Three Castles Burning
Episodes
Drowning the Shamrock? The Gaelic League and the War on Pubs
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1903, Saint Patrick's Day formally became a national holiday in Ireland, following a push from the Gaelic League. In the pages of their newspaper, ...
Little Wonder: David Bowie's Secret Gig at The Factory (with Ray O'Donoghue)
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1997, David Bowie released Earthling, an album deeply influenced by the sound of drum and bass and industrial electronic music. Spending time in Du...
Census City: Dublin 1926
15 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The release of the 1926 census from the National Archives of Ireland is now imminent. These returns should give us fascinating insights into a post-re...
Before the Summer of Love: Emmett Grogan's Dublin Adventure
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
SERIES 4, EPISODE 1. Welcome back to a new series. Emmett Grogan was one of the defining figures of American counterculture in the 1960s. Though his n...
From Rutland to Parnell: The Story of a Dublin Square (With Elizabeth Kehoe)
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of Dublin's Historians in Residence, Elizabeth Kehoe has developed a walking tour of Parnell Square which shines a lot on many aspects of its hist...
When Earley Met Gandon: Bringing Light to the Custom House
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Earley comes from a family rooted in the story of Irish stained glass. As an artist, his work often pays homage to Earley Studios and those who ...
Simms City (with Gayle Cullen Doyle and Eoin O'Broin)
14 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
More than just a resident of Oliver Bond House, Gayle Cullen Doyle is a vital voice within her community, advocating for and representing her neighbou...
A Christmas Carol and Fenian Fears: Charles Dickens in Dublin
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On three occasions, Charles Dickens would speak in Dublin. Each time huge crowds came to hear him speak in the Rotunda, with the crowds spilling out i...
Modernist Mausoleum or Masterpiece? The US Embassy in Ballsbridge (With Cormac Murray)
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cormac Murray is the author of a new study of the US Embassy in Ballsbridge. A visual feast, it explores one of Dublin's most unusual buildings in its...
The Making of a Brewery (with Ned Guinness)
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Guinness is one of great success, yes, but also turbulence. Together with historian Antonia Hart, Ned Guinness has produced a family hist...
Lord Leitrim, John Twiss and the songs of our year (with Michael Steen)
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lord Leitrim, John Twiss and the songs of our year (with Michael Steen) This edition of the podcast is dedicated to the memory of Manchán Magan. Sing...
Castle Island Colossus: Remembering Con (With Roy Curtis and Brendan Conroy)
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At a packed Oak Room in the Mansion House, a celebration of the life of the journalist Con Houlihan last Saturday brought the audience on a journey ...
Grainne Shaffrey in Conversation: On Cities, Towns and Our Built Environment
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shaffrey Architects was established in 1967 by Patrick and Maura Shaffrey. Based on Ormond Quay,the practice has made a real and meaningful contributi...
Brian Kerr in Conversation: Drimnagh, Libya and Beyond
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Kerr's voice is instantly familiar as a broadcaster, and his contribution to Irish football is extraordinary. Born in 1953, his first coaching r...
Famine Soup: Alexis Soyer, Trevelyan and The Great Hunger in Dublin
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Padraic X. Scanlan is the author of Rot: A History of the Irish Famine. Framing the crisis in Ireland within the broader picture of Empire, this bo...
Fighting the Flames: Captain James Robert Ingram
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1860, a blaze in the Kildare Street Club led to the death of three workers and the destruction of an institution. Together with other fires...
Tipperary So Far Away: Remembering Seán Treacy on Talbot Street
26 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Niamh Hassett and Sean Nugent join me in this special edition of the podcast, exploring a wonderful Tipperary tradition on Dublin's Talbot Street. W...
Mohair Suits in the National Ballroom: The Showband Era
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month brings the fiftieth anniversary of the tragic murders of members of The Miami Showband. This band, drawing its members from both sides of ...
'A Perfect Prodigy of Moral Horrors' - The Donnybrook Fair
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Donnybrook Fair is recalled in ballad and memoir as a notorious and chaotic annual event, but what really went on there? Over centuries, the annua...
Porter Wars: Patriotism and Pints (with Christina Wade)
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Christina Wade's new history of Irish beer is a masterclass in social and economic history. In the context of Dublin, it tells us a lot, especially ab...
From 'Peelers' to Gardaí: How the Dublin Metropolitan Police and An Garda Síochána merged (with Paul Maher)
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first ever Kilkenny Law Fest took place last weekend. On its bill, a discussion with Superintendent Paul Maher of the Garda Historical Society. Pa...
