Shows / Three Castles Burning
Three Castles Burning
Three Castles Burning is a social history podcast, dedicated to the story of the Irish capital. Dublin is a city of many stories, Three Castles Burning tells some of the more forgotten ones.
Episodes
Three Castles BurningAdoration and Protest: Orson Welles and Dublin
Orson Welles made his stage debut in Dublin. To him, The Gate Theatre would always be a part of the story of his own life development and professional career…
Three Castles BurningRed Roses For Me (with Spider Stacy and James Fearnley)
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Red Roses For Me, the first album from The Pogues. Borrowing its title from Sean O'Casey, it also carries literary…
Three Castles BurningOn a quiet street where old ghosts meet
We know it as 'On Raglan Road', but the journey of the song that began life as a poem tells us a lot about Bohemian Dublin in an earlier time. In the Bailey…
Three Castles BurningRemembering The Dubliners (with Brian Hand and Phelim Drew)
Like his father Jim Hand before him, promoter Brian Hand would build a real and lasting relationship with The Dubliners over many years. For singer and actor…
Three Castles BurningThe Anatomy of a Massacre
Fifty years ago today, a series of no-warning car bombs erupted across Dublin and Monaghan. This would prove to be the bloodiest day of the Troubles…
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Portals, Clocks and Cows
Temporary interventions into the Dublin streetscape have a curious history. This week, the livestream portal with New York made international headlines. For…
Three Castles BurningThe Isle of Wight on Emmet Road
In 1970, the outdoor rock festival was a totally new idea in Ireland. Amidst press coverage of Woodstock and the Isle of Wight, focused on LSD and exagerated…
Three Castles BurningThe Battle of Tallaght: 'Yankee Fenians' and 1867
To the Dublin press, the American Civil War veterans in Dublin cut an unusual shape. These 'Yankee' characters looked different, but they also behaved…
Three Castles Burning'Then Mount Jerome for the Protestants.'
The story of Mount Jerome Cemetery is the story of Victorian Dublin. There, many of the great innovaters of the city are at rest. If Glasnevin brings to mind…
Three Castles BurningThe Divine Mission of Discontent (Jim Larkin Part II)
The labour leader Jim Larkin was international news when he departed Ireland in 1914. In America, Larkin would cross paths with the FBI founder J. Edgar…
Three Castles BurningThe Rising of the Moon (Jim Larkin Part I)
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jim Larkin. In this two-part special, Ronan Burtenshaw (author of a recent piece exploring Larkin for…
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Before Mosley: The British Fascisti in Dublin
Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc is no stranger to this podcast. While his latest book explores 'The Disappeared' (launching this month from Merrion Press), he has also…
Three Castles BurningFlying Fists and Union Jacks
SEASON 3! A recent television debate on the Irish language in schools reminded me of a curious story from history. The Language Freedom Movement touches on…
Three Castles BurningFrom Ten Till Dusk: 200 Years of the RHA (with Cristín Leach)
2023 marks the 200th anniversary of the Royal Hibernian Academy, an institution which has moved across the Liffey owing to the flames of Easter Week, and which…
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There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Over five generations, one family have played a unique role in the story of the Phoenix Park. More than that, the Flanagan family have a history that stretches…
Three Castles BurningAsylum: Inside Grangegorman
Brendan Kelly is the author of a new history of Grangegorman and the asylum located there for generations. This conversation was recorded within the grounds of…
Three Castles BurningNapoleon's Toothbrush
Ridley Scott doesn't seem to get on with historians, but here is a nice little story all about Napoleon and his surprising Dublin connections. One of the most…
Three Castles BurningBringing Light to O'Connell Street (with Nicola Pierce)
Nicola Pierce is the author of O'Connell Street: The History and Life of Dublin's O'Connell Street. It is a book as much about people as buildings, which…
Three Castles Burning'And Beckett plays the gong.'
