Documentary on One Podcast

The story of the author Anna Maria Hall; born in Dublin in 1800. She moved to the U.K in 1815 and married Samuel Carter-Hall, often publishing under the name of Mrs. S. C. Hall. Anna joined Samuel in travelling through Ireland in the 1820s and 30s, and her writing often included social commentary on her native land. (First Broadcast 1981)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ed Mulhall looks at the football career of Belfast born George Best, who went on to become Ireland's best known footballer. Recalled as the fifth 'Beatle', George Best enjoyed a celebrity lifestyle which made him front page news among tabloids but not for his football, which made him famous from the age of 15. (1984)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1972, a group of women fled Belfast, with their children, to take refuge in Glenstal Abbey. They came from trauma and violence to an exclusive boys’ boarding-school run by Benedictine monks in rural East Limerick. The children were described as “rude and bold”. It was a clash of cultures that the monks managed with one simple rule… (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A look at Mariculture in Ireland in 1980. Tracing the history of the culture in Ireland from salmon farms and mussel markets to the development of fish farms. Different factors involved in Mariculture are discussed such as the role of technology, pollution, markets and the fear of an influx of big business. (First Broadcast 1980)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People think they know Clare senior hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald because of what they see during the game of sport, but what about before and after? This documentary had unique access to follow Clare's 2016 hurling year and experience it through Davy's eyes (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The highest risk group in Irish road deaths: young rural drivers. We visit Co.Donegal and meet drivers who refuse to wear seatbelts, drivers who drink, officials who work with ‘anti-social’ drivers. Teenagers who show off by doing laps of the town in old tractors. A car culture that’s a backdrop to 5 road deaths in one week. (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Fariña was well known in music and literary circles in New York in the 1960’s. He was a regular visitor to his Irish relations in Ardboe, Co. Tyrone in the 1950’s. He was on the cusp of greatness 50 years ago when his life was cut short. Tracing Fariña’s footsteps from his old haunts in NY to his family by the banks of Lough Neagh. (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kathriona Devereux has inherited a small hotel in Clogheen, Co. Tipperary. ‘Vee house’ has huge emotional value to her, and it has been in her family for years. But the hotel has been closed since her childhood. Kathriona is trying to decide what to do with it – should she keep it, live in it, run it or get rid of it? (First Broadcast 2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To mark the beginning of the Olympics in Rio, a documentary on a group of people who listen to the events more than watch them: TV Sport sound designers. They use their skills to enhance the pictures but sometimes add little touches of their own - to some people’s annoyance. (A Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4.) Broadcast 2016See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joe Flynn and his wife Mary from Westmeath wrote ‘The Broken Hearted Farmer’ in the late 1960s - a song that told the story of farming protests at that time. They were hoping for a No. 1 hit, but it never happened. They have always believed RTÉ banned the song due to government pressure. 50 years later we find out what really happened… (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 5th 1946, the ESB erected the first pole of rural electrification. This was the beginning of a promise to bring electricity to every home in Ireland. 70yrs after this momentous change in modern Ireland, we piece together the story of rural electrification, including tales of fear and hope and love and loss as the nation illuminated. (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Battle of Mount Street Bridge was the most successful rebel engagement in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising. A detailed investigation leads to a modern re-imagining of the infamous battle that took place in a quiet Dublin suburb during the Easter rebellion. This documentary challenges long held views of the event. (First Broadcast 2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1940's the Irish state secretly recruited its own native executioner. Counted as one of Ireland's great historical mysteries, the true identity of this Irish hangman has never been revealed. We’ve spent over 2 years searching for this man, from Dublin to Manchester to Swaziland – and finally to Cork. He believed he’d never be found… (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Margaret Kearney Taylor was a woman who kept many secrets. She was known as the Irishwoman who ran an elegant tearoom in Madrid, Spain for more than fifty years. But she was also was part of a network which helped thousands of Allied servicemen and Jewish refugees escape the Nazi regime in Europe during World War Two. (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Margaret Kearney Taylor was a woman who kept many secrets. She was known as the Irishwoman who ran an elegant tearoom in Madrid, Spain for more than fifty years . But she was also was part of a network which helped thousands of Allied servicemen and Jewish refugees escape the Nazi regime in Europe during World War 2 (broadcast 2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vere Goold was Ireland’s first tennis star, winning titles in this new sport in 1879. He was born into an aristocratic family in Waterford and met his wife Marie, who posted an ad for a husband with ‘a title’. Thirty years after triumph at Wimbledon, Goold would commit murder on the French Riviera. (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emma Cahill had a dream of representing Ireland at the Olympics on the National Showjumping team. But in 2011 those dreams were ended when Emma suffered an accident when a horse fell on her, paralysing from the waist down. The story of how she pursued her dreams of becoming an athlete and to dance again in high heels. (First Broadcast 2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1916, Thomas Manning left Ireland to work in the copper mines of Butte, Montana. Mining hotspots like West Cork were dying – emigration to America seemed the only choice. However, just 4yrs later, on a union strike mixed in the politics of the day, Thomas was shot and murdered. 