The Animal Gangs: An Irish Peaky Blinders?
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A nice mention for the podcast recently on Crime World inspired me to go back to the subject of the Animal Gang. Seperating fact from folklore, just...
Streets Broad and Narrow: Tony Gregory and Molly Malone
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Gregory remains one of the most beloved TD's in the history of the city. Lately, talk of the Molly Malone monument has reminded me of the story ...
Blueshirt Bluster? The March on Dublin
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Historian Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc has just produced Burn Them Out, a history of the Irish far-right. One of its most intriguing chapters studies the Bl...
Leo Burdock and Ivan Beshoff: Fish, Chips and Revolution
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Both Patrick Leo Burdock and Ivan Beshoff were revolutionaries, though in very different circumstances. These two names remain stalwarts of the Dubli...
The End of Monto: A Century On
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This edition of the podcast contains adult language and themes and is not suitable for younger listeners. This special live edition of the podcast was...
The Dawning of the Day: Last Orders at the Early House
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Dublin, just a handful of public houses now open at seven o'clock in the morning. Where did these early houses come from, and what has influenced t...
A Complete Unknown? When Dylan came to Dublin
26 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bob Dylan's 1966 visit to the Adelphi Cinema is a concert on which there is very little agreement. Torn apart by one Dublin reviewer, many who were th...
Traditional Singing from Dublin (with Macdara Yeates)
11 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Described by The Irish Times as 'raucous, bawdy, reflective and wistful in turn', Traditional Singing from Dublin is more than just an album of songs....
From The Nation to Shane MacGowan: Finding James Clarence Mangan (with Bridget Hourican and Warren Farrell)
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Glasnevin Cemetery, James Clarence Mangan's grave lists him as 'Ireland's National Poet.' Today, he is a curiously overlooked character. His influ...
Tonehenge: Edward Delaney's Wolfe Tone Monument
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1898, tens of thousands of people paraded in Dublin for the unveiling of a foundation stone to a Wolfe Tone statue. So why did it not happen? Only ...
Night at the Museum
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
These are exciting times at the Collins Barracks branch of the National Museum of Ireland. This week, the first Harry Clarke display at the museum ope...
The Stained Glass Artist From a Dublin Tenement
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Michael Healy is one that tells us much about the Dublin of his time. Born into a working class inner-city family in 1873, Healy was shap...
Remembering The SFX Hall (with Paul Page and David Bell)
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the heart of Dublin's north inner-city, the SFX was one of the defining venues of Dublin's music scene. U2, The Smiths, New Order, Siouxsie and the...
The Women of Bram Stoker's Life: Memory, Folklore and Patriotism (with Marion McGarry and Eva Jane Gaffney)
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bram Stoker's life and career was shaped by the strong women around him. Charlotte Stoker, his mother, raised him on folklore and stories of her own y...
Irish Food History: From B.C. Times to the Grogan's Toastie
12 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Irish Food History: A Companion is an extraordinary thing - a moment in Irish publishing history. Coming in around 800 pages, it covers everything fr...
Paula Meehan: History and Poetry
06 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paula Meehan is a poet for whom history is a constant source of inspiration. In this discussion at the Dublin Festival of History, she reads a number ...
Lee Miller: From Hitler's Bathtub to The Palace Bar
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lee Miller is best recalled now for her defining images of the Second World War. With Kate Winslet playing the role of Miller in a new film, it seems ...
Catriona Crowe in Conversation (Live at the Seán Corcoran Series)
14 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Catriona Crowe is former Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland. She is Ireland's most recognisable archivist, and someone to wh...
The Moore Street Woman who Fought the Nazis (with Clodagh Finn and John Morgan)
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Clodagh Finn and John Morgan have produced an important history of the involvement of Irishmen and women in the anti-fascist movements of the Second W...
Destination Anywhere: Getting Around the Hibernian Metropolis
31 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This year marks four decades of the DART. Along with that, the Luas has turned twenty. These two services have radically changed how we live in Dublin...
A Sensation Once Again: Brian Warfield of the Wolfe Tones (Live at Mindfield, EP)
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Seeing the inevitable headlines on the horizon around the Wolfe Tones performing at Electric Picnic, I decided to reach out to Brian Warfield for a ch...
