Irish Left Archive Podcast
Exploring Left politics in Ireland past and present
A podcast looking at Left politics in Ireland from the Irish Left Archive.
We talk to activists, writers, historians, politicians and others involved in Left organisations and movements about their experiences of participating in Left parties and campaigns; Left publications and political documents they’ve been involved in; and the history and development of progressive politics in Ireland. We also look at the role of the Irish Left Archive and similar informal projects.
The podcast is hosted by Ciarán Swan and Aonghus Storey.
#66: Rebel Notes: Popular Music and Conflict in Ireland, with Stan Erraught
- Fri, 30 May 2025
- 1 hr 07 mins
In this episode we talk to Stan Erraught about his book, Rebel Notes: Popular Music and Conflict in Ireland. We discuss Stan’s own political background and work leading to his research for the book; the different facets of Irish popular music since the mid-20th Century; the particular cases of the Wolfe Tones and Kneecap and perceptions of their political and Irish cultural expression; and the changing relationship between popular music and Republicanism, politics more broadly, and Irish culture and language.
Episode 66
#65: Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism’s Forgotten Radicals, with Maurice Casey
- Wed, 30 Apr 2025
- 1 hr 15 mins
In this episode we talk to Maurice Casey about his book, Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism’s Forgotten Radicals. Hotel Lux tells the story of May O’Callaghan and her social circle in the Comintern’s Moscow accommodation for international communists. We discuss Maurice’s PhD research, its transformation into the book, and the lives and interactions of May and other communists with whom she crossed paths.
Episode 65
#64: The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism, with Aidan Beatty
- Sun, 30 Mar 2025
- 1 hr 23 mins
In this episode we talk to Aidan Beatty about his book, The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism. We discuss the history of the Socialist Labour League and Workers’ Revolutionary Party in the UK; the role of the party and their Galway-born leader, Gerry Healy, in Trotskyism; the implosion of the party in 1985 with allegations of sexual abuse against Healy in a context of an already diminished Left; and responses to Aidan’s book.
Episode 64
#63: Gearóid Ó Faoleán: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland
- Fri, 28 Feb 2025
- 1 hr 09 mins
In this episode we talk to Gearóid Ó Faoleán about his research into support for the Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland during the Troubles. Gearóid is the author of A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980 and A Broad Church Vol. 2: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1980-1989, published by Merrion Press in 2019 and 2023, respectively. He is currently working on a history of traditional music in west Clare with support from a bursary from the Irish Association of Professional Historians.
Episode 63
#62: Niall McGuirk: Hope Collective
- Thu, 30 Jan 2025
- 1 hr 40 mins
In this episode we talk to Niall McGuirk about the Hope Collective. Hope Collective originated in the early 1980s when Niall started putting on gigs to encourage bands to play in Dublin and developed into the Hope Collective in 1994. Hope facilitated dozens of bands playing gigs in Ireland and latterly has produced books recording the history and recollections of that music scene.
Episode 62