Listen back to the series

Programme 1: Natural History Museum - Listen

First broadcast 8th January, '04

The first programme in the series takes us to the Natural History Museum. Just two years before Charles Darwin published his famous work on 'The Origin of Species', the Natural History Museum, Merrion Street was opened to the public for the first time, in 1857. This building was designed by Frederick V. Clarendon and is the oldest purpose- built museum building in Ireland, still used as originally intended.

The museum is famous for its Victorian cabinet style, which houses 'one of the world's finest and fullest collections', still to be seen today. The early origins of the museum lies with the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) who began gathering these collections in the 18th century. It was the enactment of The Dublin Science and Art Museum Act of 1877 which led to the transfer of the Natural History building and its collections to state ownership. The Museum of Natural History has approximately 10,000 animals on display which have been drawn from collections of over 2,000,000 specimens. These collections have been accumulating for over two centuries. Today this zoological museum encompasses outstanding examples of wildlife from Ireland and the far corners of the globe, some still to be seen today and others long extinct.

Programme 2: Ireland's Standing Army - Poetry Ireland - Listen

First broadcast 15th January, '04

Poetry Ireland began life more as an idea than an organisation. It was launched as a magazine in the 1940s, edited by David Marcus. There was a revival in The 60s, under the auspices of John Jordan. In its present form Poetry Ireland resulted from a letter sent to The Irish Times in 1978 by John F Deane.

Deane, as he tells it in the programme, had read at the Poetry Society in London and was impressed that there should be a venue specifically for poetry. Poetry Ireland is now 26 years old and publishes a newsletter alongside a quarterly review.

We know - from our school anthologies at least - that poetry has been central to discourse in Ireland. It's difficult to disentangle how we think of the early decades of the last century apart from the poetry of Yeats. Kavanagh's 'That was the year of the Munich bother', appears emblematic of our neutrality during 'The Emergency'. But we also know that Kavanagh - and other poets of his ilk - wrote, often against the grain and usually in impoverished circumstances. In 2004 the first edition of a new poet can be expected to sell about 400 copies - yet the mailbag of Poetry Ireland Review remains as full as ever. The organisation has prestigious new premises overlooking St Stephen's Green. Portraits of poets adorn the walls of our public houses and, internationally, our reputation appears as high as ever. We have - after all - a Nobel Laureate. Poetry, it appears, has found a home, or has it? How does anyone become a poet - how daunting is it to use the word 'poet'. Poets, John F Deane, Eva Bourke - a German Poet long resident in Ireland who writes in English - and Joe Woods - the Director of Poetry Ireland and a younger poet - attempt to provide some answers.

Programme 3: James Collins makes a Bucket - Listen

First broadcast 22nd January, '04

It had become apparent in the 1970s that the Traveller way of life was under serious threat in Ireland. There was a more general drift towards the towns but, in the case of Travellers, this was exacerbated and accelerated because the traditional trade of tin-smithing had become an anachronism - killed off by the ubiquity of plastic. Income was lost and to qualify for social welfare payments a permanent address was a necessity.

For the majority of Travellers today the open road is but a memory. Yet travellers insist they remain different and continue to value their separateness. Besides the tin-smiths, who were a vital part of the rural economy, Traveller musicians like the Keenans and Doran played an important role in the survival of Traditional Music. Travellers had told stories and brought news. They operated as migrant workers before the arrival of mechanisation.

In this programme James Collins, one of the few remaining tin-smiths, makes a bucket while a group of Traveller women discuss the importance of their culture - a culture that is still linked to the notion of the open road, something they all clearly yearn for. www.paveepoint.ie

Programme 4: Neillidh Mulligan Makes a Reed - Listen

First broadcast 29th January, '04

Na Píobairí Uilleann was founded in 1968. At that time the future of piping seemed perilous - the first meeting was attended by 60 pipers in all, most of them over forty, all of them men. The Uilleann - or Union Pipes - were themselves an 18th century development. The exact chronology of their invention is shrouded in the mists of time - but they seem to have been a parallel development in Britain and Ireland towards the latter half of that century. They were at their most popular in the years before the Famine. The Famine itself, emigration, lack of patronage and a variety of other reasons - including the Temperance movement and the popularity of Brass Bands - lead to a decline in piping. There was a revival at the beginning of the last century with new innovations - many of them coming from across the Atlantic.

