Undercover Irish

Eolan Ryng
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  • HISTORY
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Uncovering Ireland's Hidden Curriculum Undercover Irish goes under the cover of Irishness, through ballads, poems, social history, the Irish language (Gaeilge), historical events and people, especially those on the periphery— while drawing lines to today's world and adding depth to current affairs. Local, National and International.

  1. MAR 3

    Why Britain Still Owns Part of Cyprus — And What Ireland Has To Do With It

    🎙️ Why Britain Still Owns Part of Cyprus — And What Ireland Has To Do With It When Cyprus appears in the headlines during a Middle East/West Asia war, most people ask: Why is Britain operating from there? The answer begins long before today's conflict — and it doesn't begin in Cyprus. It begins in Ireland. In this episode, we explore how Ireland's partition and the retention of the Treaty Ports in 1921 reveal a broader imperial strategy — one that reappears in Cyprus in 1960, when Britain granted independence but retained sovereign military bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. This isn't a conspiracy. It's a pattern. From the Government of Ireland Act (1920) to the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921), from the Treaty Ports to the Sovereign Base Areas, we trace how partition and retained military footholds shaped two islands — and how those decisions still echo in today's geopolitics. Because sometimes empire doesn't disappear. Sometimes it leaves behind: A line. A base. A constitutional fault line. In This Episode Why Britain still controls territory in Cyprus The Government of Ireland Act (1920) and partition The Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) and the Treaty Ports Why Ireland didn't control its full coastline until 1938 Cyprus under British rule (1878–1960) The Zurich & London Agreements (1959–1960) The creation of the Sovereign Base Areas The 1974 Turkish invasion and the Green Line How "minority protection" becomes political architecture What sovereignty really means Key Dates 1801 – Act of Union 1920 – Government of Ireland Act 1921 – Anglo-Irish Treaty 1922 – Irish Free State established 1938 – Treaty Ports returned 1878 – Britain assumes control of Cyprus 1960 – Cyprus independence & Sovereign Base Areas retained 1974 – Turkish invasion & effective partition 1983 – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared Why This Matters Now Cyprus remains strategically vital in modern conflicts. But its importance isn't new. It's the continuation of a withdrawal strategy first visible in Ireland — where independence came with conditions, and sovereignty arrived in stages. Understanding Ireland helps us understand Cyprus. And understanding both helps us understand how empires leave. Support the Podcast If you enjoy Undercover Irish, please: Follow / Subscribe Leave a rating or review Share the episode with someone who thinks partition was inevitable

    23 min

  2. FEB 14

    Henry Browne Hayes: From Vernon Mount to Vaucluse (Part 2)

    🎙️ From Vernon Mount to Vaucluse: Exile, Empire & What Remains Undercover Irish – Episode 2 Henry Browne Hayes was sentenced to transportation for life. But exile did not humble him. In this second part of the series, we follow Hayes from Ireland to Australia — from convict ship to colonial estate — and examine how power adapts even when it is supposedly punished. Along the way, we encounter Irish political prisoners, Freemasonry in the early colony, the Rum Rebellion, a dramatic shipwreck, and the unfinished legacy of both empire and rebellion. And at the centre of it all remains Mary Pike. 🔎 In This Episode The convict ship Atlas and Hayes's bribed passage Irish political prisoners transported after 1798 Tristram Moore and other United Irishmen in New South Wales Early Freemasonry in Australia The attempted lodge of 1803 Vaucluse House and its convict origins The Rum Rebellion (1808) Governor William Bligh and the New South Wales Corps Hayes's exile to Newcastle (Coal River) The role of Governor Lachlan Macquarie The controversial pardon The wreck of the Isabella in 1813 Joseph Holt's account of the disaster Hayes's return to Cork The long shadow over Mary Pike's life Modern-day legacies in Ireland and Australia

    31 min

  3. FEB 14

    Henry Browne Hayes: Power, Privilege and The Abduction of Mary Pike (Part 1)

