Author: The Irish Passport

Below: engravings from the Illustrated London News (1849) reporting on the Great Hunger in Ireland, and the Famine memorial which stands today on Dublin’s North Quays. Listen to our Episode on the Great Hunger here

Did you hear our recent episode, ‘Elites’? If you were wondering what Howth Castle looks like, here’s a video of Naomi’s visit to meet Julian Gaisford-St Lawrence, heir to the Dublin estate his family has owned for 800 years. It’s a peek into the fading world of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy.

Our recent episode on the Catholic Church in Ireland touched on some difficult issues, including abuse in institutions and people affected by secrecy about adoptions.

If you are affected by any of these issues or would like to find out more, here are some organisations that could help:

• Caranua works to improve the lives of survivors of institutional abuse.
• One in Four supports survivors of sexual abuse during childhood. Listeners in Northern Ireland or the rest of the UK could contact Nexus NI or Napac.
• The Adoption Rights Alliance offers resources to help track down lost family members and lobbies for the rights of those affected by the system.
• Cari helps children affected by abuse.
• There is some information about accessing healthcare and government services on the Citizens Information website.
• Justice for Magdalenes Research campaigns for recognition and support for survivors of Magdalene laundries.

After listening to our Irish language episode of the podcast, those of you who are interested in hearing more music in the Sean nós style can find a digitalised collection of Joe Heaney’s songs and stories here, at www.joeheaney.org. Digitalised by Dr Lillis O’Laoire of NUI Galway.