The American Piper, Patsy Touhey was one of the most popular performers of his day and was much recorded. Since the foundation of Na Píobairí Uilleann there has been an explosion of interest in the pipes. There's little doubt that the organisation benefited from a revival of interest in Traditional Music in general. However, even within that tradition, The Pipes are very much a specialist instrument. They are expensive and demand upkeep. In the late 60s, the art of reed making was close to extinction. There were four pipe makers working at the time and making a reed was something very few people could do, it was often viewed as a trade secret. Na Píobairí Uilleann has, in the years since then, run reed making classes where pipers like Neillidh Mulligan learned what to most pipers is a vital part of a piper's 'house-keeping'. Neillidh Mulligan, who makes the reed in this programme, comes from a noted musical family. Originally from Phibsboro in Dublin, his father was from Bornacoola in Leitrim. Neillidh has recorded three albums and was a founder member of Na Píobairí Uilleann. For more information visit: www.pipers.ie and www.neilmulligan.com

Programme 5: On the Falls Road - Listen

First broadcast 5th February, '04

This weeks programme takes a political tour of the Falls Road in Belfast. The Falls Road was the site of several of the pivotal events in recent history. The Falls adjoins the Shankill Road and is divided from it by The Peaceline. The City Cemetery, which is located on the Falls, was traditionally a Protestant place of burial. It was where the great and good of Belfast society were buried in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the men who built the Titanic, the founders of Gallagher Tobacco and many important - now mostly forgotten - figures in the history of Unionism; party founders and, indeed, some of the Larne gunrunners.

This tour was taken on the 16th of last Month - a freezing cold day in Belfast. There were a series of bomb hoaxes throughout Nationalist areas of Belfast that day - the Falls was partially cordoned off and there were helicopters in the air all day. The Tour was undertaken by a group of women from the Shankill Road. Amongst the sites they visited - as well as the City Cemetery - was the Clonard area and Bombay Street - the area that was razed by Loyalists in 1969. For most of these women this was their first visit to the Falls Road area, some of them had little knowledge of the Cemetery - whilst, for others, it was the place where some of their relatives are buried - but a place they hadn't visited for more than thirty years. This Tour was organised by the Republican ex-prisoners group - Coiste. Coiste campaigns for the welfare of ex-prisoners, organising political tours and a summer school. Visit - www.coiste.ie

Programme 6: The Holy Land - All Ireland Final Speeches - Listen

First broadcast 12th February, '04

At one time the captain of the team which won the Sam Maguire or Liam McCarthy Cups merely mounted the steps of the Hogan Stand and said a few brief words about honour and team mentors.

All that changed in 1980 when the Galway Hurlers won their first All Ireland in 57 years, Joe Connolly from Castlegar made the first speech that had a resonance beyond the confines of Croke Park.

Amidst great emotional scenes Connolly spoke primarily in Irish - he spoke of emigrants overseas and off generations of hurlers that had never tasted the glory he did on that day. His spoke with great wit, his speech ending with a humorous echo of a speech Pope john Paul had made in Galway the previous year - 'People of Galway we love you'. Joe McDonagh - who had captained Galway the previous year when they were defeated and who was later to become President of the GAA - also sang on the steps of the Hogan Stand. His rendition of the Wests Awake also became a template for those that followed.

Since Connolly's speech it has become almost obligatory for Captains of victorious teams to attempt a rousing speech but - as the legendary commentator Jimmy Magee mentions in this programme - the degree to which they succeed depends on how long they've spent in 'the wilderness', without a trophy. Speeches that have remained in the memory over recent years include those of Anthony Daly when Clare broke their hoodoo in 1995 and Peter Canavan, the triumphant Tyrone captain lifting the Sam Maguire for the first time last September. Daly again addressed all those who'd worn the saffron and blue through years of derision and Canavan made oblique reference to some of the obstacles Tyrone footballers have had to overcome - how the GAA persevered through 'The Troubles'. Indeed, he managed to combine this with a sideswipe at the media who had underestimated both Tyrone's talent and determination. 'They said Tyrone were a bit like the British Army. That we had no power south of the border. Well....'

