History

Irish Imperial Lives

by RTÉ Radio 1

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About the show

From workhouse girls to colonial Governors, and from Tangiers to Tasmania, Kate O'Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman uncover the fascinating stories of Irish people whose lives were shaped by their service in, or agitation against, the British Empire.

Latest episodes

William Butler: British Soldier, Irish Writer, Global Adventurer

September 12, 2025 · 29 min

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley learn about the extraordinary Willam Butler. A Catholic from Tipperary, he was held aloft by Daniel O’Connell as a baby, witnessed the famine, fought the Fenians in Canada, served as Queen Victoria's…
Teresa Ball: Educating the Daughters of Empire

August 29, 2025 · 30 min

Kate O’Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman learn about an incredible Irish woman, who helped educate girls from Canada to India. Teresa Ball, founder of the Loreto order, used her dowry to develop her first school, pioneering a business model…
Lambert Blair: Teenage Trader to Slave Plantation Owner

August 22, 2025 · 28 min

Lambert Blair: Teenage Trader to Slave Plantation Owner See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Richard Wellesley: Ireland’s Forgotten Napoleon

August 15, 2025 · 29 min

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley hear about a Meath man who conquered more land in India, more quickly, than Napoleon conquered in Europe. And yet, he is largely forgotten today - in part because he has been eclipsed by his ungrateful…
Musketeers, Maids and Memoirists: The Irish in Imperial Russia

August 8, 2025 · 28 min

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley learn about the Irish who shaped Romanov Russia: including the musketeer Peter de Lacy, who led a daring amphibious assault on Stockholm, and commanded the Russian forces who captured the Crimea (from…
Grace O’Malley: Pirate, Chieftain, Traitor?

August 1, 2025 · 28 min

Kate O’Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman explore the fact, fiction and folklore surrounding famed ‘Pirate Queen’ Grace O’Malley. Did she really meet Queen Elizabeth I? Did she really kidnap the Lord of Howth’s grandson? How did she navigate…
Charles Tegart, Police Intelligence Officer

August 6, 2024 · 28 min

Born in Derry, Charles Tegart abandoned his studies in TCD, to join the Indian Police. A keen linguist and master of disguise, Tegart frequently met his contacts at night, dressed in turban and beard as a Sikh taxi driver. He survived…
Charles Gavan Duffy, Premier of Victoria

July 30, 2024 · 28 min

Born to a poor Catholic family in Monaghan, Charles Gavan Duffy worked as a journalist, agitator for tenants’ rights, and MP. His failing health and political influence, led him to emigrate to Australia in the 1850s. Greeted as a political…