What Were We Like

The Ballyseedy Massacre (Part 1) Sep 7, 2026 1841 On the 7th of March 1923, nine anti-Treaty prisoners were taken to a field in Kerry, tied to a landmine and blown up. It was one of the most shocking events of the Irish Civil War and became known as the Ballyseedy Massacre. The State immediately tried to cover it up but incredibly, one man survived and his witness account revealed just how brutal the civil war had become. Diarmaid and Catriona re

The Pope's Visit of 1979 Aug 31, 2026 2342 John Paul II, the "rock star" Pope took Ireland by storm in 1979, and millions came out to see him. (Everyone except Catriona, who went to Donegal in a sulk but kept an eye on proceedings through the television). This was an iconic moment, and everyone was swept away by his good looks, his "deep baritone" voice, and his ability to connect with young people. Yet his abilities as a showman belied a

Best of What Were We Like (Part 2) Aug 25, 2026 2955 RTÉ's podcast intern Arran returns with the second instalment of his favourite parts of What Were We Like. This time around, grumpy Patrick Kavanagh, "airhead" Ronald Reagan, and the insertion of the Eighth Amendment into the Constitution all feature. This is Arran's last selection - he's off to Electric Picnic on Thursday where he'll be boring his pals with his newfound knowledge of history. Diar

Best of What Were We Like (Part 1) Aug 20, 2026 2369 Diarmaid and Catriona are on holidays, so RTE's podcast intern, Arran has selected some of his favourite parts of What Were We Like so far. Bobby Sands, The Contraceptive Train, and John Charles McQuaid all feature in the first part of this "Best of" series. Part 2 of Arran's selections will be out next week, and Diarmaid and Catriona return on Monday 31 August.See omnystudio.com/listener for priv

What Were We Like: Back in Two Weeks Aug 10, 2026 30 What Were We Like is on holidays for the next two weeks. We'll be back with a podcast about the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland in 1979, and that will come out on Monday the 24th of August.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1980s Ireland: Moving Statues Aug 3, 2026 1892 Ireland was gripped by a bizarre phenomenon in the summer of 1985: sightings of moving statues of the Virgin Mary. Tens of thousands of people flocked to villages in Kerry - and elsewhere - to catch a glimpse of these monuments, which eyewitnesses claimed would move, beckon and even undergo strange facial transformations. Diarmaid and Catriona chart this crazy story, look at how it challenged the

1980s Ireland: The Kerry Babies Case Jul 27, 2026 2669 In 1985, the body of a newborn baby washed up on a beach in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, stabbed to death. What followed was one of the most infamous incidents in the history of An Garda Síochána. Diarmaid and Catriona trace the botched Garda investigation into the baby's death, carried out by the notorious Heavy Gang, the shocking Tribunal of Inquiry which followed, and how it became a watershed moment

1980s Ireland: The Eighth Amendment Jul 20, 2026 2216 Today, Diarmaid and Catriona kick off a new series focusing on Ireland in the 1980s. This was a decade of great political instability, with three general elections alone happening between 1981 and 1982. Unemployment and emigration were high. Heroin took hold in Dublin and spread around the country. But one of the most polarising issues of all was abortion. In the first of this series, What Were We

The brilliant poetry and turbulent life of Patrick Kavanagh Jul 13, 2026 2715 Monaghan born Patrick Kavanagh was a notorious presence in Dublin for much of his life. Broke, drunk and often bitter, he boozed in the bars around Grafton Street, clashing with the likes of Brendan Behan and railing against the literary establishment. Always an outsider, he nonetheless transformed Irish poetry by focusing on the ordinary aspects of rural Ireland, paving the way for the likes of S

Bobby Sands, Margaret Thatcher, and the 1981 hunger strikes Jul 6, 2026 2767 On 5 May 1981, 26-year-old Bobby Sands became the first of ten IRA hunger strikers to die at the Maze Prison, changing the course of history in Northern Ireland. In this episode, Diarmaid and Catriona assess his life, his status as a Republican icon, and how he impacted the career of his chief antagonist, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher among others.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy

All aboard the contraceptive train Jun 29, 2026 2063 The Irish Women's Liberation Movement, Mary Magee and the fight for contraceptive rights in Ireland.  It was the 1970s and in many ways, things were grim for the women of Ireland. Marital rape was permitted, women had to stop working in the public service when they got married, and most relevantly for this podcast, contraception was illegal. Here, Diarmaid and Catriona tell the stories of the

