What Were We Like

The Fearsome Ruler of Catholic Ireland: John Charles McQuaid (Part 2)

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0000

In the 1960s, John Charles McQuaid faced a number of serious challenges that saw his influence over Ireland wane. The advent of television and the women's movement were major problems for him - and Vatican 2 presented the biggest threat to his authority. But McQuaid still wielded considerable power, and went after people who crossed his path, including novelist John McGahern, various Protestants and more or less anyone interested in sex. McQuaid gradually came to be regarded as out of touch with the country. He resigned in 1972, and died the following year.

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The Fearsome Ruler of Catholic Ireland: John Charles McQuaid (Part 1)

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The powerful and fearsome John Charles McQuaid was the archbishop of Dublin from 1940 to the early 1970s, and was described as the ruler of Catholic Ireland. He was obsessed with protestants, communists and "moral purity", and ran a huge spying operation on the Irish population, both at home and abroad, to keep everyone in check. In the first part of this series, Diarmaid and Catriona chart his early life, his ascent to power, and his often difficult relationship with Eamon De Valera.

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By Elections That Shaped Ireland (Part 2)

Sat, 23 May 2026 05:00:00 +0000

More giants of Irish politics feature in this episode. Enda Kenny – was he lucky, was he devoid of strong convictions, was he Fine Gael's most successful Taoiseach? Probably all three. Prickly Des O’Malley won his famous uncle’s seat in a by election and went on to found the influential Progressive Democrats. And two trailblazers of Irish politics, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the first woman to hold a seat at cabinet since the foundation of the state, and the Susan Sontag-esque Eileen Desmond also feature.

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The By-Elections That Shaped Ireland (Part 1)

Mon, 18 May 2026 06:00:00 +0000

With by-elections in the air, Diarmaid and Catriona look back at some of the most significant ones in Irish history. Part one features big beasts Sean Lemass and Sean MacBride, as well as Ireland's most handsome communist. Lemass succeeded Dev and is credited with modernising Ireland, as well as smoking vast amounts of tobacco through a pipe. The more “exotic” MacBride founded Clann Na Poblachta and Amnesty International, but his abilities as a politician are questioned, and the roots of his unusual French accent considered.

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The History of The Tricolour (Part 3)

Mon, 11 May 2026 06:01:00 +0000

This episode charts the Tricolour's 20th Century evolution: its formal adoption in 1937; getting the Brits to return the Tricolour that flew over the GPO in 1916; all the way up to Italia '90.

The gruesome digging up of Roger Casement's body features, as does John McGahern's most famous novel, Amongst Women, which came out in 1990 with a Tricolour splashed across its cover.

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The History of The Tricolour (Part 2)

Mon, 04 May 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Patrick Pearse’s dramatic ‘The fools, the fools’ speech at Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa’s funeral was a key moment in the story of Ireland’s flag. Pearse made the oration alongside a Tricolour draped across the veteran Fenian’s coffin. The Green White and Gold was then flown over the GPO during the Easter Rising, and it was Sinn Féin’s skill as propagandists, alongside the monumentally 'stupid’ British reaction to 1916, that helped the Tricolour ascend, leaving Parnell’s green flag in its wake.

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The History of The Tricolour (Part 1)

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Who owns The Tricolour? Over the last year it has appeared on polls and lampposts all over Ireland – put there by anti-immigration campaigners, causing fights and debates all over the country. This happened in Catriona’s neighbourhood, and when she and other residents brought this to the attention of the Council, they were told officials were too afraid to take them down. In this episode, Diarmaid and Catriona trace the early origins of the flag, including the key moment when the dashing Thomas Francis Meagher was given a prototype of the Irish Tricolour by three mysterious women in revolutionary France.

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A President Comes to Town - Reagan in Ireland

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +0000

June 1984, and Ronald Reagan, the controversial, transformative Republican President of the United States visits Ireland. Opposition is widespread, and an unexpected alliance of lefties and priests man the barricades, with Reagan’s foreign policies the focus of their anger. Diarmaid and Catriona unearth all kinds of paddy-whackery, with the Americans asking the Irish Government if the Pope would say mass (lol), British journalists paying people in Ballyporeen to bring a donkey into a pub and feed it Guinness, and one man is arrested for throwing a tomato. Catriona herself was one of the protesters. “We thought he was the devil – little did we know what was coming down the tracks.”

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Fianna Fáil: "The Devil" Takes Power (Part 3)

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

General election campaigns in the early years of the State were utterly vicious, with fresh cow dung, sticks, and nasty insults being hurled about as Fianna Fáil attempted to wrest power from the pro-Treaty Cumann na nGaedheal. Despite the shouts of “traitor”, “murderer” and “Spanish bastard” on the campaign trail, Dev and the Soldiers of Destiny take power for the first time in 1932. The Brits are not happy – Winston Churchill famously refers to Dev as the “devil”. But he assumes control of Ireland, dismantles the Treaty, introduces a new Constitution – yet his ultimate goal of uniting Ireland is stymied by the outbreak of World War Two.

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Fianna Fáil: Take your seats, but no drinking in the Dáil bar (Part 2)

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Having won instant success in their first election, the Soldiers Of Destiny are faced with an intractable dilemma – how to take their Dáil seats while also swearing a mandatory oath to the hated King of England. Cunning old Dev solves this by getting a letter from a friendly bishop, which he claims allows his TDs to take the oath without actually meaning it. They enter Leinster House in farcical and dramatic fashion in 1927. But Sean “No Craic” Lemass puts a major downer on things by banning his deputies from drinking in the Dáil bar. Diarmaid and Catriona have all the details from this momentous time for Irish politics.