James Morrissey has produced a beautiful and important book exploring the history of Claddagh Records and Garech Browne. 'Real to Reel' explores a record label…
Three Castles BurningRoger Doyle: The Godfather of Irish Electronic Music
Roger Doyle has made an incredible contribution to Irish music across decades. In this discussion he talks about everything from his own musical beginnings to…
Three Castles BurningThe Irish Supernatural (with Kathy Rose O'Brien and Brian J. Showers)
Irish supernatural writing did not begin or end with the great Bram Stoker. Indeed, even within Stoker's own family there were other great writers. In this…
Three Castles BurningDead as Doornails
This December - most likely - marks the centenary of the birth of Anthony Cronin. His memoir of Bohemian Dublin, Dead As Doornails (1976), remains a…
Three Castles BurningOther People's Lives (with Dermot Bolger)
Did you learn much about yourself in Lockdown times? Dermot Bolger (poet, publisher, playwright and more besides) discovered some of the incredible people who…
Three Castles BurningDublin in Maps: From the Soviet Union to D6W (with Joseph Brady)
Geographer Joseph Brady is the co-producer of a new study of Dublin in maps. This journey begins with the earliest depictions of the Irish capital, but brings…
Three Castles BurningDónal Lunny: From Emmet Spiceland to Kate Bush
There are few careers in Irish music as extraordinary as that of Dónal Lunny. His name will forever be connected with the groups Emmet Spiceland, Planxty, The…
Three Castles BurningJim Fitzpatrick: On Che, Phil Lynott and Sinéad O'Connor
A real privilege to talk to an artist who first emerged in the 1960s, and who is still making fantastic work today. Any discussion with Jim Fitzpatrick passes…
Three Castles BurningFrom Jim Larkin to Alfred Hitchcock: The Life of O'Casey
Seán O'Casey had a turbulent relationship with the Abbey Theatre. Now, his Dublin trilogy is back on the stage of the national theatre. Championed with his…
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Peig McManus: A Dublin Childhood and a Life Less Ordinary
Peig McManus was born into a life in tenement Dublin in the late 1930s. In subsequent decades, she became one of Ireland's most recognisable voices for…
Three Castles Burning"My body to Ireland, my heart to Rome...." (with Claire Halpin)
The body of Daniel O'Connell is at rest in Glasnevin Cemetery, an institution with which he is eternally linked. His heart? Well, that has been something of a…
Three Castles BurningThe Foggy Dew: From Father O'Neill to Sinéad O'Connor
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Sinéad O'Connor. The Foggy Dew is in itself a historic document. Written in 1919, this story of the Easter Rising…
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From Lugs Branigan to Led Zeppelin
The National Stadium on the South Circular Road has witnessed some really incredible nights. To some, it is the home of Irish boxing, a story that's connected…
Three Castles BurningMotorcades and Martyr Graves
In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy arrived into a city in crisis. As Dublin tenements seemed to be collapsing to the touch, the visit of a U.S President…
Three Castles BurningRoddy Doyle Interview: Taxi to Barrytown!
Sincere thanks to the Dalkey Book Festival for the invitation to interview Roddy Doyle. This was a chance to talk about things as diverse as Maeve Brennan, the…
Three Castles Burning1954: The Birth of Bloomsday
Bloomsday as we know it owes its existence to Brian O'Nolan, otherwise Myles na gCopaleen, otherwise Flann O'Brien. In 1954, he was the catalyst for gathering…
Three Castles BurningTatters Cullen and the Vanishing Suffragettes
This week, we got some data from the 2022 Census. It seems a good time to look into the past. The census has always given us unusual insights into Ireland. We…
Three Castles BurningFrom Skin-the-Goat to Buckshot Forster: The Phoenix Park Assassinations
The Phoenix Park assassinations of May 1882 shook British politics. All had heard of the Fenians, but who were the Invincibles? Today, a cross in the grass on…
Three Castles BurningOld Songs and New Revivals (with Macdara Yeates)
Thanks for your patience! This new episode explores the incredible life and influence of Peadar Kearney, a key figure in the Cultural Revival then, and the…
Three Castles BurningRagged Trousers and Paint Brushes (with Jimmy Murphy)
The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists is a book that had a massive impact on British society. Some say it helped win a General Election, George Orwell called it…
Three Castles BurningFrom the Ormond Market to the Hacienda
The area between Smithfield and Capel Street has historically been known as 'The Markets'. A recent event gave some idea of what this area could be. Today…
Three Castles BurningNoël Browne and the Archbishop (with Robert Ballagh)
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. I visited the studio of acclaimed artist Robert Ballagh, who has just…
Three Castles BurningA Sort of Homecoming
The story of U2's emergence is connected to the broader story of late 1970s Dublin. From the Project Arts Centre to the explosive visit of The Clash to the…
Three Castles BurningThe Beginnings of Dublin Theatre (with Arran Henderson)
Arran Henderson of Dublin Decoded knows the streets of Dublin inside out. On a walk through streets I always think of as part of a different Dublin story, he…
Three Castles BurningDublin: A Writer's City (with Chris Morash)
One of the most eagerly awaited books about the city in recent years, Dublin: A Writer's City is a triumph. In this edition of the podcast, presented as part…
Three Castles BurningThe Bogside and Fu Manchu: Dublin as Somewhere Else
This episode of the podcast explores some of the most peculiar films shot in Dublin over many decades. From Fu Manchu to the Bogside, we're looking at times…
Three Castles BurningThe Fame and the Fall
(Reupload, apologies due to podcast hosting gremlins!) Part II of the Brendan Behan centenary special, this journey brings us through some surprising places…
Three Castles BurningThe Young Brendan Behan
This week marks the centenary of the birth of Brendan Behan. Over two editions, Three Castles Burning will explore the life and times of this remarkable…
Three Castles BurningExploring Lucia Joyce (with Joe Chester)
Musician Joe Chester has produced a beautiful musical tribute to Lucia Joyce, the dancer and illustrator. Daughter of James Joyce, Lucia was born in Trieste in…