    🎙️ Henry Browne Hayes: Power, Privilege & the Abduction of Mary Pike Undercover Irish – Episode 1 Undercover Irish | Patreon Eolan Ryng (@undercoverirish) • Instagram photos and videos In late 18th-century Cork, a wealthy magistrate named Henry Browne Hayes stood on the quay and watched Irish prisoners being transported to Australia. A decade later, he would join them. This episode explores one of the most extraordinary criminal cases in Irish history — the 1797 abduction of Mary Pike, a wealthy Cork heiress, and the fall of a man who believed the law existed to serve him. Set against the backdrop of the Protestant Ascendancy, the Penal Laws, and the social hierarchy of pre-Union Ireland, this is a story about power, gender, class, and what happened when privilege finally collided with consequence. 🔎 In This Episode Life in Cork under the Protestant Ascendancy Transportation from Ireland to Australia in the 18th century The case of Michael Lamb — poverty and exile Vernon Mount and the architecture of elite power Financial decline and social pressure among Ascendancy families The abduction of Mary Pike in 1797 The culture of "abduction clubs" among wealthy Irish men The pursuit led by Cooper Penrose The role of barber Coghlan and the Grand Parade reward houses The courtroom battle led by John Philpot Curran The precedent of Strange & Byrne The guilty verdict The sentence: transportation for life ⚖️ The Crime That Shocked Cork Mary Pike was not just any young woman. She was one of the wealthiest heiresses in Cork — connected to powerful mercantile families. When Henry Browne Hayes abducted her in an attempt to force a marriage, he assumed status would shield him. He was wrong. The case electrified Cork society. It raised uncomfortable questions about class, entitlement, and the treatment of women in 18th-century Ireland. If this could happen to an heiress — what happened to women without wealth or influence? 🏛️ Ireland Under the Protestant Ascendancy This episode also explores the wider social order that shaped Hayes: Land confiscation and elite control The Penal Laws The justice system's uneven application The intersection of gender and class Henry Browne Hayes was not simply an individual criminal. He was a product of a political system that concentrated power — and protected its own. ⚓ Transportation to Australia Long before Hayes became a convict, he oversaw the transportation of others. Irish prisoners — many convicted for poverty-driven crimes — were sent to New South Wales as part of Britain's expanding penal empire. In one of history's sharpest ironies, Hayes would later be sentenced to the same fate. 📍 Locations Mentioned Vernon Mount, Cork Grand Parade (Sráid an Chapaill Buí), Cork Christ Church, South Main Street Shandon Street Early transport ships from Ireland to Australia 🎧 Why This Story Matters This is not just a tale of scandal. It is a case study in how power behaves when challenged. It forces us to ask: Was the law applied equally? Did wealth soften consequences? How were working-class women treated in the same society? And how much of that logic survives today? 🔔 Next Episode Henry Browne Hayes is found guilty and sentenced to transportation for life. But exile is not the end of his story. Next time: Australia, Freemasonry, the Rum Rebellion, a shipwreck in the South Atlantic — and the long shadow of Mary Pike. If you enjoy Undercover Irish and want to support independent Irish history storytelling, you can support the show on Patreon.