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Fianna Fáil: Hard Men and Blood Sacrifices (Part 1)

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Since the crash, Fianna Fáil has become 'just another political party'. But for nearly a century it was THE leading force in Irish politics, synonymous with power, influence and flash suits; and dominated by outsized personalities like Pee Flynn, Charlie Haughey and Bertie Ahern. In this series, From the Civil War to the Crash, marking the centenary of Fianna Fáil, Diarmaid and Catriona trace how The Soldiers Of Destiny built up one of the most successful election machines in the world, and how it fell apart. Part 1 looks at its foundation, when a gang of idealistic young men lead by Eamon De Valera formed the party out of the ashes of the Civil War.

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Political insults: Fck you Deputy Stagg, FCK YOU! (Part 2)

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:28:00 +0000

Political insults part 2/2. The civil war is well in the past, but Irish politicians are still roaring at each other. From Paul Gogarty’s viral, foul-mouthed outburst during the economic crash, to Brian Lenihan Sr. being derided as the ‘13th stroke of Irish political clock’, and the ‘Bismarck of lobster pots’, Diarmaid and Catriona unearth more angry gems from the Dáil archive.

What Were We Like is a podcast from RTÉ about modern Irish history co-hosted by Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe. It comes out every Monday morning on the RTÉ Radio Player app, and wherever else you get your podcasts.

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Political insults: From Communist to corner boy (Part 1)

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:27:00 +0000

Political insults part 1/2. Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe look at the angriest and most bizarre Irish political insults of the last 100 years. In part one of this catalogue of mudslinging, the civil war dominates. Dev is a ‘Spanish Bastard’, TDs are jealous of Michael Collins’ fame, and one politician is accused of shooting off his own toe to commit pension fraud. It’s no holds-barred madness from start to finish.

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Ep 5 - Vision, symbolism and the Presidencies of Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 08:42:16 +0000

In the final episode of What Were We Like, Diarmaid and Catriona talk about Ireland’s two female Presidents, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, and how their visions of the Presidency reflected the events of the day. They talk about Mary Robinson’s harrowing trip to Somalia in 1992, and the crowning diplomatic achievement of Mary McAleese’s Presidency, the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 2011.

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Ep 4 - Campaigns, characters and controversies (Part 2)

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 06:39:13 +0000

In the fourth episode of What Were We Like?, Diarmaid and Catriona talk about Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh’s remarkable offer to swap places with kidnap victim Tiede Herrema while he was in the Áras; and how Garrett Fitzgerald and Noël Browne were being talked up as possible candidates in the 1990 Presidential election.

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Ep 3 - Campaigns, characters and controversies (Part 1)

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 14:36:12 +0000

In the third episode of What Were We Like?, Diarmaid and Catriona talk about how Douglas Hyde was removed as a patron by the GAA for attending a soccer match; why Muhammad Ali was not considered a suitable guest at Áras an Uachtaráin; and how Eamon De Valera almost failed to win a second term because he refused to campaign at all.

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Ep 2 - Brian Lenihan, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, and the two most important powers the President has

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 16:07:03 +0000

In episode two of What Were We Like?’s special series on the history of the Presidency, Diarmaid and Catriona take a deep dive into the two most critical powers that the President has, and recall the resignation of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh and Brian Lenihan’s infamous “mature recollection” moment.

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Ep 1 - What can the President actually do?

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:42:52 +0000

In the first episode of What Were We Like?’s special five-part series on the history of the Presidency, Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe talk about how the office came into being in the first place, Eamon de Valera’s role in shaping its powers, and what the president actually can and cannot do.

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Preview with Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 20:45:26 +0000

Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe bring us on a journey through the hidden histories, humanity and humour of our past. In this first mini series, they’ll explore the history of the presidency, and what it means, as Ireland gets ready to choose its next Uachtarán.

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What Were We Like

The Fearsome Ruler of Catholic Ireland: John Charles McQuaid (Part 2)

The Fearsome Ruler of Catholic Ireland: John Charles McQuaid (Part 1)

By Elections That Shaped Ireland (Part 2)

The By-Elections That Shaped Ireland (Part 1)

The History of The Tricolour (Part 3)

The History of The Tricolour (Part 2)

The History of The Tricolour (Part 1)

A President Comes to Town - Reagan in Ireland

Fianna Fáil: "The Devil" Takes Power (Part 3)

Fianna Fáil: Take your seats, but no drinking in the Dáil bar (Part 2)

Fianna Fáil: Hard Men and Blood Sacrifices (Part 1)

Political insults: F*ck you Deputy Stagg, F*CK YOU! (Part 2)

Political insults: From Communist to corner boy (Part 1)

Ep 5 - Vision, symbolism and the Presidencies of Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese

Ep 4 - Campaigns, characters and controversies (Part 2)

Ep 3 - Campaigns, characters and controversies (Part 1)

Ep 2 - Brian Lenihan, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, and the two most important powers the President has

Ep 1 - What can the President actually do?

Preview with Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe

Political insults: Fck you Deputy Stagg, FCK YOU! (Part 2)