Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe bring us on a journey through the hidden histories, humanity and humour of our past.
Latest episodes
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56 min
Brendan Behan – Dublin's Wild Literary Genius
During his short life from 1923 to 1964, Dubliner Brendan Behan achieved both fame and infamy, both at home and abroad, on the back of his writing talents and his very public battl…
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47 min
Michael Collins - Part 3
On the 22nd of August 1922, Michael Collins was shot dead in Béal Na Bláth, County Cork.His death at just 31 ensured he would become one of Ireland’s most iconic figures, forever f…
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53 min
Michael Collins - Part 2
Michael Collins is now one of the most powerful men in Ireland. But events that will tear Ireland apart and lead to his brutal assassination in Cork are already set in train.In 192…
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41 min
Michael Collins - Part 1
On the 22nd of August 1922, Michael Collins, the Commander in Chief of the National Army was shot dead. He was just 31.Almost immediately the myth making around Michael Collins beg…
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49 min
Stardust – From national tragedy to national scandal
In the early hours of February 14th 1981, a fire ripped through the Stardust Nightclub in Artane in Dublin.48 people, aged between 16 and 27, die in the tragedy. It is one of the w…
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43 min
Sean O’Casey – The Irish Rebel playwright
He was one of Ireland’s greatest and most controversial playwrights. Sean O’Casey’s remarkable life began in the slums of Dublin and took him to the biggest stages in the world, in…
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32 min
The Ballyseedy Massacre (Part 2)
After committing one of the worst atrocities in the Irish Civil War, the State attempts to cover up its role in the massacre.As “Terror Month” in Kerry continues, further atrocitie…
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31 min
The Ballyseedy Massacre (Part 1)
On the 7th of March 1923, nine anti-Treaty prisoners were taken to a field in Kerry, tied to a landmine and blown up. It was one of the most shocking events of the Irish Civil War…
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39 min
The Pope's Visit of 1979
John Paul II, the "rock star" Pope took Ireland by storm in 1979, and millions came out to see him. (Everyone except Catriona, who went to Donegal in a sulk but kept an eye on proc…
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49 min
Best of What Were We Like (Part 2)
RTÉ's podcast intern Arran returns with the second instalment of his favourite parts of What Were We Like. This time around, grumpy Patrick Kavanagh, "airhead" Ronald Reagan, and t…
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39 min
Best of What Were We Like (Part 1)
Diarmaid and Catriona are on holidays, so RTE's podcast intern, Arran has selected some of his favourite parts of What Were We Like so far. Bobby Sands, The Contraceptive Train, an…
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30 sec
What Were We Like: Back in Two Weeks
What Were We Like is on holidays for the next two weeks. We'll be back with a podcast about the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland in 1979, and that will come out on Monday the…
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32 min
1980s Ireland: Moving Statues
Ireland was gripped by a bizarre phenomenon in the summer of 1985: sightings of moving statues of the Virgin Mary. Tens of thousands of people flocked to villages in Kerry - and el…
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44 min
1980s Ireland: The Kerry Babies Case
In 1985, the body of a newborn baby washed up on a beach in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, stabbed to death. What followed was one of the most infamous incidents in the history of An Garda…
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37 min
1980s Ireland: The Eighth Amendment
Today, Diarmaid and Catriona kick off a new series focusing on Ireland in the 1980s. This was a decade of great political instability, with three general elections alone happening…
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45 min
The brilliant poetry and turbulent life of Patrick Kavanagh
Monaghan born Patrick Kavanagh was a notorious presence in Dublin for much of his life. Broke, drunk and often bitter, he boozed in the bars around Grafton Street, clashing with th…
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46 min
Bobby Sands, Margaret Thatcher, and the 1981 hunger strikes
On 5 May 1981, 26-year-old Bobby Sands became the first of ten IRA hunger strikers to die at the Maze Prison, changing the course of history in Northern Ireland. In this episode, D…
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34 min
All aboard the contraceptive train
The Irish Women's Liberation Movement, Mary Magee and the fight for contraceptive rights in Ireland. It was the 1970s and in many ways, things were grim for the women of Ireland. M…
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49 min
The 1926 Census - LIVE at Listowel Writers Week
In this special recording, What Were We Like appears before a live audience at this year's Listowel Writers Week, to discuss the 1926 census. Diarmaid and Catriona talk about what…
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40 min
The jealous rage that inspired a key chapter of Ulysses
To mark Bloomsday, Diarmaid and Catriona tell the remarkable story of how two of James Joyce's friends made false allegations of infidelity against Nora Barnacle, something which s…