The Póilíní Podcast
The Póilíní Podcast explores over 200 years of Irish policing history, drawing on stories from a policeman’s notebook to uncover remarkable and often untold events. It examines the lives of serving members, their families, and wider Irish society through these historical cases. The show is presented by Garda historian Dr John Reynolds, who served 40 years in An Garda Síochána, and writer and journalist Helen Moorhouse. Together they share gripping yarns, tragic tales, and forgotten people from Ireland’s policing past.
Episodes
The First Ban Gardaí, Yvonne Burke and the Women Who Broke the Mould
In 1959, twelve women joined An Garda Síochána amid marriage bars, Dáil sexism and instructions to avoid "girlish giddiness". Thirty-four years later, Garda Yvonne Burke and her colleague chased shotgun-wielding armed robbers through Cabra, and she became the first woman to win the Scott Medal for bravery. This episode traces how the Ban Gardaí came to be, from their training under Liver
The Macushla Ballroom Martyrs: From Showbands to Showdown
In November 1961, hundreds of rank-and-file gardaí defied their own commissioner and packed the Macushla ballroom in Dublin to protest draconian conditions and a pay deal that shut out the newest recruits. Within days, eleven men were dismissed. Then a young Justice Minister and an Archbishop joined forces to broker peace. This episode follows the revolt and its aftermath, and asks what it still t
Stringybark Creek: The Irish Policemen Who Hunted Ned Kelly
This episode follows the Irish threads running through Australia's most famous outlaw story, from John "Red" Kelly's transportation for stealing a pig to the four Irish-born policemen — Kennedy, Scanlan, Lonigan and McIntyre — sent into the bush to hunt down his son Ned. Helen and John unpack the myth-making, the class politics, and the quiet tragedy of Irishmen on both sides of
The Kidnapping of Gilbert Potter: A District Inspector's Fatal Sense of Duty
In April 1921, at the height of the War of Independence, RIC District Inspector Gilbert Potter was seized by the IRA after stumbling into the tail end of an ambush near Clogheen, Tipperary. Marched over the Knockmealdowns into Waterford and held for days by men he had known since they were boys, Potter was faced with a decision that would have profound consequences for him and his family.Drawing o
The Carrickshock Massacre: Ten Minutes That Shook Irish Policing
In this episode of The Póilíní Podcast, writer Helen Moorhouse and retired Garda Sergeant and police historian Dr John Reynolds, unpack the Carrickshock Massacre: the brutal tithe system that provoked it, the newly formed Peace Preservation Force sent to enforce it, and the catastrophic misjudgements that turned a routine errand into a bloodbath. They trace what happened to the survivors, the coll
The Póilíní Podcast Trailer
The Póilíní Podcast starts 17th Sept 2026.Hosted by writer Helen Moorhouse and Garda historian Dr John Reynolds, this exciting podcast will explore stories pulled from more than 200 years of Irish policing history.Find out more herePresenters - Dr John Reynolds, Helen MoorhouseProducer - Daryl MoorhouseSound Record and Mix - Sean ByrneRecorded at Tinpot Productions StudiosFind out more or get in t