    35 min

  4. JAN 29

    Courtaparteen: Ireland's Lost Village Hidden in a Forest

    ▶️ Watch the full three-part video series on YouTube: 👉 https://youtu.be/0KHrtftADsU?si=XkZpK2x22PEZC0dA 👉 https://youtu.be/Eo55vfTsj0o?si=I_PQd3YT79uo7g3B 👉 https://youtu.be/jeRabeYsImA?si=Uq-mao7MQUzI6UlZ ☕ Support the podcast on Patreon: 👉 Undercover Irish | Podcasts on Irish History, Language, Songs and Story. | Patreon 📸 Follow on Instagram for maps, photos & fieldwork: 👉 https://instagram.com/UndercoverIrish Courtaparteen was once a living Irish village. Today, it's hidden beneath forestry. In this episode of Undercover Irish, I explore the lost village of Courtaparteen — tracing it through historic maps, satellite imagery, and on-the-ground exploration to understand how an entire settlement could disappear from view. This episode brings together three strands of investigation: Mapping Courtaparteen on historic Ordnance Survey maps and comparing them with modern satellite imagery Walking the abandoned village, church ruins, holy wells, and graveyard hidden within woodland Analysing how Courtaparteen fits into the wider social, political, and economic history of rural Ireland Rather than vanishing in a single dramatic moment, Courtaparteen faded quietly — shaped by depopulation, land use change, and the slow erosion of rural communities. Its story is not unique, but it is revealing. This episode looks at what remains in the landscape, what survives in records, and what happens when places are no longer seen. 🎥 This story is also available as a three-part video series on YouTube, with maps, satellite imagery, and on-location footage from Courtaparteen itself. ☕ If you'd like to support long-form Irish history, research trips, and field recordings, you can do so on Patreon.

    44 min

  5. JAN 16

    Spancil Hill: An Irish Ballad And The Heartbreak Of Emigration

    👉 Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/undercoverirish 📸 Follow on Instagram: @undercoverirish "Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by…" That opening line has echoed for more than a century — from kitchens and pubs to ships, emigrant halls, and even the stands of Celtic Park. In this episode of Undercover Irish, we explore Spancil Hill, one of the most powerful emigrant ballads in the Irish tradition — not just as a song, but as a piece of living history. Ballads like this are history from the ground up. They preserve emotion, memory, and ordinary lives that never made it into official records. Using Spancil Hill as our guide, this episode looks at the aisling (dream-vision) tradition in Irish culture, the reality of forced economic emigration under colonial rule, and the folk process that turned one young man's private grief into a song known across the world. Along the way, we uncover the real story behind the lyrics: how "Johnny" was really Michael Considine how "Ned the farmer's daughter" was actually Mary MacNamara and how a dream of home became the only return an emigrant ever made Michael Considine left County Clare in the 1870s and died in California at just 23 years old — never returning home. But his song did. This episode is about longing, loss, and why some histories survive not in books, but in music. 🔎 In This Episode Why ballads matter as cultural memory Songs as oral history and emotional archives The aisling tradition in Irish storytelling Emigration as a product of colonial and economic pressure The real people behind Spancil Hill How folk songs change — and what gets lost along the way 🎶 Recommended Listening Spancil Hill — traditional versions Recordings by The Dubliners, Christy Moore... Not every emigrant got a monument. Some got a melody. Pic: Of The Green Brigade TIFO at Celtic Park.

    19 min

  6. JAN 11

    Roy Keane And Bishop Brennan; Guerrilla Gaeilge 2

    Roy Keane, Bishop Brennan; Guerilla Gaeilge 2 How Irish Is Alive in the English We Speak Follow & Support Undercover Irish 📸 Instagram Clips, language examples, visuals, and episode updates 👉 instagram.com/undercoverirish ❤️ Patreon Support the podcast, and help keep Undercover Irish independent 👉 patreon.com/undercoverirish What do Roy Keane and Bishop Brennan have in common? More than you might think. In this episode of Undercover Irish, we use two of Ireland's most recognisable voices — one real, one fictional — to explore how the Irish language is undercover inside the English we speak every day. From the rhythm of Roy Keane's interviews to Bishop Brennan's iconic delivery, this episode shows how Gaeilge shapes our English — in grammar, sentence structure, sound, and social meaning. This is Guerilla Gaeilge. What This Episode Explores This episode builds on the idea that Hiberno-English is not broken or incorrect English, but English shaped by centuries of Irish speakers carrying Gaeilge with them. We look at: 🕰️ Time, the Irish Way 🧱 Sentence Structure 🔊 Sound & Rhythm 💬 The Social Side of Speech Why This Matters These features aren't mistakes. They aren't laziness. They aren't "bad English". They are the result of language survival under pressure — Irish adapting, hiding, and persisting inside English during centuries of suppression, ridicule, and internalised shame. That's why this episode argues for a specific term: Guerilla Gaeilge Not the whole of Hiberno-English — but the parts that come directly from Gaeilge.

