Documentary on One Podcast

Adrian Vernon Fish has twin preoccupations: composing contemporary music and the country of Greenland. From his home in Co. Mayo, he travels around Irish national schools telling the children wintry stories about the country while wearing a traditional Greenland costume and displaying handcrafted items from there. (First Broadcast 2013)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The music and stories of a young Northern Irish jazz singer, Victoria Geelan. She's neither fully Catholic nor Protestant; neither blind nor partially-sighted. She sings jazz and blues in Derry where she is fondly referred to as a 'Fenian Jaffa'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maurice Brennan has always wanted to visit America. As a child he loved the literature of Mark Twain. On his first visit headed to the Mark Twain Forest Park, Missouri, where he spent a day fly-fishing on Mill Creek, a small river in the Mississippi system. (First Broadcast 2013)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Writer Eugene O’Brien takes a trip on a barge through the heart of the midlands, experiencing his home county in a different – and much slower – way than usual.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The secretary of a Dublin boys' secondary school, Moyle Park College, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, the teenagers at the Clondalkin school, have held an annual 'Pink Day' a 'no uniform' day with a difference, where the students come into school dressed in pink and the event raises money for cancer research. (First Broadcast 2013)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Originally from Cashel, Frank McNamara's songs and poems were spread through convict Australia by his fellow prisoners. Today a new generation of musicians regard him as giving Australia a tradition akin to the Mississippi blues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Whelan's museum in a huge hangar at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel stores hundreds of artefacts but also thousands of stories behind those objects.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's tough enough being a teenager, trying to work out who you are. But, say you're a teenager with African parents but you've grown up in Ireland. What are you? African? Irish? Or, a bit of both? And where is 'home'? Where you holiday or where you live?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The joy of milkshakes, driving ranges and just 'chattin' '. Big Brother Big Sister is a programme where young adults meet up with young teenagers once a week for a year. How does it work and what are the benefits for both the adults and teenagers?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pomp rock's classical pretensions come under scrutiny in this palyful reconstruction of Queen's pop classic 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in 2006, card clubs and casinos were becoming popular. At the time, the government were making noises about regulating them and even closing them down. What was it like behind the closed doors? James Bond in a white dinner jacket? Eh...no.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Becoming a father for the first time is daunting to many men to say the least, as it’s not only mothers who find new parenting challenging. Fathers recall the challenges of access to maternity wards while unmarried, the importance of the son for the family farm and the pressures of life as this new chapter begins. (1986)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duncan McNiff is an Irishman who's an amateur podcaster. He wanders the streets of San Francisco meeting and recording people with interesting stories. Like the old woman with the police car, the veteran with 'summer' teeth and the man with seven degrees.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story of the kidnapping of German industrialist Thomas Niedermayer by the IRA in the 1970s faded from public memory – but affected one family for generations to come, with tragic consequences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you go along at 60mph, your backside millimetres from the road surface? This 13-year old girl would: Nicole aims to be a Formula 1 driver; but first, she has to make her way to the top of the go-kart drivers' table. At the moment, she's at No. 2....See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On February 23rd 1943, a fire in St Joseph's industrial school in Cavan Town, an orphanage run by an enclosed order nuns caught fire. 35 orphans and one elderly woman died that night. After the fire, attention turned to the role played by the Poor Clares, the order of nuns who ran the orphanage, and the local fire service and what could have been done differently... (First published 2013)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every Thursday night in a Dublin suburb, people form a queue on an empty footpath. The only clue to what they're doing is the line of pets at their feet. They are waiting on the Blue Cross mobile animal clinic. They have their pets and their stories.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Enter the world of parliamentary plots, rumours and conspiracy. Paul Staines - aka Guido Fawkes - is the number 1 political blogger in the British Isles. Paul is viewed by some as a scourge, and by others as 'new media'. Paul is also an Irish citizen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year, on the last Sunday in June, hundreds of people head out to the deserted island of Inchagoill on Lough Corrib in Co. Galway. They go for a Mass on the old monastic site and also for ‘Agape’, feasting. (2006)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The small town of Lourdes, located at the foothills of the Pyrenees has been the destination for Irish pilgrimages to Lourdes for decades. Since the Apparitions in 1858, thousands of people have visited the Grotto of Massabielle to pray and reflect. Broadcaster Paddy O'Gorman joined one Dublin pilgrimage as they begin their trip to Lourdes (2000)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She was muse to artists like Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud, she was known as the 'Queen of Soho', she toured with Marianne Faithfull and she lived for a time in a mansion in Laois - Henrietta Moraes lived a decadent but fiercely tragic life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mag lived in Wexford in the 1990s. She started to get pains in her stomach. She was assured she was not seriously ill and continued to work - including pulling a plough for her father. Then, the pains got worse... Presented by Ann Marie DuffinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remembering one of Ireland's most famous actors Alfred Willmore also known as Micheál MacLiammóir. This dramatist, impresario, writer, poet and painter was a prominent figure who dominated the arts scene in twentieth-century Ireland. Born in London, he adopted Ireland as home & co-founded The Gate Theatre in with his partner Hilton Edwards (1998)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A multi award winning portrait of an elderly jazz man and his long battle with schizophrenia. Vern has multiple voices that speak to him - and he talks right back. And then there's his accordian - and his humour - and the friendships he had and lostSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

