Pisrógs

Piracy, sea serpents, fairy women, gun-slinging priests.
A fun little episode for a fun little island!
Cathal and Luke are on their way to Sherkin Island (which allegedly boasts its own micro-climate), just off Baltimore, Cork.
Inis Arcáin means 'Isle of the Piglets' , but not for the reason you may expect.

A horse veterinarian/kinesiologist casually informed us that a mythical white horse once appeared on the Benaughlin mountains every 'Billberry Tuesday.' As you do.
This week, new-cohost Cathal Bergin joins Luke and together they descend into one of the strangest corners of Irish folklore: fairy cattle markets on the Play-Bank, ghostly aristocrats in knee breeches, warriors vanishing into mountains, funerals chasing men through the bog, and a fairy fort fuelled entirely by dairy-based emotional support cows.
There are ancient cairns that scream when disturbed, invisible armies helping clans win battles, and one very important historical mystery: what exactly were the “Irish balls” being hurled in combat… and why does nobody ever properly explain them?
Fairies, ghosts, talking horses, giant stones, mysterious music in the hills, and an absolutely unreasonable quantity of Irish balls.

In Kildallan lies the Relic, an ancient graveyard where two trees wrapped around eachother above the graves of two forbidden lovers.
Luke and his Mam share memories of their tight knit rural community of Kildallan.
The pair read the stories of some of their community's oldest residents. Uncovering stories of Cock Fights, Cursed Families, Pig Gangs and Riverside Hags.
Anna shares tales of her unusual childhood: selling frogs to ‘The Frog Man,’ exploring the fields around her home, and the rhythms of life at Kildallan National School, a tiny, a small schoolhouse over a century old.

Returning guest, Naas-born visual and performance artist Rónán Ó Raghallaigh.
Rónán’s work moves between indigenous Irish art and ritual action, and after a few years it was time for Luke to catch up with an old friend.
Fire throwing Fairies , Swords from Arabia, Headless horsemen and Faction Fights. This episode goes far beyond the Naas Ball.
In his new work Turais Taibhsí (“Haunted Pilgrimages”), Ó Raghallaigh translates personal pilgrimages to sacred Irish sites into layered painting and performance. Each work is rooted in on‑site research into folklore, place‑names and archaeology, and reflects how these landscapes have been altered - by colonialism, by religion and by industrial extraction.
The boys discuss how the quarrying a sacred mount like the Hill of Allen isn’t just industrial change but a violation of a spiritually‑charged place...the burial ground of Fionn mac Cumhaill.

This week on the podcast, Luke is joined by Irish professional wrestler Conor Brady Lee — better known as CBL, or simply The Bull.
Luke and CBL wander through the strange backrooms of Longford folklore old and new: The Burning of Granard, Mermaids, Fairy Horsemen, Local Characters and Teen Disco Scraps.
A Longford native and rising force in Irish wrestling, CBL carries himself with the grounded presence of someone reared on beef nuts, pat the baker and parish halls as by ropes and rings. Recently earning a WWE tryout in New Jersey, his reputation is growing, but his roots remain planted firmly in his home soil.