The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast

Irish Examiner
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Looking for a deeper understanding of the stories that matter? The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast takes you inside the best Irish Examiner reporting — from Cork courts to global affairs and powerful personal stories.  With award‑winning journalists and exclusive voices you won’t hear anywhere else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 1d ago

    Heatwaves, El Nino and coping with our changing climate with Joanna Donnelly

    Heatwaves have always happened, but in the context of our changing climate and an El Nino year, how do we cope, and what do we need to do? Meteorologist and author Joanna Donnelly  is the guest on today's podcast, explaining the terms we use around unseasonal weather and what El Nino means for our weather. Heatwave could cost taxpayers millions more as melting roads force changes to resurfacing Heatwaves are exposing Ireland's weakest links Europe's record-breaking heatwave cost more than 10,000 lives in June Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. 4d ago

    Grace Lynch’s parents on death threats, online abuse and their campaign for road safety reform

    16 year old Grace Lynch was killed by a scrambler bike in January, while out walking near her home in Dublin. Her heartbroken parents Siobhán and Martin immediately embarked on a campaign to ensure nobody would suffer as they had, seeking legal changes to take scrambler bikes and e-scooters out of the hands of children. Their campaign has already forced the introduction of Grace’s Law, banning the use of scramblers on public roads, but a combination of legal loopholes, lack of enforcement and a non-existent tracing system means, they say, there is much more work to do. They’ve received death threats and online abuse as a result of speaking out – with little legal recourse. When they approached social media giant TikTok about abusive AI videos of their deceased daughter, they were asked to provide a death certificate. Today the couple will speak before an Oireachtas Justice committee. Listen to their story on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.   Gardaí call for 'dedicated pursuit training' to deal with dangers of e-scooters and scramblers 'I felt like I had to protect her': Grace Lynch's mum recalls harrowing moments after her death Grace Lynch's mother gets death threats for seeking scrambler bike ban on public roads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Jul 10

    Jamey Carney and the alarming rise in femicide in Ireland, with Liz Dunphy

    American mother of one Jamey Carney is the eighth woman to die violently in Ireland this year. Her body was discovered in her Killarney home just one day after that of Adina Constantin in Portlaoise, whose husband has been charged in connection with her death. Gardaí have launched an international manhunt in their investigation into Ms Carney’s killing. Since the murder of Ashling Murphy in 2022 prompted widespread outrage, 40 women have died violently in Ireland. Women’s Aid, the National Women’s Council of Ireland and politicians across the spectrum have highlighted their concern at what Taoiseach Micheál Martin referred to this week as the femicide figures “going in the wrong direction”. Irish Examiner Southern Correspondent Liz Dunphy has been covering this story and joins Deirdre on today’s episode.   Killarney murder: Jamey Carney's cousin says 'no indication' she had safety concerns 'Societal response' required to fight epidemic of violence against women, says Taoiseach Number of women violently killed ‘not going in the right direction’, says Taoiseach Husband charged with murder of his wife in Portlaoise Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Jamey Carney and the alarming rise in femicide in Ireland, with Liz Dunphy

  4. Jul 7

    Adopted from Bessborough – Dominic Finn’s story

    With Bessborough in the news due to controversial building plans, those who survived the notorious institution are telling their stories in unprecedented numbers.   Cork County Councillor Dominic Finn is one of three ‘Bessborough babies’ who sits on the local authority – a remarkable statistic, but one that he believes just shows how common adoption was in Ireland in the 1970s. In today’s episode, he tells Deirdre O’Shaughnessy about his happy childhood as one of four adopted children in Cobh, his search for his birth family, and how grateful he feels to have escaped the fate of so many less fortunate Bessborough babies. Read Dominic’s interview with Irish Examiner reporter Sean O’Riordan here: Cork councillor adopted from mother and baby home reunited with birth parents and six siblings The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast: Paving over Bessborough's missing babies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Jul 3

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode 12: A ‘militant’ lesbian nun who made history - Bridget Coll