Joe Mc Donagh - who sang in Croke Park that September afternoon in 1980 joins Jimmy Magee to dissect these three speeches - looking at how they address motivation, the past and justify in the present moment.

Programme 7: Military Museum, Dun Ui Mhaoiliosa, Renmore Barracks, Galway - Listen

First broadcast 19th February, '04

Military Museum, Dun Ui Mhaoiliosa, Renmore Barracks, Galway.
Originally the depot of the Connaught Rangers, Renmore has been an Irish Army base since 1922. Several exhibits commemorate the Connaught Rangers with uniforms, weapons and a regimental drum on display.

The War of Independence and Civil War displays include weapons landed from the Asgard in 1914, and guns belonging to Dan Breen, Michael Collins and the Countess Markievicz. There is also a motorcycle belonging to IRA leader Liam Mellows. Among the items featured from the Emergency period is a parachute used by downed German airmen in Galway.

Finally the various peacekeeping missions of the Defence Forces are illustrated, most poignantly by weapons from the 1960 Niemba ambush in the Congo in which 9 Irish soldiers died. The Connaught Rangers were raised in 1793. Their first direct military experience was in Flanders where 114 men froze to death before a shot was fired. The Rangers fought through the Peninsular War, distinguishing themselves at battles like Salamanca and Badajoz and Talavera. The Duke of Wellington neicknamed them 'The Devil's Own.' They saw action in the Crimea and in every major battle in the First World War. In !922 the regiment was disbanded and the new, Irish Free State Army took possession of Renmore Barracks.

This programme takes us on a tour of the Military Museum in the Barracks and - using RTÉ archive material tells the story of Irish involvement in the Congo and the Niemba Massacre - when nine men were butchered after their 11-man patrol was attacked by Baluba tribesman. On November 22, 1960 the funeral of those who died, some clubbed to death, others struck by poisoned arrows, attracted one of the biggest crowds ever witnessed in Dublin since the deaths of Daniel O'Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Collins. Visits to the Barracks Museum are appointment only - call a week in advance if possible. Telephone: 091 751156

Programme 8: The Arigna Mining Experience - Listen

First broadcast 26th February, '04

The village of Arigna is located in North Roscommon, on the Leitrim borders, overlooking scenic Lough Allen. It is an area with a tradition of mining that stretches back to 1600 when Charles Coote established iron works in Arigna. Charcoal, made from local timber, was used in the smelting process; however, as local timber supplies reduced, it was necessary to find an alternative fuel. It was through this search that coal was discovered in the area. In 1788 the O'Reilly brothers founded an iron foundry where, for the first time in Ireland, coal was used in the smelting process.

Iron mining actually turned out to be less than successful in Arigna and, following many attempts to salvage it, the iron works closed permanently in 1838. Coal mining, however, continued to provide employment in Arigna. In fact, Arigna became a relatively affluent area through times of extreme poverty elsewhere, because of the constant availability of employment for all the men of the area and indeed surrounding areas. The ESB opened the Arigna Power Station in 1958, the first major power generating station in Connacht. By this period the supply of top grade coal in Arigna was used and the station was built specifically to burn the semi bituminous coal with its high ash content. At its height, the power station burned 55,000 tons of coal annually and employed 60 people directly.

However, from the outset, one of the primary reasons behind its construction was to secure hundreds of jobs in the local mining industry. By the 1970's 65% of the coal mined in Arigna was burned at the Power Station. In the 1980's, the government promised a Crow Coal (the name given to the lower grade coal being mined) burning Power Station; this however failed to materialise. With the winding down of the existing Power Station, Arigna's main source of employment was no longer required and in 1990 the Mines closed for the final time.

