Recorded live on Saturday 30 August ’25 @ the Electric Picnic
Admired and reviled in equal measure, Éamon de Valera was Ireland’s longest-serving taoiseach and a two-term president.
Join History Ireland editor Tommy Graham for a lively round-table discussion to assess his legacy 50 years after his death, with Deirdre Foley (TCD & Women’s History Association of Ireland), Michael Kennedy (Documents on Irish Foreign Policy), David McCullagh (RTÉ & Dev’s biographer) and Martin Mansergh (former Fianna Fáil politician & government adviser).
--------
55:29
--------
55:29
Making sense of Trump’s America
Recorded live on Friday 29 August ’25 @ the Electric Picnic
History Ireland editor Tommy Graham in conversation with Dan Mulhall, Irish ambassador in Washington during President Trump’s first administration.
What was Trump like? How can his success be explained? Is his legacy now permanently entrenched in the US political system? What are the implications for the wider world—and Ireland?
--------
54:52
--------
54:52
O’Connell 250—the Liberator reassessed
(Recorded live on Wednesday 30 July ’25 @ Glasnevin Cemetery visitor centre)
Daniel O’Connell was described by his biographer Oliver MacDonagh as ‘perhaps the greatest innovator in modern democratic politics, as well as the originator of almost all the basic strategies of modern Anglo-Irish constitutional relations’. To reassess his legacy 250 years after his birth, join History Ireland editor Tommy Graham in discussion with Patrick Geoghegan, Jennifer T. Keating, Christine Kinealy and Davide Mazzi.
This Hedge School is supported by Trinity College, Dublin, as part of its two-day O’Connell 250 symposium, Liberty, Democracy and the Struggle for Human Rights.
--------
1:20:15
--------
1:20:15
Housing in Ireland—a history of dysfunction?
From the tenement collapses of the early twentieth century to the spiralling house prices of the early twenty-first, it seems that housing in Ireland has always been in a state of crisis. What were the intended and unintended consequences of twentieth-century housing policy and how has this led to our current housing crisis? To address these and related questions, join History Ireland editor Tommy Graham in discussion with housing activist Ashling Hedderman, architectural historian Ellen Rowley and economic historian Conor McCabe.
(Recorded live on Monday 9 June 2025 @ the National College of Art and Design)
--------
57:56
--------
57:56
A Future For Our Past — Museums in the 21st Century
What is the purpose of museums? How have museums in Ireland evolved over the past 30 years or so? Are there too many or too few? North of the border, how do they operate in a divided society? How should they be funded? To address these and related questions, listen to History Ireland editor Tommy Graham in discussion with Tony Canavan (former History Ireland museums reviewer), Lar Joye (Irish Museum Association) and Heather McGuicken (Northern Ireland Museums Council).
This Hedge School is supported by Tipperary County Council, Tipperary Museum of Hidden History and ICOM Ireland.
Recorded live on Sat 17 May 2025, @ Tipperary Museum of Hidden History, Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel
History Ireland magazine has now been in production for over 27 years.
The History Ireland Podcast covers a wide variety of topics, from the earliest times to the present day, in an effort to give the listener a sense of the distant past but also to offer a contemporary edge.
Ireland