What Were We Like

On the 22nd of August 1922, Michael Collins was shot dead in Béal Na Bláth, County Cork. His death at just 31 ensured he would become one of Ireland’s most iconic figures, forever frozen in time. This week on What Were We Like, we explore the complicated legacy of Michael Collins. We also look at the significance of the revival of interest of Collins in recent years and the impact Neil Jordan’s film had on his legacy, despite taking some poetic licence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Collins is now one of the most powerful men in Ireland. But events that will tear Ireland apart and lead to his brutal assassination in Cork are already set in train. In 1921 he is sent by De Valera to London to negotiate with the British on what will become the Anglo-Irish Treaty. With his striking good looks and his fierce reputation, London is gripped by "Collins mania". But on December 6th 1921, when Collins signs the Treaty, he is said to have remarked: “I'm signing my actual death warrant.” Within months, a brutal civil war breaks out across the country, and just over nine months after signing the Treaty, Collins is killed in an ambush at Béal Na Bláth on 22nd August 1922. His death remains one of the most shocking moments in Irish history resulting in endless speculation and conspiracy theories on what happened on the fateful day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 22nd of August 1922, Michael Collins, the Commander in Chief of the National Army was shot dead. He was just 31. Almost immediately the myth making around Michael Collins began, starting with the last words he’s alleged to have uttered. But what is the real legacy of Michael Collins? He was a man who operated as a politician but was capable of ruthless violence. On this week’s What Were We Like, we talk about Michael Collins, a man that has captured the imagination of the Irish public, film makers, artists and politicians like no other figure in modern Irish history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early hours of February 14th 1981, a fire ripped through the Stardust Nightclub in Artane in Dublin. 48 people, aged between 16 and 27, die in the tragedy. It is one of the worst fires, in terms of loss of life and significant injury, in the State’s history. In 1982 a Tribunal controversially found that the fire was "probably caused deliberately" despite no evidence. For 43 years, the families fought for justice for the 48 people who died and to get answers how their love ones died. This is the story of Stardust. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was one of Ireland’s greatest and most controversial playwrights. Sean O’Casey’s remarkable life began in the slums of Dublin and took him to the biggest stages in the world, including the Abbey Theatre. His work caused riots in Dublin and caused protests around the world, from Texas to Berlin to London. O’Casey made enemies of the Church and the Censors, forcing him to choose self-imposed exile in England. Through his plays, O’Casey asked fundamental questions about violence and challenged the founding myths of the new Irish state. They were questions a new Ireland wasn’t ready for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After committing one of the worst atrocities in the Irish Civil War, the State attempts to cover up its role in the massacre. As “Terror Month” in Kerry continues, further atrocities are carried out with more prisoners blown up by landmines. However, the man who gave the order at Ballyseedy, Paddy O'Daly, remains unrepentant, stating: “No one asked me to take my kid gloves to Kerry and I didn’t take them.” Diarmaid and Catriona discuss the fall out from Ballyseedy, how the truth finally emerges, and why the Dáil record still contains the cover-up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 recount the whole affair, and also the wider conflict in Kerry at the time, which is often referred to as "Terror Month". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 deep conservatism, particularly on women's issues, and his visit turned out to be a last hurrah for the Catholic Church before it was rocked by child sexual abuse scandals, the rise of feminism and plummeting mass attendances in later years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Diarmaid and Catriona are back next Monday, 31 August. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 privacy information.

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.

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 Catholic Church, and also trace the history of holy apparitions in Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 in the treatment of women in Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Like looks at how the extremely controversial Eighth Amendment came to be inserted into the Constitution in 1983 - and remained there until its repeal in 2018. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Seamus Heaney, and writing perhaps the greatest love song of all time, Raglan Road. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 information.

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 brave women and men who fought to change that. Two key events feature: the famous "Contraceptive train" of 1971, in which a group of women bought contraceptives in Northern Ireland - where they were legal - and brought them back across the border, and dared the Gardai to arrest them. The second is the remarkable bravery of Mary Magee, whose legal case paved the way for contraceptives to become legal in Ireland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 less-than-impressive record keeping at the time. But nonetheless, the census provides a remarkable insight into Ireland back then - and a great opportunity for us to snoop on our neighbours. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Ulysses . Joyce's political beliefs are also explored, as well as the social history of Dublin at the time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 and more or less anyone interested in sex. McQuaid gradually came to be regarded as out of touch with the country. He resigned in 1972, and died the following year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.