The Irish History Show

On this episode of the Irish History Show, we were joined by Dr. Mary McAuliffe and Liz Gillis to discuss the role of women during the Irish Revolution.

We look at the radical political organisations for women in Ireland before the First World; Cumann na mBan; women’s role in 1916, the War of Independence and the Civil War; and women’s rights in the new Free State.

Dr. Mary McAuliffe is assistant professor in Gender Studies in University College Dublin. She has published widely on aspects of Irish women’s history, gendered and sexual violence in war, and social, political and public history. Her most recent works include a biography of 1916 veteran Margaret Skinnider and as a consultant and contributor on the TG4 documentary Cogadh ar Mhna.

Liz Gillis is an historian and researcher on RTE’s History Show. She is the author of such books as Women of the Irish Revolution, Revolution in Dublin and The Fall of Dublin.

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show, we looked at Ireland’s involvement in the Anglo – Zulu War of 1879. We looked at British involvement in South Africa from their formal annexation of the Cape Town Colony in 1806; British immigration into the region throughout the 19th century; The complicated relationship between the British and the mainly Dutch colonists, the Boers; The rise of the Zulu nation to become the predominant native ethnic group in the east of what is now South Africa; Zulu society and their military prowess; The local British administration provoking a war with the Zulus so as to neutralise the power of Zululand; The war itself; Reactions to the war in Ireland, and the role of Irish people during the war.

John Dorney’s article on Ireland and the Anglo – Zulu War is available here https://www.theirishstory.com/2021/02/15/ireland-and-the-anglo-zulu-war-1879/#.YFXUGp37TIU

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.

On this episode of the Irish History Show we were joined by the president of the White House Historical Association, Stewart D. McLaurin, to discuss the life of the White House architect, James Hoban.

James Hoban was born in 1755 in Kilkenny and trained at the Dublin Society Drawing School in Grafton Street in Dublin. Following the American Revolutionary War he emigrated to the United States and worked as an architect in Philadelphia and South Carolina. In 1792 Hoban won a competition to design the president’s residence in the new federal capital.

On the show we discussed the work of the White House Historical Association; the new anthology published by the association on the life of Hoban, his education in Dublin and the type of architecture he would have seen and worked on; the Irish influences on his design for the White House; his ownership of slaves and the role of slave labour in building the White House; and Hoban’s membership of the Freemasons.

Stewart D. McLaurin has been president of the White House Historical Association since 2014. He leads the Association’s non-profit and non-partisan mission to support conservation and preservation at the White House with non-government funding. Mr. McLaurin has held leadership roles with national non-profit and higher education organizations such as the American Red Cross, Georgetown University, and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.

James Hoban: Designer and Builder of the White House is available here.

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive

2021 marks 100 years since the creation of Northern Ireland. To discuss this, and the events that led up to the partition of Ireland, we were joined by Dr. Cormac Moore. Cormac is a historian in residence with Dublin City Council. His previous works include The GAA vs. Douglas Hyde, The Irish Soccer Split, and his most recent work, Birth of the Border – The impact of partition in Ireland.

On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Home Rule Crisis of 1912 – 1914, proposals to partition Ireland, reactions to partition proposals from northern nationalists, the Long Committee, the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the founding of Northern Ireland, the Anglo – Irish Treaty, the Boundary Commission, and the tangible effects of partition.

Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive

On this episode we are joined by Irish American historian, author and poet, John Kearns, to discuss the Molly Maguires. The Molly Maguires were a secret society based among the Irish miners in the anthracite coal fields in northern Pennsylvania in the 1860s and 1870s.

We have recently started a Patreon page for The Irish Story website and The Irish History Show. Please follow the link and your support is greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29204818