8 episodes
Foreign Agent: The IRA’s American connection Novara Media
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- History
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4.9 • 47 Ratings
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In the 1970s, the Provisional IRA was in the early days of its armed campaign to end British rule on Ireland. In the United States, a small group of activists began organising on their behalf. They called themselves the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or Noraid—and they were looking for a fight.
Hosted by documentary filmmaker Nate Lavey, Foreign Agent is a podcast series about the connection between ordinary Irish Americans and a revolutionary socialist guerrilla group. In six episodes, travelling back and forth across the Atlantic over three decades of conflict, Foreign Agent explores how regular Americans became militant advocates for the cause of Irish freedom.
It’s a story of guns smuggled in furniture and wild plots to build homemade missiles. But it’s also about the political and material power that the Irish American community wielded, and how the intoxicating spell of nationalism created a movement out of seemingly irreconcilable social and political positions. And at every step of the way, the US government tried to shut them down. This is the story of the Troubles—as seen through American eyes.
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Foreign Agent Episode 1: The American Front
When six suitcases full of guns are discovered on an Irish dock in 1971, suspicion falls on a newly founded organisation of Irish Americans known as Noraid. For nearly 30 years, the US, British and Irish governments accused the group of being a front for the Provisional IRA and of funnelling weapons and cash from the pockets of Irish America to the coffers of the socialist guerillas. But could they prove it?
In episode one of Foreign Agent, host Nate Lavey explains how militant Irish nationalism took hold in the bars and social clubs of the Irish American diaspora, and recounts how the appearance of an iconic American rifle on the streets of Belfast led to a courtroom drama in Texas, ending in embarrassment for the American and British governments.
Further reading:
Irish America and the Ulster Conflict by Andrew Wilson
A Secret History of the IRA by Ed Moloney
The Lost Revolution by Brian Hanley and Scott Millar
The interviews recorded with Matthias Reilly and Pascal Morahan are courtesy of the Tamiment Library at New York University. The interview with Brendan Hughes is from the film Voices from the Grave and is courtesy of Ed Moloney.
Hosted by Nate Lavey
Produced by Nate Lavey and Michael McCanne
Original music by Matt Huxley
https://novara.media/ForeignAgent -
The New World and the Old Country
In 1927, the Irish republican Michael Flannery emigrated from the quiet backroads of Tipperary to the crowded streets of New York City, swapping a life of rebellion for a humdrum career in life insurance. But the Irish American community hadn’t forgotten about the old country, and as the Troubles began in Northern Ireland, Flannery found himself at the heart of the campaign to end British rule.
In episode two of Foreign Agent, Flannery’s life story unlocks the roots of anti-colonial struggle in Ireland and how the Irish became white in America. We trace the history of Noraid, the organisation he helped to found, and the political tensions threatening to rupture the republican movement.
Further reading:
Irish America and the Ulster Conflict by Andrew Wilson
Noraid and the Northern Ireland Troubles, 1970-1994 by Robert Collins
The Provisional IRA by Tommy McKearney
Ireland, Colonialism, and the Unfinished Revolution by Robbie McVeigh and Bill Rolston
How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
Black and Green by Brian Dooley
Enemies and Passing Friends by Pamela Clayton
“Irish Republicans in Inter-war New York” and “The Politics of Noraid” by Brian Hanley
The interviews recorded with Michael Flannery and Martin Lyons are courtesy of the Tamiment Library at New York University.
Hosted by Nate Lavey
Produced by Nate Lavey and Michael McCanne
Original music by Matt Huxley
https://novara.media/ForeignAgent -
Foreign Agent Episode 3: Agents of the State
After Bloody Sunday in 1972, Irish Northern Aid saw its power, influence and donations increase dramatically — but a higher profile brought new enemies. Secretly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned its sights on Noraid: auditing their books, cultivating informers and staking out meetings. On the public stage, Irish American politicians like Ted Kennedy, who […]
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Foreign Agent Bonus Episode: The IRA’s Technical Support
For over 100 years, Irish revolutionaries hoping to drive the British out of Ireland looked to the United States for money and support. They also looked across the Atlantic for new technology that might give them an advantage, including homemade surface-to-air missiles and even the world’s first modern submarine. In this bonus episode, we explore […]
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Foreign Agent Episode 4: Lawyers, Guns and Money
For decades, a quiet armored truck driver living in Brooklyn ran thousands of guns to the IRA. He was born in Ireland and dedicated to the Republican cause. He was also a committed socialist, who believed the anti-imperial struggle in Ireland was connected to the struggle of African-Americans, Cubans and Vietnamese. When he wasn’t handing […]
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Foreign Agent Episode 5: Our Day Will Come
As the Troubles dragged on, IRA volunteers at the Maze Prison decided to go on hunger strike in 1980 and 1981. Their decision would change everything for the IRA — and for Noraid. The protest garnered sympathy from around the world and sparked outrage in the Irish American community. Noraid rallied outside the British embassy, […]
Customer Reviews
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Totally engrossing. Listened to it on a series of long flights and couldn’t stop.
In a word
FASCINATING
Divided to each episode.
👍
Always good when stories about the troubles aren’t told as British propaganda