95yrs later, we go in search of his forgotten story (Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Euro 2016 about to begin, John Kenny from RTÉ Sport looks back to Euro '88 - when the Republic of Ireland qualified for their first ever major football tournament. The entire country came to a standstill and celebrated like never before. Packie Bonner, Ronnie Whelan, Ray Houghton, Jack Charlton and many more recall that epic journey. (2012)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cathy Moorehead opens up the door of her home to reveal an exceptional experience shared by just a very, very small group of people. Cathy is a C.O.D.A – a child of deaf adults. In a warm, intimate and often humorous tale, Cathy reveals how growing up with a deaf mother and a deaf father created a unique soundtrack that has shaped her life (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1988 an accountant came across a tiny chimpanzee tied to a tree in a rural village in the West African state of Sierra Leone. Its mother had been killed by hunters, and the accountant and his wife decided to rescue the Chimpanzee they named Bruno. They had no idea how profoundly this would change their lives. First broadcast May 2016.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2013, a beautiful 100 year old tall ship; The Astrid was shipwrecked off the coast of Kinsale, Co. Cork. Disaster was averted, as all 30 crew were rescued. Captain and Dutch man Pieter de Kam was the owner of the boat and he lost his beautiful ship and his dream life on the sea. (First Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the most in-depth and far-reaching investigation RTÉ Radio has ever undertaken, an international recruitment company is taken to court by one of its workers. Referred to the European Court of Justice, the outcome could change EU labour law for millions of people. The only problem? The worker at the heart of the case knows nothing about it(2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amas and Ammar Al-Kadry are two Syrian brothers who put themselves in the hands of ruthless people-smugglers to escape their war-torn country. From the deserts of Algeria to lawless Libyan towns and rickety over-crowded boats, it’s a long way from Damascus to Mayo. (First broadcast 2015) Themes: Adventure, Conflict, Development, ForeignSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A story of emigration and sport. Jack Dowling survived an orphanage in Waterford and an industrial school in Cork. He moved to the UK to work in the mines and went on to become an international race walker. Jack was good enough to represent Ireland, but never got the chance. He did set many records, some of which still stand (Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leeanne O’Donnell was browsing a market when she saw a bedwarmer from a Big House in North Cork, between Mallow and Mitchelstown. The landlady who owned it was successful author, Elizabeth Bowen who, according to the stallholder, was hated because she spied for Churchill during The Emergency. Was that true? Leeanne set off to find out. (2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Astonishing and largely unknown, this is the story of how the Irish 1916 Rising provided a blue print for one of the first armed uprisings of its kind in India, Britain's largest colony, bringing closer than ever the inevitable demise of the British Empire. (First Broadcast 2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In August 1916, the British executed a very unusual rebel figure: a knight-cum-Irish rebel who honed his nationalism in ‘Belgian’ Congo in Africa - Sir Roger Casement. From Dublin and Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, he was captured in Kerry. Then, imprisoned in the Tower of London, he was, as the saying goes, “hanged on a comma”.(Broadcast 2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1916, a GAA match between Kerry and Louth footballers took place on a pitch named Croke Park, at a prisoner of war camp in Frongoch, Wales. 100 years on, three relations of men who played in that 1916 match retrace their forbearer’s footsteps. In the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, Frongoch became home to 1,800 Irish volunteer prisoners. (2016)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a sung narration performed by Mick Flannery, this documentary delves into the life of an Irishman who lived in England. In 2006, Patrick Folens remains were discovered in Horton Woods in Kent. He disappeared mysteriously in 1995. (2007)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Longford/Westmeath was a controversial constituency in General Election 2016. Why? For two reasons. The count took a full six days – and before the election was even called, gender quota caused uproar. Behind the scenes, what were the politics at play from a woman’s perspective? We follow two female candidates as they battle their way to the Dail.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1985, Kerry club Castleisland Desmonds won their first and only men’s Senior Football All Ireland club title. 30 years on, clubman Dan Kearney examines the David and Goliath journey that his local team embarked on - and tells a story that encapsulates everything about club GAA - and a legacy that his small town is proud to have. (Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12 Miles tells the story of Guillermo Rigondeux and his Irish manager, Gary Hyde. Gary was a boxing manager from Cork, who risked over 20 years in prison to smuggle amateur Olympic and world champion boxers out of Fidel Castro’s Cuba. (First Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since 2011, Joanie Madden (Cherish the Ladies) has organised a Caribbean cruise with a difference – over seven days she brings together dozens of Irish musicians, dancers and storytellers from all over the world - and hundreds of passengers return year after year to hear the best of Irish traditional music and song.