spirituality Centre with a focus on St. Brigid and the early Christian Celtic tradition which had a profound sense of the presence of God in everyone and everything. It is a spirituality nourished by ritual, tradition, contemplation, experience and story.”

Whilst learning about Saint Brigid Fender was remembering an earlier episode which he recorded with another Brigid - Brid Rodgers. Brid Rodgers is a retired politician and she worked with John Hume’s SDLP.

Bríd was quite instrumental in delivering the Good Friday Agreement which helped bring peace to Northern Ireland. In that interview Bríd was talking about the concerns of Unionists (or people in the Protestant community) in Northern Ireland. Bríd said that the Unionists had concerns about the Republic of Ireland being a Roman Catholic state. She then argues that this is less a case now.

So whatever your faith, or lack of faith is, you cannot deny that the Catholic Church has had a huge influence over the island of Ireland since about the sixth Century. And, given that this is the 1500th anniversary of Saint Brigid, we thought it would be remiss of us not to delve into the life and times of Brigid of Kildare. Who better to give us an insight into this truly, legendary historical Irish figure of Brigid of Kildare than a Brigidine Sister. We are truly grateful to Sister Rita for her contribution for this episode.

Relevant Links

https://solasbhride.ie

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Episode 122 is a conversation with Breege Rowley, a film editor who has spent the last eight years making her first documentary which charts the change of Ireland as seen through a small town in County Mayo: Swinford.

Conversation includes: Narrator Nora McBurney; Swinford; North Mayo; Croagh Patrick; Westport; the genesis of the idea; 40 years of Siamsa Sraide Festival; Lisheenabrone; 5 questions; the t(h)rasher; funding; the timeline; Maggie Basqual; Johnny & Mary Linskeys; Maura Sweeney; the American Wake; Michael Comer; Kilconduff Cemetery; emigration; Conor Walsh; O’Connor’s Hotel; Marie Holmes Walsh, Joe Mellett; Brabazons; Mary Harkin locations sound; Richard Kendrick Camera, Midfield; Meelick; Tom Hennigan, Hennigans Heritage Centre, Killasser; The Swinford Workhouse, The Famine; Black ’47; Hedge Schools; Lavins; British Pathé; Captain Boycott; Ciara Gallogly; Noelle Rowley; New Decade Production Exec. Producer, Galway Film Fleadh; New Decade; First Element; Kathryn Noone and Swinford Comhaltas; Alannah Thornburgh; Maggie Blanc; Mayo County Library in Castlebar; Francie McNichols's; Matt Molloy; Jack Walsh Drone operator. as well as other topics.

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