The 1926 Census - LIVE at Listowel Writers Week Jun 22, 2026 2954 In this special recording, What Were We Like appears before a live audience at this year's Listowel Writers Week, to discuss the 1926 census. Diarmaid and Catriona talk about what the census tells us about Irish society in the early part of the 20th century - both in Kerry, and in Ireland in general. Catriona takes umbrage at the performance of Garda Daniel Rooney, who was responsible for some of

The jealous rage that inspired a key chapter of Ulysses Jun 15, 2026 2393 To mark Bloomsday, Diarmaid and Catriona tell the remarkable story of how two of James Joyce's friends made false allegations of infidelity against Nora Barnacle, something which sent Joyce into a jealous rage. The impact on Joyce was severe, and caused him to question the paternity of his son, Giorgio - but it also had major literary consequences, forming the basis of one of the key chapters of U

The Fearsome Ruler of Catholic Ireland: John Charles McQuaid (Part 2) Jun 8, 2026 2837 In the 1960s, John Charles McQuaid faced a number of serious challenges that saw his influence over Ireland wane. The advent of television and the women's movement were major problems for him - and Vatican 2 presented the biggest threat to his authority. But McQuaid still wielded considerable power, and went after people who crossed his path, including novelist John McGahern, various Protestants a

The Fearsome Ruler of Catholic Ireland: John Charles McQuaid (Part 1) Jun 1, 2026 2688 The powerful and fearsome John Charles McQuaid was the archbishop of Dublin from 1940 to the early 1970s, and was described as the ruler of Catholic Ireland. He was obsessed with protestants, communists and "moral purity", and ran a huge spying operation on the Irish population, both at home and abroad, to keep everyone in check. In the first part of this series, Diarmaid and Catriona chart his ea

By Elections That Shaped Ireland (Part 2) May 23, 2026 2152 More giants of Irish politics feature in this episode. Enda Kenny – was he lucky, was he devoid of strong convictions, was he Fine Gael's most successful Taoiseach? Probably all three. Prickly Des O’Malley won his famous uncle’s seat in a by election and went on to found the influential Progressive Democrats. And two trailblazers of Irish politics, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the first woman to ho

The By-Elections That Shaped Ireland (Part 1) May 18, 2026 2239 With by-elections in the air, Diarmaid and Catriona look back at some of the most significant ones in Irish history. Part one features big beasts Sean Lemass and Sean MacBride, as well as Ireland's most handsome communist. Lemass succeeded Dev and is credited with modernising Ireland, as well as smoking vast amounts of tobacco through a pipe. The more “exotic” MacBride founded Clann Na Poblachta a

The History of The Tricolour (Part 3) May 11, 2026 2918 This episode charts the Tricolour's 20th Century evolution: its formal adoption in 1937; getting the Brits to return the Tricolour that flew over the GPO in 1916; all the way up to Italia '90.The gruesome digging up of Roger Casement's body features, as does John McGahern's most famous novel, Amongst Women, which came out in 1990 with a Tricolour splashed across its cover.See omnystudio.com/listen

The History of The Tricolour (Part 2) May 4, 2026 2053 Patrick Pearse’s dramatic ‘The fools, the fools’ speech at Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa’s funeral was a key moment in the story of Ireland’s flag. Pearse made the oration alongside a Tricolour draped across the veteran Fenian’s coffin. The Green White and Gold was then flown over the GPO during the Easter Rising, and it was Sinn Féin’s skill as propagandists, alongside the monumentally 'stupid’ Britis

The History of The Tricolour (Part 1) Apr 27, 2026 1713 Who owns The Tricolour? Over the last year it has appeared on polls and lampposts all over Ireland – put there by anti-immigration campaigners, causing fights and debates all over the country. This happened in Catriona’s neighbourhood, and when she and other residents brought this to the attention of the Council, they were told officials were too afraid to take them down. In this episode, Diarmaid

A President Comes to Town - Reagan in Ireland Apr 20, 2026 3115 June 1984, and Ronald Reagan, the controversial, transformative Republican President of the United States visits Ireland. Opposition is widespread, and an unexpected alliance of lefties and priests man the barricades, with Reagan’s foreign policies the focus of their anger. Diarmaid and Catriona unearth all kinds of paddy-whackery, with the Americans asking the Irish Government if the Pope would s