    This is series 2 of An Irishwoman’s Diary from The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, search in your podcast app for An Irishwoman’s Diary to find the six-episode Series 1.   Bridget Coll’s story reads like fiction — a thriller even — just as the many words used to describe her don’t seem to fit together: nun, lesbian, teacher, militant, law-changer, even “home-wrecker”. This “tiny woman with a fierce heart” from Fanad Co Donegal protested in Chile and made legal history in Canada. But at home in Ireland, her story isn’t so well known. Clodagh Finn: Bridget Coll — nun, lesbian, law-changer, and militant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode 12: A ‘militant’ lesbian nun who made history - Bridget Coll

  6. Jun 30

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode 11: An actress and a trend-setter - Genevieve Lyons

    This is series 2 of An Irishwoman’s Diary from The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, search in your podcast app for An Irishwoman’s Diary to find the six-episode Series 1.   A precursor of Cabaret, the show about ‘a bad girl with a heart of gold’, became the go-to show in Dublin for a brief period in the 1950s, against all the prevailing morals of the time. Asked later why it hadn’t been banned, as JP Donleavy’s The Gingerman was, Archbishop John Charles McQuaid pointed out that the character of Sally Bowles wasn’t Irish, and therefore didn’t present a threat to the morality of Irish women. The star of both shows was Genevieve Lyons, an actor, theatre maker and writer who lived a very unconventional life. Her performance as Sally Bowles caused a brief craze for berets in fashion starved Dublin, and she wrote many books – one, about the famine, owed its name to Princess Margaret. In this episode Clodagh Finn recounts the story of a self-described “lunatic traveller” who though often penniless followed her creative dreams. Clodagh Finn: The Irish woman who made ‘Cabaret’ a hit in Ireland long before the Broadway musical An Irishwoman's Diary series 1: Meet the Irish women who left their mark on history   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode 11: An actress and a trend-setter - Genevieve Lyons

  7. Jun 28

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode10: An intrepid war reporter - Gertude Gaffney

    This is series 2 of An Irishwoman’s Diary from The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, search in your podcast app for An Irishwoman’s Diary to find the six-episode Series 1.   Once described as “Ireland’s ablest female journalist”, the exploits of war correspondent Gertrude Gaffney have been largely lost to history. Her travels throughout Europe – on the front in the Spanish Civil War, in Gdansk as the Germans approached, and at the Maginot line in 1940 – were chronicled in the Irish Independent. Clodagh Finn shares the story of this incredible journalist whose work brought the sights and sounds of World War Two right onto kitchen tables throughout Ireland. Clodagh Finn: Gertrude Gaffney — intrepid war correspondent and Ireland’s ‘ablest woman journalist’ An Irishwoman's Diary series 1: Meet the Irish women who left their mark on history Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode10: An intrepid war reporter - Gertude Gaffney

  8. Jun 26

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode 9: Queen Elizabeth’s ‘angel of peace’ - Countess Joan Fitzgerald

    This is series 2 of An Irishwoman’s Diary from The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, search in your podcast app for An Irishwoman’s Diary to find the six-episode Series 1.   Countess Joan Fitzgerald was a pivotal figure in medieval Ireland, immensely wealthy and powerful, but as a woman it was her marriages that defined her power. From the immensely wealthy Fitzgerald family – the Desmonds of Munster, who owned ten castles, her first marriage at age 16 was to James Butler, an Ormond of Kilkenny, aimed at linking the two great Houses. His death by poisoning caused some concerns in London – she was too powerful to be left to her own devices – and she was married off to an Englishman, Sir Francis Bryan, who was referred to by Henry VIII as his ‘Vicar of Hell’. She chose her own third husband from among her own allegiances, and made peace between the warring Ormonds and Desmonds, later being described by Queen Elizabeth as ‘the angel of peace’. The peace she negotiated fell apart just a month after her death. Read Clodagh’s column here: Clodagh Finn: Formidable medieval women deserve much more recognition An Irishwoman's Diary series 1: Meet the Irish women who left their mark on history Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    An Irishwoman’s Diary Episode 9: Queen Elizabeth’s ‘angel of peace’ - Countess Joan Fitzgerald
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About

Looking for a deeper understanding of the stories that matter? The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast takes you inside the best Irish Examiner reporting — from Cork courts to global affairs and powerful personal stories.  With award‑winning journalists and exclusive voices you won’t hear anywhere else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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