The History of Ireland

A new season — and a new invasion. Or is it? Before the Vikings arrive, we step into Ireland around 800 AD: a country of roughly 150 kings, with no towns and no coins, held together by cattle, clientship, powerful monasteries and Brehon law. This is early medieval Ireland on the eve of the Viking Age.

The image used for this episode is one of the earliest maps of Ireland recorded put together in the 2nd century AD, with the image itself coming from a 15th century manuscript.

As always, I'd love to hear what you think of the new episode so do reach out at thehistoryofireland.com
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I'm very excited to share this episode, it is an interview with the author Hannah Kent. Hannah wrote the amazing novel The Good People which is a fictional account of a very real story that took places in the early 19th century. A story very similar to that of Bridget Cleary.
Hannah took a very rigorous approach to her work and so I wanted to chat to her about her research and what she learned.

You can pick up the book and learn more about it here:
https://thebookshop.ie/kent-hannah-the-good-people-hardback/
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In this episode, up a week early for History Nerds, we look at how Bridget Cleary's last night on earth, how was killed and the wider implications of her court case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1895, Bridget Cleary — young, educated, and a little too stylish for County Tipperary's liking — fell ill with a fever. Within days, her husband and neighbours had convinced themselves she'd been taken by the fairies and a changeling left in her place. What followed was a week of forced "cures," a hot poker, and a fire. Drawing on Angela Bourke's The Burning of Bridget Cleary, this episode traces how a community's belief in the good people curdled into horror — and sets up the trial that would follow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The old gods of Ireland never really died — they went under the hills, and people learned not to say their name. We follow the Tuatha Dé into folklore, where they become the fairies, the Sídhe, the Good People — and take the first step towards the changeling and the 1895 killing of Bridget Cleary.

The episode cover image is a hawthorn tree, famously associated with fairies in Ireland. (Wikimedia Commons/Robin Somes)

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