Shows
Undercover IrishIreland as a Body: Place Names, Mythology, and Indigenous WorldviewsWhat if Ireland wasn’t just a land to live on—but a living body itself? In this episode of Undercover Irish, we trace the ancient impulse to personify the landscape, exploring how Indigenous cultures—from Celtic Ireland to Native America and Aboriginal Australia—map meaning onto mountains, rivers, valleys, and plains by imagining them as parts of a living, breathing being. This episode blends mythology, linguistics, and cultural survival in a journey that reawakens our connection to place. Come with us—and learn to read the land as you would a beloved face.2025-06-2425 min
Undercover IrishBuilding Up And Tearing England Down; The Social History In A BalladBuilding Up and Tearing England Down! In this jam-packed episode we dig into Dominic Behan’s razor-sharp ballad of the same name, tracing how a few mighty verses capture a century of Irish labour on Britain’s building sites and railways. First we pit two iconic renditions against one another—Christy Moore’s pub-roar 1969 and The Mary Wallopers’ lament of the 2020s. From there we zoom out: Ballads as people’s textbooks – Why songs remember the names, jokes and grievances that official syllabi leave out, and how oral tradition keeps working-class history alive. The Irish navvy in...2025-06-1332 minUndercover IrishThe Truth about Munster and Meath: Uncovering Ireland’s Lost Directions🎙️ The Truth about Munster and Meath: Uncovering Ireland’s Lost Directions What do a New Zealand haka in Limerick and the ancient kingdoms of Ireland have in common? More than you might think. In this episode of Undercover Irish, we begin with a defining moment in Irish sporting history: the All Blacks performing the haka at Thomond Park in 2008. But have you ever stopped to ask—what does "Thomond" actually mean? And what ancient map of Ireland lies buried beneath the one we know today? We trace a path back through time, cut...2025-06-0629 minUndercover IrishAn Bata Scóir and Its International Reach Episode 5 – An Bata Scóir and its International Reach In this powerful and reflective episode of Undercover Irish, we dive into the brutal colonial legacy of language suppression, beginning with the story of An Bata Scóir — the notched tally stick used to punish Irish children for speaking their native tongue. More than a tool of discipline, An Bata Scóir represents the systemic violence inflicted by the British Empire in its efforts to erase the Irish language as part of its wider colonisation strategy. But Ireland wasn’t alone. This episode explores how the island served as a testing ground for linguistic oppression — experiments that would later echo acros...2025-05-3128 minUndercover IrishSkorts, Shorts and the Three Stripe Affair That Rocked Cork GAA – Part 2 In Part 2 of Skorts, Shorts and the Three Stripe Affair That Rocked Cork GAA, Undercover Irish dives into the post-1977 fallout of Cork's All-Ireland hurling triumph. Follow the dramatic twists as Adidas shifts focus to Kerry GAA, O'Neills fights back on the pitch and in the courts, and the battle over branding turns personal. This episode also bridges past and present, spotlighting the modern "Skorts not Shorts" campaign by the Camogie players of Tomás McCurtains GAA in London, and uncovers a striking 1935 parallel in the long history of attempts to control women’s sportswear. A gripping blend of sport, style, and social change.2025-05-2426 min
Undercover IrishSkorts, Shorts and the Three Stripe Affair that rocked Cork GAA Part 1🎧 Skorts, Shorts and the Three Stripe Affair That Rocked Cork GAA – Part 1 | Undercover Irish Podcast In this episode of Undercover Irish, we dive into the headlines of today—and the hidden stories of the past. The current controversy over skorts in Camogie has sparked debate across Ireland, but it’s far from the first time sportswear caused uproar in the GAA. In Part 1 of Skorts, Shorts and the Three Stripe Affair, we rewind to the 1970s to explore how global sportswear giant Adidas made its first bold move into the Irish market—and how a clash of tr...2025-05-1721 minUndercover IrishLet Erin Remember: The Crimes Against Lough NeaghLet Erin Remember is a powerful and poetic exploration of environmental and cultural injustice, using the haunting Irish song Let Erin Remember as a guide through the destruction and pollution of Lough Neagh—once a sacred and mythologically rich lake at the heart of Ireland. This podcast unpacks the ecological crisis facing Lough Neagh, contextualizing it as a symptom of deeper colonial legacies. Through the lens of Irish history, myth, and song, we examine the lake’s ancient origins as Lough Neathach, tied to the Dagda of Irish mythology, and expose how colonial ownership and mismanagement have deva...2025-05-0931 minUndercover IrishIreland was ahead of the Stoics, Mindfulness, and CBT; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy within Gaeilge"The Irish Were Ahead of the Stoics and Mindfulness: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in Gaeilge" Episode Summary: In this thought-provoking episode of Undercover Irish, we explore how the Irish language (Gaeilge) encodes emotional intelligence in ways that predate Stoicism, modern mindfulness, and even Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). Through the lens of linguistic relativism—the idea that language shapes the way we think—we delve into how Gaeilge frames emotions, resilience, and human experience in profoundly unique ways. We begin with a global tour of language and thought: In Guugu Yimithirr (an Aboriginal Australian lang...2025-04-2518 min