    32 min

  7. JAN 3

    Hunger, Gorta, Troscadh: Cultural Memory, Political Resistance, and Brehon Law

    Episode Notes Hunger, Gorta, Troscadh: Cultural Memory, Political Resistance, and Brehon Law Hunger in Irish history is rarely just about food. In this episode, we explore three words — hunger, gorta, and troscadh — and what they reveal about power, memory, and justice in Ireland. From the cultural weight of An Gorta Mór, to fasting as a recognised act within early Irish law, to hunger as a form of political resistance, this episode traces how deprivation could be imposed — and how it could also be chosen. Drawing on language, law, and tradition, this episode asks how hunger moved from catastrophe to weapon, and why these ideas still echo in modern Irish history. Topics include: The difference between hunger and gorta Fasting (troscadh) in early Irish legal tradition Hunger as moral and political pressure Cultural memory and responsibility How language preserves power and resistance Eolan Ryng (@undercoverirish) • Instagram photos and videos Follow Here Undercover Irish | Patreon Support Here

    24 min

  8. 12/22/2025

    An Irish Christmas: Brush the Floor and Clean the Hearth

    🎥 Watch the Song from this Episode Huge GRMMA to Grace! 🔗 https://youtu.be/BJyO6xRL5KA?si=8dUh09AjWVaT78Ow Christmas in Ireland — Am na Nollag — is not a single tradition. It is a layering of customs: Christian belief laid gently over practices far older than Christianity itself. In this episode of Undercover Irish, we explore how Irish Christmas traditions preserve ideas of survival, fire, hunger, and renewal — stretching back to the solstice and the rebirth of the sun. Using material from the Dúchas Schools' Collection, traditional song, and Irish folklore, this episode traces how Ireland kept not old gods or new gods — but the instructions that worked. At the heart of the episode are two constants: The Kerry Christmas Carol, a song of preparation and fire-keeping An Spideog, the robin — a winter bird spared in Irish tradition Together, they reveal how Irish Christmas still carries the memory of darker winters, lived hunger, and the careful keeping of life. 🔥 What This Episode Explores Why Christmas in Ireland is both Christian and pre-Christian The tradition of leaving doors unlocked and candles lit for Mary The older belief in midwinter as "the birthday of the sun" Yule, fire rituals, and survival through darkness Why the robin is protected — and the wren is carried out How famine and hunger shaped Irish ritual language What Irish Christmas customs tell us about continuity, not belief 📜 Dúchas Schools' Collection Sources 🎄 Christmas Night — Belcarra, County Mayo Accounts of leaving the door open and a candle in the window on Christmas Night so that Mary might find shelter and leave her blessing on the house. 🔗 https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427957 ☀️ "The Birthday of Our Sun" — Carnadough, County Longford A Schools' Collection account recording local belief that midwinter was once known as "the birthday of our sun". 🔗 https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4490871 🔥 Yule and the Feast of the Sun — Carnadough, County Longford An accompanying entry stating plainly that "Yule meant the feast of the Sun", and describing midwinter fire customs. 🔗 https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4490873 🎶 Featured Song The Kerry Christmas Carol Traditional Irish Christmas song emphasising preparation, hearth-keeping, and survival through winter. ▶️ Watch / listen on YouTube: ❤️ Support Undercover Irish If you enjoy deep dives into Irish history, folklore, language, and tradition, you can support the podcast and access bonus material on Patreon. 🔗Undercover Irish | Patreon 🎥 Watch the Song from this Episode Huge GRMMA to Grace! 🔗 https://youtu.be/BJyO6xRL5KA?si=8dUh09AjWVaT78Ow

    14 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Uncovering Ireland's Hidden Curriculum Undercover Irish goes under the cover of Irishness, through ballads, poems, social history, the Irish language (Gaeilge), historical events and people, especially those on the periphery— while drawing lines to today's world and adding depth to current affairs. Local, National and International.

Information

  • Creator
    Eolan Ryng
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Undercover Irish

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