Hidden Histories

We heard the news this week about the closure of Bewley’s on Grafton Street - a café that has been a Dublin institution almost as long as it has been open. Most of us will probably be familiar with its Quaker roots and the core of its history, but Bewley's is just one part of the broader, and fascinating history of coffee shops - and tea and coffee consumption - in Ireland. Probably now more than ever, we’re drinking plenty of tea and coffee in lock-down, but the story of these beverages is truly international, connecting Ireland to the world beyond these shores. Donal Fallon joins Gavan for another episode of Hidden Histories. On The Record with Gavan Reilly Listen and subscribe to On The Record with Gavan Reilly on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.      Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.    You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.

As the GAA is one of the things so many of us are going to miss from our summer calendars, it’s fitting to look back at what might have been the greatest GAA upset of all time. A final behind closed doors would be one thing, but an All Ireland Final won by London? That was truly once in a lifetime. Donal Fallon joins Gavan Reilly for the last edition of Hidden Histories.

‘How Green Was My Valley’ was released in 1941 and got nominated for 10 Academy Awards - winning four of them, including Best Picture. Today is Easter Sunday and that means there could be no better time to explore the strange story of two Easter Rising veterans who ended up acting side by side in this Hollywood blockbuster. And if that wasn’t already remarkable, they were on different sides of the Rising. Gavan is joined by Donal Fallon for another episode of Hidden Histories to tell us more.

Covid-19 has claimed more than 8,000 lives in the United States of America thus far - including the life of Tarlach Mac Niallais. Born in Belfast, Mac Niallais was one of the most significant players in the LGBT campaigning community in New York City, and a veteran of campaigning for LGBT equality in Northern Ireland before emigrating there. Donal Fallon joins Gavan Reilly for another episode of Hidden Histories to reflect on the impact Tralach's life had on so many and explore a past which touches on Ian Paisley’s DUP, the New York Saint Patrick’s Day parade, and the early history of Pride on the island of Ireland.

2020 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Arms Crisis, a political scandal that rocked Fianna Fáil to its very core. High profile names like Haughey and Blaney, so central to 20th century Irish politics, were in the firing line, as accusations were made that Government Ministers - with the help of an Irish Army Officer - were attempting to arm the fledgling republican movement in the North. Reputations were both made, and destroyed, in the affair.  Donal Fallon joins Gavan Reilly to reflect on the story behind it.

Earlier this week, a Dublin City Councillor proposed bringing the body of James Joyce back to Ireland, on time for the centenary of the publication of Ulysses in 1922. Donal Fallon discusses the idea with Gavan on this week's episode of Hidden Histories.

Donal Fallon joins Gavan Reilly to take a look at some of the lesser known stories of the iconic Irish rock group Thin Lizzy for this week's installment of hidden histories

Donal Fallon talks us through the forgotten history of Dublin hurling, their last All Ireland success more than 80 years ago, and why the much loved sport never quite took off in Ireland's capital.

There were some chuckles earlier this week when Jacob Rees-Mogg evoked the name of Charles Stewart Parnell in the House of Commons, but Parnell himself would have been delighted to see his name trend on Twitter - he was, afterall, a master at bringing attention to his political cause. The Uncrowned King of Ireland brought the Westminster parliament to a standstill, but some of the leading British politicians of the day later admitted their deep respect for the father of filibustering. Gavan Reilly is joined by Donal Fallon of the Come Here To Me! blog for another episode of  Hidden Histories.

Ireland has witnessed a craft beer and distilling renaissance in recent years. Teeling Whiskey, Gunpowder Gin and more besides have emerged and made their mark on the whiskey world and more surprising is the re-emergence of Poitín. No longer a bootlegged commodity, the once mysterious drink is now appearing in cocktail bars in London and New York. So, how did it all go mainstream? Gavan Reilly is joined by Donal Fallon of the Come Here To Me! blog for another episode of  Hidden Histories.

You may not have heard of the name Marcus Garvey or his politics but he was effectively the father of Black Nationalism and known by some as ‘the Black Moses’, a man who inspired the likes of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr - who referred to him as the first man “to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny.” And while his name might be unknown to many Irish people, Irish politics was well known to him - because he named his HQ Liberty Hall, in honour of the Dublin version, and he even took sides in the Anglo-Irish Treaty! Donal Fallon joins Gavan Reilly in studio for another installment of Hidden Histories.

Fifty years ago this week, Ireland - like the rest of the world - was transfixed by man landing on the moon. Moon fragments would be displayed at the American Embassy in the early 1970s, drawing thousands of curious onlookers, and Dublin streets were even renamed in honour of the men who set foot on the moon. Donal Fallon talks us through Ireland's reaction to the moon landing all those years ago.

Donal Fallon takes a closer look at the storming of the Bastille on this day in 1789 and the ripple effect of the French Revolution.

In a time long before Panti Bliss, there was Danny La Rue. Born in Cork in 1927, La Rue - real name Daniel Patrick Carroll - paved the way for later drag performers, even receiving an OBE for his work in the entertainment industry. A pre-decriminalisation gay celebrity of Irish stock, it is a fitting weekend for Donal Fallon to look back at one of Ireland - and Britain’s - most beloved entertainers.

Donal Fallon joins Gavan Reilly for this episode of Hidden Histories to discuss Michael O'Shea, who was an Irish 70s experimental musician.

Donal Fallon looks ahead to the 100th edition of the Liffey Swim by examining its rich and vibrant history.

With so much opposition to Donald Trump's visit to these shores next week, Donal Fallon has a look at previous presidential visits that were met with a less than enthusiastic Irish public.

Earlier this week, Garda detectives in Dundalk quizzed a man about an IRA attack. The attack happened in 1959, and the quizzed man is in his 80s. The man was quizzed in relation to a recently published memoir, My Life In The IRA. Donal Fallon joins Gavan to discuss.

The village of Bohola in Mayo is a quiet place. It has a population of 203, and its Wikipedia says “it consists of 2 pubs, a post office, and a Catholic Church.” Yet Bohola produced the remarkale O’Dwyer brothers, William and Paul O’Dwyer. Emigrating to the United States at young ages, the O’Dwyer’s became leading figures in the New York legal and political arenas in the 1930s and 40s, with William central to the prosecutions that led to the eventual collapse of the infamous ‘Murder Inc.’ mafia. Donal Fallon tells us all about this remarkable pair.

Easter Sunday is, for the State and many others, a day of reflection and commemoration. We know the names of many who died in the Easter Rising – but sometimes, it is the stories of those who survived that can fascinate. Easter Rising volunteer Diarmuid Lynch for instance, in the midst of a food crisis which threatened starvation, led a group of men who ‘commandeered’ pigs destined for exportation, slaughtering them and distributing the bacon to Dublin’s poor. The story made heroes of Volunteers in 1918, in the very streets where they’d been booed and jeered two years earlier. Donal Fallon joins Gavan Reilly for another episode of Hidden Histories.