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History

Irish Imperial Lives

by RTÉ Radio 1
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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

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

  • The Irish of The Caribbean: Slave Owners and Whistle Blowers

    July 23, 2024 · 28 min

    Kerryman David Tuohy captained four ships transporting enslaved Africans to the Caribbean. Dublin sailor James Field Stanfield provided testimony to the abolitionists. As Governor of Jamaica, Howe Peter Browne tried to end enslavement. Kay…

  • Commodore John Barry

    July 16, 2024 · 28 min

    Wexford born John Barry fled the Penal Laws as a cabin boy aboard his uncle’s ship. At 15 he sailed to Philadelphia. When the 13 colonies declared independence, Barry captured the first British Navy ship for the Americans, rescued vital…

  • The Famine Orphan Girls sent to Australia

    July 9, 2024 · 28 min

    Between 1848 and 1850 over 4,000 girls were sent from Irish workhouses out to Australia, as part of a British scheme to help populate the colony. They were met with prejudice and hostility, described as ‘ignorant creatures' barely able 'to…

  • William O’Brien, Second Earl of Inchiquin

    July 2, 2024 · 28 min

    Born in Cork, O'Brien was imprisoned in the Tower of London as a child. Fighting for the French in Catalonia, he was captured by Algerian pirates, lost an eye and was taken hostage. Later he served as Governor of two imperial outposts…

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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.