Last year the Arigna Mining Experience opened as an interpretative centre - of sorts. The experience is different in that it is devoted to our very recent history. It includes a tour of what was once a working mine, deep beneath a mountain with all the sounds such a visit entails. The tour guides are themselves former miners. In this programme the poet and playwright Vicent Woods - who is from Arigna joins Peter MacNiff and Seamus Rynn underground in the mine. For more information visit: http://www.arignaminingexperience.ie/index.htm

Programme 9: Dunsink Observatory - Listen

First broadcast 4th March, '04

Built in 1783-1785 for the first Andrews' Professor of Astronomy in Trinity College Dublin, the observatory is situated on a hill 8km northwest of Dublin's city centre, where it houses the Astronomy section of the School of Cosmic Physics in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Astronomical and Astrophysical research is an important part of the Observatory's function as part of the School of Cosmic Physics.

Although Dunsink still functions as a research centre, it's telescopes are rarely part of that research, rather time is purchased on a satellite and the resulting data transmitted back to the Observatory. The actual telescopes on site are still of significant historical interest, made by the firm of Thomas Grubb of Rathmines in the 1850's. This Dunsink instrument, with a 12-inch lens of French manufacture, was important in the sequence of astronomical telescopes built in Dublin by Grubb's, many of which are still in use.

Following the building of the Dunsink refractor, Grubb's made as many as 21 refractors of 13 ins. aperture or greater, as well as a number of reflecting telescopes of moderate size and many smaller telescopes. The largest of the refractors was the 27-inch Vienna telescope completed in 1878 for the Imperial Royal Observatory of Austria-Hungary, now the astronomical observatory of the University of Vienna. The telescope that Grubb provided was a successor to a similar instrument made in the 1830's for Edward J.Cooper of Markree Castle, Co.Sligo, one of the distinguished private individuals in 19th century Ireland who contributed to astronomy quite effectively. This instrument was sold to a Jesuit seminary in Hong Kong in the 1930's, where it suffered damage by bombing in World War II, when it is said that it was mistaken for a gun by a Japanese pilot. The 14-inch lens, also by Cauchoix, survives to this day in Manila in the Philippines Islands.

Sir William Rowan Hamilton the discoverer of quaternion mathematics and eminent 19th Century mathematician and physicist, is a former director of the Observatory, during his term as Andrews' Professor of Astronomy. The story of Hamilton's discovery of quaternions is told in the programme by Evert Meurs the Director of Dunsink. Professor Meurs joins William Dumpleton - the Observatory Technician - in a tour of the building. Open Nights are held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month during the Winter. For more information visit: http://www.dunsink.dias.ie

Programme 10: The 1828 Clare Election - Listen

First broadcast 11th March, '04

The 1828 Clare election has been viewed by many historians as pivotal to Irish notions of democracy. The election was fought between Daniel O'Connell and Vesey Fitzgerald and was the culmination of O'Connell's long campaign for Catholic Emancipation when O'Connell became the first Catholic elected to the Westminister parliament and refused to take the oath - leading to a change in the law. Fundamental to O'Connell's victory were "the Forty Shilling Freeholders", a group of voters who held land. The 1828 election was a turning point in Clare politics and showed that valued at forty shillings rent per annum. The election was a confrontation between O'Connell and his supporters - amongst them a rising Catholic middle class and the majority of the clergy in Clare - and the Government of the day on the other hand.

The Freeholders arrived in Ennis led by their priests and voted publicly, risking eviction in many cases. The election - fought over a brief two-week period - proved that people power could overwhelm the established Ascendancy Party and wrestle control from them. O'Connell had become the first Catholic to sit in the House of Commons, but as part of the deal that brought in emancipation, the British government subsequently raised the valuation for voting purposes and effectively disenfranchised many of O'Connell's voters soon after. His Catholic Association's greatest triumph came when Wellington's government passed the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829. Having achieved Emancipation, the Catholic Association was soon suppressed by the authorities.

