Highlights From Talking History

On this episode of Talking History: Dr Patrick Geoghegan meets Dr Emily Mark-FitzGerald, Associate Professor, School of Art History and Cultural Policy at UCD; Brian Crowley, Curator of Collections at Kilmainham Gaol Museum; and Ciarán McCabe, social historian of Ireland and Britain in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, with particular interest in the history of poverty and welfare, women’s history and urban history.

In this episode of Talking History, Dr Patrick Geoghegan celebrates the life and legacy of iconic author Agatha Christie alongside noted historian and chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Dr Lucy Worsley, author of Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman. He is also joined by John Curran, leading Irish Agatha Christie expert, literary scholar and archivist, who edited the Agatha Christie Newsletter and is author of 'Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks', and Tony Medawar, who is leading the programming for the Agatha Christie Festival in 2023.

On this episode of Talking History, Dr Patrick Geoghegan interviews author and journalist Clodagh Finn about her new book, Her Keys To The City: Honouring The Women Who Made Dublin. Also featured is an exploration of Land Surveying in Ireland 1690-1830 with author Finnian O Cionnaith.

In a special episode broadcast from the GPO in Dublin for the Dublin Festival of History, Dr Patrick Geoghegan marks World Post Day with a panel of experts to discuss the iconic building of the General Post Office and its history - featuring GPO Museum Curator Stephen Ferguson and historians Dr Sinead McCoole, Mary Muldowney and Cathy Scuffil.

Returning to the subject of our most popular podcast, Dr Patrick Geoghegan discusses the events and impact of the Irish Civil War with a new panel of experts, focusing particularly on Co Kerry - joining him in this episode are Dr Mary McAuliffe, historian and Director of the UCD Gender Studies Programme, Owen O’Shea, historian and author of upcoming book ‘No Middle Path: The Civil War In Kerry’, and the authors of The Irish Civil War In Colour - Michael B. Barry, a historian who has written many books on the Irish Revolutionary period, and John O’Byrne, a professional photographer and colouriser who specialises in colourising military scenes from the early twentieth century.

In this episode of Talking History, Dr Patrick Geoghegan investigates the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell with a panel of experts: Professor John Morrill, emeritus professor of British and Irish history at the University of Cambridge; Dr Miranda Malins, historian and Trustee of the Cromwell Association; Professor Micheál Ó Siochrú from the Department of History at Trinity College Dublin; and Professor Sarah Covington, Professor of History at the Graduate Center and Queens College of the City of New York in the US.

In this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan speaks with historian Dr Elaine Sisson about the forgotten star of Dublin's theatre scene, Daisy Bannard Cogley, following her profile in History Ireland; broadcaster Simon Jenkins discusses his new book on The Celts; and we journey through a thousand years of Russia's history with Orlando Figes.

Marking the 21st anniversary of 9/11, Dr Patrick Geoghegan is joined by historians J Samuel Walker, author of 'The Day That Shook America - A Concise History of 9/11', Dr Daniel Geary, Mark Pigott Associate Professor in American History at Trinity College Dublin, and Professor Edward Spiers, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of Leeds.

On this special episode of Talking History, our panel reflects on the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II, following the announcement of her death age 96.

On this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan speaks to Flora Fraser, author of 'Pretty Young Rebel: The Life of Flora Macdonald' and John Keay, author of 'Himalaya: Exploring the Roof of the World'. To discuss the history of the Irish language through the lens of government policy is John Walsh, author of 'One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922-2022'. And why did it take so long for Rome to conquer Britain? Patrick speaks to Richard Hingley, author of 'Conquering the Ocean: The Roman Invasion of Britain' to discuss.

Joining Patrick Geoghegan for this episode of Talking History to discuss the newly unveiled Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland and the history of the Four Courts fire is Ciaran Wallace, Deputy Director of Beyond 2022; Zoe Reid, Keeper of the National Archives; Lynn Kilgannon, Medieval Gold Seam Research Fellow; and Brian Gurrin, Research Fellow in Census and Population Records, Beyond 2022.

Discussing Michael Collins on the 100th anniversary of his death, Patrick Geoghegan is joined by an esteemed panel: Dr Anne Dolan and Dr William Murphy, Collins biographers; Joseph Connell, lawyer, historian and author, and expert on Michael Collins; and Helen Collins, grandniece of Michael Collins, and Jamie Murphy, General Manager of the Michael Collins House Museum.

On this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan reflects on the assassination of Henry Wilson with reporter Ronan McGreevy, and also charts the life and times of Maria Theresa, The Habsburg Empress, with author Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, professor of early modern history at the University of Münster in Germany.

On this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan reflects on the 75th anniversary of the CIA and its achievements and failures. Also featured is a discussion on the 40th anniversary of the first Aids case in Ireland.

On this episode of Talking History, Patrick and his guests reflect on the life and work of Kerry storyteller Peig Sayers and why we as a society may not have the full picture of her - featuring Dr Katie Mischler from the Museum of Literature Ireland and a curator of their Peig exhibition, Lorcán Ó Cinnéide, Manager of the OPW Blasket Centre, and Dr Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh, Director of the National Folklore Collection at UCD.

In this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan finds out about the life, music and legacy of JS Bach; discusses the last thousand years of female composers like Clara Schumann and why they have been silenced throughout history; and explores the story of a recently discovered self-portrait of Van Gogh. Joining him on the show are musicologist Markus Zepf of the Bach Museum, Classical Women author Dr Noel Culleton, and Professor Frances Fowle, Senior Curator of French Art at the National Galleries of Scotland.

On this week's episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan examines what Irish artefacts mean to us as a nation and what Ireland's most interesting ones are. He's joined by Lynn Scarff, director of The National Museum of Ireland, Trevor White, director of the Little Museum of Dublin, Helen O’Carroll, Curator/Manager of Kerry County Museum and Jill Cousins, director of The Hunt Museum in Limerick.

On this episode of Talking History: a focus on the local history of Clare, Dublin and Kerry - as Dr Patrick Geoghegan hears from "The Scariff Martyrs: War, Murder and Memory in East Clare" author Tomás Mac Conmara; the story of Fr John O'Sullivan and the Famine Poor of Kerry, from Dr Colum Kenny, author of "Kenmare - History and Survival"; the story of Ireland's capital city from "Dublin, 1910-1940: Shaping the city and suburbs" author Dr Ruth McManus; and we discuss The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland with Professor Crawford Gribben.

On this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan explores Ireland's Middle Kingdom. We find out about the history of Rathgar and Churchtown and we hear some great stories about Galway over the centuries.

On this episode of Talking History, to mark the anniversary of JFK's visit to Ireland in June 1963, Patrick Geoghegan speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Fredrik Logevall of Harvard University and author of 'JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956', EPIC Irish Emigration Museum's Nathan Mannion, and longtime Talking History listener Ray Cass who was there on the day when President John F. Kennedy arrived at Dublin Airport.