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Newry Canal in Northern Ireland was built to link the Tyrone coalfields via Lough Neagh and the River Bann to the Irish Sea at Carlingford Lough near Newry. In this documentary we hear from those who worked on the canal to the people trying to save it from disrepair with restoration and preservation plans in mind. (1978)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1990 the Republic of Ireland soccer team played in their first ever world cup finals. RTE Sports, John Kenny re-lives the games at Italia 90 where a country began to believe in itself and perhaps laid the foundations for the Celtic Tiger that was to follow.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Irish surgeon's medical adventures in Africa involving Coca Cola gas, home-made fuses and a hotline to the Electricity Supply company. Emer Horgan gets to see at first-hand the impact of the teamwork involved in surgical development in Tanzania.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fran O'Toole, lead singer with the Miami Showband was murdered along with band members in a loyalist ambush in Northern Ireland in 1975. Soon after, Fran's young daughters were taken to live in Canada by their mother. Rachel and Kelly have long searched for a connection to their father and his family, imagining what might have been. (2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To the watching world in 1968, Tipperary man, Mick Meaney was an ordinary Irish emigrant to the U.K., with the extraordinary dream of breaking the world record for time spent buried alive underground. His bizarre record attempt was pushed along by Kerry publican turned promoter Butty Sugrue. But for how long and at what cost? (2018)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To the watching world in 1968, Tipperary man, Mick Meaney was an ordinary Irish emigrant to the U.K., with the extraordinary dream of breaking the world record for time spent buried alive underground. His bizarre record attempt was pushed along by Kerry publican turned promoter Butty Sugrue. But for how long and at what cost? (2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matthew O'Brien from Meath has been counting down to Thursday 17th December 2015 for over a year - the day when the new Star Wars film ‘The Force Awakens’ opens in cinemas worldwide. Matthew has been hooked on Star Wars since he was 4 years old and he invites us into the curious world of a serious Star Wars fan (2015).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two sisters in one Dublin family joined convents, one in Canada, one in Leitrim. Then both women left religious life. At the time, their ‘baby’ brother, Kevin, was too young to understand what was going on. Now, 50 years later, he’s decided to find out. (2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s talk that a papal visit might be on the cards in a few years time. We look back to that other papal visit in 1979, and how – all because of an attack of the poisonous yellow weed ragwort - dairy farmer Terry Grant’s field came to be known as the Pope’s Field. (Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Journalist Shane Stokes follows cyclist Sam Bennett on his first tour de France. Sam grew up in Tipperary and has battled injury, self doubt and the weight of expectation to perform at the highest level in sport. We hear the stories of those battles as the peloton makes its way to Paris during the summer of 2015. (First Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Irish nurse in Saudi Arabia records her life on her phone. At first, it’s the differences in the Middle East but the phone becomes an audio diary of her unravelling life back in Mayo and Kerry. She and her partner struggle to maintain their strained relationship by Skype. Themes: Emigration, Happiness, Relationship, Romance, Travel, Women.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10 yrs ago Nora Nic Con Ultaigh’s learned of an unusual family story – that her great-grandfather from Galway was once, reportedly, the owner of a Caravaggio painting. Could this be true? Did a work from the great Italian artist once reside in Tuam? If so, where is it now? Nora sets off on a trail – hoping to find some answers (Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In February 2013 St. Brendan’s Mental Hospital at Grangegorman, Dublin finally closed after 199 years. When artist Alan Counihan heard about the personal possessions left behind of people with mental health problems, who had been in this psychiatric institution, he took some of these items home to investigate. Speaking with people who knew life inside the hospital, Alan met with former patients, psychiatric nurses and the hospital Chaplain as they reveal the true nature of life inside the building that, in its day, was known by many names - The Grange, Brendan's, The Mental, The Puzzle Factory. (First Broadcast 2015) Produced by Alan Counihan and Nicoline Greer. Narrated by Keelin Shanley.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Gardai entered a chalet on Mayo's Northwest coast in April 2014, they found a scene of desperation and solitude. Scattered amongst the rubbish lay the body of Marsha Mehran, 36. Marsha, an Iranian born, international bestselling author was a recluse and died alone. How did Marsha come to die at the foothill of Croagh Patrick? (Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 2015, earthquakes in the Asian country of Nepal result in over 8,500 deaths. Half a million homes lost. Tim Desmond travels to see the destruction and poverty first hand. Meeting families who lost relatives, livelihoods and farms, Tim examines how a country copes with disaster. Can new technology help improve things? (First Broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Dylan Haskins was eleven years old he and his Dad were driving along an Irish road, when a voice boomed out of the radio: “James Haskins, you have been sentenced to death by hanging.” Dylan’s Dad almost crashed the car. Years later, Dylan sets out to unravel a family mystery, and tries to finish what his late father began by answering the question: Is he related to the last man hanged in Wicklow Gaol? And what was the heinous crime that James Haskins committed in order to deserve the ultimate punishment in 1843. (First broadcast 2015)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.