By this time O'Connell had moved on to his new goal of achieving the repeal of the Act of Union, and to this end, he formed the Repeal Association and devoted the remainder of his political career towards its aim. This programme was recorded on the streets of Ennis, by the O'Connell Monument - the spot where the Forty Shilling Freeholders voted - and in Kilfenora where many of them had their smallholdings. The story is told by the Clare County Librarian, Noel Crowley and local historians Joe Power and Johnny Keane. For more information visit: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/

Programme 11: St Patricks Cathedral in Dublin - Listen

First broadcast 18th March, '04

This weeks programme takes the listner on a tour of St Patricks Cathedral in Dublin in the company of the Dean of the Cathedral, Robert McCarthy. Protection issued for four years for the preachers of the fabric of the church of St Patrick's Dublin, going through Ireland to beg alms for that fabric. John Comyn was succeeded as archbishop of Dublin by Henry of London in 1212, a close friend of King John's and one of those responsible for the building of Dublin Castle and the city walls. Henry was also one of the signatories of the Magna Carta in 1215. Henry made several additions to the original cathedral charter, creating the offices of dean, precentor, chancellor and treasurer, all of which were to be drawn from the chapter. Also all deans were to be elected by the chapter of canons from their own number. The cathedral chapter has retained this right to the present day. Henry is also responsible for beginning the process of rebuilding the cathedral in the form in which we see it today. The first surviving evidence of this is contained in an order from Henry III, dated 1225, allowing preachers to travel throughout Ireland collecting alms. The construction of the new church in the early English gothic style took about thirty years to complete. The building was re-dedicated under his successor Archbishop Luke in 1254 and the Lady Chapel was added by Archbishop Fulk de Saundford in 1270. The original tower and part of the west nave were destroyed by fire in 1362 but between this year and 1370 they were replaced by Archbishop Minot. The cathedral is of great historic significance and the programme also looks at Dean Swift's connection with the building as well as including archive material from Liam de Paor's 1983 programme 'The Coming of Christianity to Ireland and material collected by Seamus Ennis.

Programme 12: The Museum of Country Life, Castlebar - Listen

First broadcast 25th March, '04

The Museum of Country Life, Castlebar, Co. Mayo is the latest addition to the National Museum of Ireland and is the first branch of the National Museum to be situated outside Dublin. The museum opened to the public in September 2001. The exhibitions portray the lives of ordinary people who lived in rural Ireland in the period 1850 - 1950. Emphasis is placed on the continuity of lifestyles, which were established for several hundred years and which lasted well into the 20th century.

The museum is situated in the grounds of Turlough Park House, a short distance from the town of Castlebar, Co. Mayo. Turlough Park House was built by Charles Lionel Fitzgerald in 1865. The house has been fully restored and serves as the main office as well as the education/reception area. It is used to show visitors how families like its original owners lived. The house was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style by Thomas Newenham Deane, who was responsible for designing the National Museum of Archaeology and History on Kildare Street, Dublin. Charles Lionel Fitzgerald also developed the extensive gardens in the grounds of Turlough Park and undertook improvements to the agricultural land farmed by tenants.

In the park, located not far from the artificial lake (Irish turloch - from which the area takes its name), is the site of the castle built by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family. The purpose-built exhibition gallery, designed by the Architectural Service of the Office of Public Works, is a four-storey curved, stone-clad block set into the terraces of the gardens leading to the artificial lake. A large storage area and modern conservation facilities are located close to the new building. In 2002, the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life was presented with an Interpret Ireland Award for recognition of its "excellent interpretative practice contributing to greater awareness and understanding of Ireland's Heritage". In the same year it also received the prestigious title of "Museum of the Year" which was awarded jointly by the Gulbenkian Foundation and the Heritage Council of Ireland, in association with the Northern Ireland Museums Council.

The National Museum of Ireland - Country Life is home to the Irish Folklife Division. This Division is responsible for the care of the National Folklife Collection which comprises of over 50,000 objects. These collections reflect Irish traditional life, largely of a rural nature and include objects dealing with agriculture, fishing and hunting, clothing, architecture, vernacular furniture, trades and crafts, transport, sports and leisure and religion. This programme consists of a tour of the museum conducted by Anne O'Dowd - who works for the Musuem of Country Life - and recordings made by Anne when she was researching her Phd Thesis. That thesis was published as Spalpeens Tatty-hokers.

