Lively and intellectually robust
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“Cathal Brennan gently asks a question and John Dorney spends the next hour or so answering it, the Irish Story is by some distance the best Irish History podcast around, (Three Castles Burning, which deals only with Dublin, is a close second).
Although joined occasionally by guests like Brain Hanley, Conor McCabe, and Ruth McManus, the appeal of The Irish Story is Brennan's and Dorney's rapport, and the intelligence they bring to whatever chapter of Ireland's vexed history is under discussion.
Particularly refreshing is how they contextualize Irish events within larger European trends. To be sure Ireland has divisions aplety but Left/Right is not the central pivot it is on the continent. For this reason, as well as simply insularity, Irish history often appears to unfold in a vacuum.
The Irish Story leans left to be sure, but it's a tilt which provides a useful vantage to examine Irish politics - rigidly conservative since at least 1921- in a critical way. Brennan and Dorney reject the traditional manichaeism that besets Irish historiography - Dev the Divil vrs Saint Collins of Bealnablath.
Since the 80s it's also been de rigueur for Irish historians to be dismissive, if not outright hostile, of Irish Republicanism. The Irish Story shows its possible to break with that sterile tradition without returning to a sectarian nationalist narrative. About time too, any history of Ireland that omits the North is incomplete.
If the show's depth impresses, its breadth is underwhelming - the majority of episodes to date deal with the early 20th Century. Even so, this is an excellent podcast, well worth your time.”Read full review »
A.P.Harte via Apple Podcasts ·
Ireland ·
10/07/20
More reviews of The Irish History Show
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“Terrific insight into the seldom-told aspects of the War of Independence and the cold-blooded brutality of a guerrilla war against the mighty British Empire – often obscured or bypassed by official retelling of the ‘Old IRA’.”
Jack 1451 via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
07/13/21
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“Thorough, Balanced & Interesting”
@mountainbadger via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
10/17/19
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“I found the Bram Stoker episode fascinating so kept listening for more!”
niasurv1ve via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
08/10/20
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