Fianna Fáil: "The Devil" Takes Power (Part 3) Apr 13, 2026 2223 General election campaigns in the early years of the State were utterly vicious, with fresh cow dung, sticks, and nasty insults being hurled about as Fianna Fáil attempted to wrest power from the pro-Treaty Cumann na nGaedheal. Despite the shouts of “traitor”, “murderer” and “Spanish bastard” on the campaign trail, Dev and the Soldiers of Destiny take power for the first time in 1932. The Brits ar

Fianna Fáil: Take your seats, but no drinking in the Dáil bar (Part 2) Apr 6, 2026 1985 Having won instant success in their first election, the Soldiers Of Destiny are faced with an intractable dilemma – how to take their Dáil seats while also swearing a mandatory oath to the hated King of England. Cunning old Dev solves this by getting a letter from a friendly bishop, which he claims allows his TDs to take the oath without actually meaning it. They enter Leinster House in farcical a

Fianna Fáil: Hard Men and Blood Sacrifices (Part 1) Mar 30, 2026 2445 Since the crash, Fianna Fáil has become 'just another political party'. But for nearly a century it was THE leading force in Irish politics, synonymous with power, influence and flash suits; and dominated by outsized personalities like Pee Flynn, Charlie Haughey and Bertie Ahern. In this series, From the Civil War to the Crash, marking the centenary of Fianna Fáil, Diarmaid and Catriona trace

Political insults: F*ck you Deputy Stagg, F*CK YOU! (Part 2) Mar 23, 2026 2130 Political insults part 2/2. The civil war is well in the past, but Irish politicians are still roaring at each other. From Paul Gogarty’s viral, foul-mouthed outburst during the economic crash, to Brian Lenihan Sr. being derided as the ‘13th stroke of Irish political clock’, and the ‘Bismarck of lobster pots’, Diarmaid and Catriona unearth more angry gems from the Dáil archive. What Were We L

Political insults: From Communist to corner boy (Part 1) Mar 23, 2026 1918 Political insults part 1/2. Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe look at the angriest and most bizarre Irish political insults of the last 100 years. In part one of this catalogue of mudslinging, the civil war dominates. Dev is a ‘Spanish Bastard’, TDs are jealous of Michael Collins’ fame, and one politician is accused of shooting off his own toe to commit pension fraud. It’s no holds-barred madne

Ep 5 - Vision, symbolism and the Presidencies of Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese Oct 23, 2025 2539 In the final episode of What Were We Like, Diarmaid and Catriona talk about Ireland’s two female Presidents, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, and how their visions of the Presidency reflected the events of the day. They talk about Mary Robinson’s harrowing trip to Somalia in 1992, and the crowning diplomatic achievement of Mary McAleese’s Presidency, the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 2011.See omn

Ep 4 - Campaigns, characters and controversies (Part 2) Oct 21, 2025 2979 In the fourth episode of What Were We Like?, Diarmaid and Catriona talk about Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh’s remarkable offer to swap places with kidnap victim Tiede Herrema while he was in the Áras; and how Garrett Fitzgerald and Noël Browne were being talked up as possible candidates in the 1990 Presidential election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ep 3 - Campaigns, characters and controversies (Part 1) Oct 20, 2025 2308 In the third episode of What Were We Like?, Diarmaid and Catriona talk about how Douglas Hyde was removed as a patron by the GAA for attending a soccer match; why Muhammad Ali was not considered a suitable guest at Áras an Uachtaráin; and how Eamon De Valera almost failed to win a second term because he refused to campaign at all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ep 2 - Brian Lenihan, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, and the two most important powers the President has Oct 14, 2025 2283 In episode two of What Were We Like?’s special series on the history of the Presidency, Diarmaid and Catriona take a deep dive into the two most critical powers that the President has, and recall the resignation of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh and Brian Lenihan’s infamous “mature recollection” moment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ep 1 - What can the President actually do? Oct 14, 2025 2023 In the first episode of What Were We Like?’s special five-part series on the history of the Presidency, Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe talk about how the office came into being in the first place, Eamon de Valera’s role in shaping its powers, and what the president actually can and cannot do. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Preview with Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe Oct 10, 2025 107 Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe bring us on a journey through the hidden histories, humanity and humour of our past. In this first mini series, they’ll explore the history of the presidency, and what it means, as Ireland gets ready to choose its next Uachtarán.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episodes

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