Programme 13: Downpatrick Jail and The Man From God Knows Where - Listen

First broadcast 8th April, '04

The Old Gaol of Downpatrick, now Down County Museum, was built under the supervision of the Marquis of Downshire, the Earl of Hillsborough, the Hon Edward Ward and Charles Lilly, architect, between 1789 and 1796. The prison complex covers one acre and contains three main structures. These comprise of a Cell Block to the rear, a central Governor's Residence and two gatehouses flanking the main entrance, all set within a high perimeter wall. The County gaol's most famous prisoner was the United Irishman Thomas Russell, executed here for his part in the abortive rebellion of 1803. For many County Down people, Russell is "the man from God knows where", immortalised in the ballad of the same name by Bangor poet, Florence Mary Wilson, which generations of school children learnt! However the real Thomas Russell was an important figure in late eighteenth century Irish radical politics.

Thomas Russell was born into an Anglican family in Dromahane, County Cork in 1767. His father and brother were both officers in the army and Thomas joined the army at about the age of 15 and served for almost five years in India. In 1790, Russell met Theobald Wolfe Tone who was to have a great influence on his thinking. In 1791, Russell, Tone and other leading radicals formed the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast and Dublin. The aims of the Society were to extend political representation within Ireland and to work for greater union between the Protestants, Catholics and Dissenters of Ireland. In 1796 Russell, who had probably been appointed the United Irishmen's Adjutant General for County Down, was arrested for sedition and spent the next six years in prison in Dublin and Scotland.

After his release in 1802, he travelled to France where he was reunited with some of the remaining supporters of the United Irishmen, notably Robert Emmet. Together, Emmet and Russell planned the Rising of 1803. Russell was to lead the North, but he was unsuccessful in igniting a 1798 style turnout and the rebellion petered out. Tried in Downpatrick and found guilty of treason Russell was executed at the door of the County Gaol. He was buried in the graveyard of the Anglican parish Church of Downpatrick, St Margaret's, in a grave paid for by his great friend, Mary Ann McCracken. The programme comprises of a rendition of 'the man from God knows where' by Denis Cahill and contribution from Linda McKenna, the Down County Museum's education officer, and Ken Dawson - a local teacher and historian with a great interest in Russell. It was recorded in the cell area of the prison and on the street outside where the gallows formerly stood. For more information visit: www.downcountymuseum.com

Programme 14: Paddy Daniels - Listen

First broadcast 8th April, '04

This week programme takes a journey with taxi driver Paddy Daniels. Paddy has been driving a Dublin cab for the last 54 years. His father was also a taxi driver and Paddy remembers him buying his first car. He had driven a horse drawn cab previously. Paddy had served his time as a refrigeration engineer but preferred driving - at first because he could make more money that way - but then because of the freedom and lifestyle associated with the job. The programme was made, for the most part, in Paddy's cab. It also includes an interview with Dermot Quinn who runs a taxi company and has his own personal museum of taxi memorabilia.

Programme 15: Meitheal Mara - Listen

First broadcast 15th April, '04

This weeks' programme travels to Cork to look at the work of traditional boat builders, Meitheal Mara. Meitheal Mara roughly translates as workers of the sea. The group was founded after Pádraig Ó Duinnín returned from America having built a Naomhóg in California.

The Naomhóg is a currach, or light framed boat with a skin covering, from West Kerry. Currachs are found all the way down the west coast of Ireland with the Naomhóg being - probably - the best developed of the type. They were used as working boats - and, in places still are - for fishing mainly, though in the case of one Mayo boat, for transporting limestone down the coast.

According to legend, it was in a currach that St Brendan the Navigator journeyed across the Atlantic 900 years before Columbus and 400 years before the Vikings! In 1976, Tim Severin, a British navigation scholar, embarked from Brandon Creek on the Dingle peninsula in a currach that he constructed using the details described by Brendan. Severin landed on the island of Newfoundland on 26 June 1977. This might well have been Brendan's 'Land Promised to the Saints' referred to in the Navigatio Santi Brendani Abatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot). While Severin's journey did not prove that Brendan and his monks landed on North America, it did prove that a leather currach as described in the Navigatio could have made such a voyage as mapped out in the text. Meitheal Mara make currachs using traditional methods. This programme was recorded in Cork and the participants were Jenny Wallace, Pádraig Ó Duinnín and Seamus O'Brien. For more information visit www.mmara.com