January is a busy time for gyms and leisure centres but, who are the regulars? Portlaoise Leisure Centre has a stream of people through it beginning with children eating breakfast at 7 a.m. Irish life, as seen through a day in a leisure centre.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The remarkable story from 2007 of an Irish nurse who emigrated to America and ended up living on the streets there. She eventually regained control of her life but not without losing her children and being attacked so badly that she now uses a wheelchair.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before Christmas there was the excitment of them coming home - choirs, banners and cheering in the emigrants' airport arrivals. In January, it's a very different story - all about the parents left behind - waving goodbye to their emigrant children.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Irishman moves to Japan and learns about the place and its people from other Irish already there: a fake Catholic priest, a teacher on TV and a Roscommon Sumo wrestler. (Made with support of BAI Sound & Vision Fund)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christmas, Arrivals Dublin Airport. Who is waiting at the railings for returned emigrants? The woman who's hiding from her family, the mother who hasn't seen her 19-year old 'baby' in months. An national ritual with individual stories at the railings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1922, Alice O'Neill and seven of her children are killed by a suspicious fire in their home. One child survives, 8yr old 'Little Molly'. Now, 90 years later, Molly's family finally tell the story of that night - as we discover what really happened.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A woman is rushed to a maternity hospital...in the same hospital, another woman dreamt she'd hold a baby girl, called Lili....across the city a family are seeing children in Australia opening Santy presents. The sounds of Christmas 2012.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In December 2011, a prisoner in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin recorded the sound of the place during the Christmas period, the meals, Mass, present-making and the thoughts of individual staff and inmates on the 'festive' season in jail.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What links Handel's 'Messiah' and Dublin City Council. Well, there are lots of real links (it was written and first performed in Dublin, the annual open air 'Messiah' takes place beside the council HQ). There's one notional link, though. Have a listen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The extraordinary and desperate story of a standoff between teachers, subcontractors and parents. In September 2012, after 160yrs of waiting, Kilfinane in Co. Limerick got a new primary school - but in Nov 2012, a standoff ensued over unpaid bills.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louis Wilson makes money standing still...very still. He's a 'human statue' in Dublin. He dresses up as writers James Joyce and Patrick Kavanagh and strikes a pose in Grafton St. What's it like? What happens if you have to sneeze or go to the loo?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eoghan Clonan is ten and like many children of his age, he really wants a dog but when Eoghan gets his new pet, it's not your usual four legged mutt. It's Superdog.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Based on the Four Elements: Earth, Wind, Fire & Water. A night-time earth soundscape from Northern Ireland - birth, taxis, death. Sounds from the Maternity Department , Ulster Hospital; Value Cabs taxi, Belfast and the Northern Ireland Hospice, Belfast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A story of famine, enforced emigration, New York tenements, politics and how a kid from the slums of the 'Five Points' got to name a street in Manhattan after his mother's homeplace - Kenmare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rosaleen McDonagh has a speech impediment. It makes dealing with people difficult. She is often frustrated with others, sometimes blames herself but she can't or won't change how she speaks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Soundscapes from Northern Irish night-times based on the classical elements - Air, Earth, Fire & Water. In this episode, Water: fishing, crying, sailing. (Made with the support of the BAI Sound & Vision Fund.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve, from England, lives in Donegal. He took early retirement from one high-pressure job on health grounds. Then, gradually he got another job, and another, and another....(2007)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To mark Armistice Day 2012 - A story of love and war - based on a collection of letters written by Eric Appleby from the trenchs of WW1 to Phyllis, an Irishwoman, who waited and waited for Eric to return...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They went against the flow. Tom McDonough and Ned Hammell immigrated to Ireland from the US in the early years of the last century - they left America as children to settle in Ireland. Tom left before WWI, Ned during the Depression. How did they get on?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Life inside a 'wet' hostel - where residents are allowed bring in alcohol. Sundial House, run by DePaul Ireland, a long-term housing project in Dublin for men and women who have lived for long periods of time on the streets and have alcohol problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It used to be that you could varnish your nails - now you can have 'shellac nails'. It's a hard protection that makes the colour last. However, it's applied by a nail technician which sounds like a drawback, but it's not, there's a hidden benefit...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Horror movies that are so bad, they're good. Erik Threlfall is an expert on horror movies, trashy ones: 'Bloody Moon', 'Pieces', 'Slumber Party Massacre'. They scare you but they just make him laugh. Although, there is one thing that frightens him...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone got behind the Irish Paralympic team at the London 2012 games but we also had good reason to be cheering on another team - Vietnam. Irish Aid took the Vietnam team under its wing and brought them to Ireland for training (Funded by Irish Aid)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiliwa is a community living with the aftermath of violence and child abduction by Joseph Kony’s Lord's Resistance Army. Della Kilroy records stories of survival in the Democratic Republic of Congo (This documentary was funded by Irish Aid)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the week in which Angela Merkel put the frighteners on Ireland, The Curious Ear visits a place in Germany you may imagine didn't exist: a soup kitchen for hungry Germans, the Bahnhofsmission - the 'Railway Station Mission' in Berlin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three professional musicians go on the wards of Ireland's hospitals to make live music part of the healthcare experience, but for one, a tragic accident shows just how fragile life can be. (Part of RTÉ Big Music Week)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.