Olympic Glory: Jack B. Yeats and The Liffey Swim
10 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Liffey Swim is a beloved painting, and one of the most visited works in the National Gallery of Ireland. A century ago, it led to the first Olympi...
Nothing Highfalutin: The Brilliance of Hilary Heron (with Billy Shortall)
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At the Irish Museum of Modern Art, a new exhibition explores the life and work of artist Hilary Heron. Like many, I came away from it amazed that th...
On Tommie Potts and The Liffey Banks (with Martin Hayes)
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than just one of Ireland's most beloved musicians, Martin Hayes is also the author of Shared Notes: A Musical Journey. In his memoir he introduce...
Adoration and Protest: Orson Welles and Dublin
07 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Orson Welles made his stage debut in Dublin. To him, The Gate Theatre would always be a part of the story of his own life development and professional...
Red Roses For Me (with Spider Stacy and James Fearnley)
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Red Roses For Me, the first album from The Pogues. Borrowing its title from Sean O'Casey, it also carries lite...
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We know it as 'On Raglan Road', but the journey of the song that began life as a poem tells us a lot about Bohemian Dublin in an earlier time. In the ...
Remembering The Dubliners (with Brian Hand and Phelim Drew)
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Like his father Jim Hand before him, promoter Brian Hand would build a real and lasting relationship with The Dubliners over many years. For singer an...
The Anatomy of a Massacre
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fifty years ago today, a series of no-warning car bombs erupted across Dublin and Monaghan. This would prove to be the bloodiest day of the Troubles...
Portals, Clocks and Cows
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Temporary interventions into the Dublin streetscape have a curious history. This week, the livestream portal with New York made international headline...
The Isle of Wight on Emmet Road
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1970, the outdoor rock festival was a totally new idea in Ireland. Amidst press coverage of Woodstock and the Isle of Wight, focused on LSD and exa...
The Battle of Tallaght: 'Yankee Fenians' and 1867
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To the Dublin press, the American Civil War veterans in Dublin cut an unusual shape. These 'Yankee' characters looked different, but they also behaved...
'Then Mount Jerome for the Protestants.'
30 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Mount Jerome Cemetery is the story of Victorian Dublin. There, many of the great innovaters of the city are at rest. If Glasnevin brings ...
The Divine Mission of Discontent (Jim Larkin Part II)
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The labour leader Jim Larkin was international news when he departed Ireland in 1914. In America, Larkin would cross paths with the FBI founder J. Edg...
The Rising of the Moon (Jim Larkin Part I)
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jim Larkin. In this two-part special, Ronan Burtenshaw (author of a recent piece exploring Larki...
Before Mosley: The British Fascisti in Dublin
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc is no stranger to this podcast. While his latest book explores 'The Disappeared' (launching this month from Merrion Press), he ...
Flying Fists and Union Jacks
14 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
SEASON 3! A recent television debate on the Irish language in schools reminded me of a curious story from history. The Language Freedom Movement touch...
From Ten Till Dusk: 200 Years of the RHA (with Cristín Leach)
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
2023 marks the 200th anniversary of the Royal Hibernian Academy, an institution which has moved across the Liffey owing to the flames of Easter Week, ...
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Over five generations, one family have played a unique role in the story of the Phoenix Park. More than that, the Flanagan family have a history that ...
Asylum: Inside Grangegorman
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Brendan Kelly is the author of a new history of Grangegorman and the asylum located there for generations. This conversation was recorded within the g...
Napoleon's Toothbrush
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ridley Scott doesn't seem to get on with historians, but here is a nice little story all about Napoleon and his surprising Dublin connections. One of ...
Bringing Light to O'Connell Street (with Nicola Pierce)
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nicola Pierce is the author of O'Connell Street: The History and Life of Dublin's O'Connell Street. It is a book as much about people as buildings, wh...
'And Beckett plays the gong.'
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
James Morrissey has produced a beautiful and important book exploring the history of Claddagh Records and Garech Browne. 'Real to Reel' explores a rec...
Roger Doyle: The Godfather of Irish Electronic Music
11 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Roger Doyle has made an incredible contribution to Irish music across decades. In this discussion he talks about everything from his own musical begin...
The Irish Supernatural (with Kathy Rose O'Brien and Brian J. Showers)
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Irish supernatural writing did not begin or end with the great Bram Stoker. Indeed, even within Stoker's own family there were other great writers. In...
Dead as Doornails
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This December - most likely - marks the centenary of the birth of Anthony Cronin. His memoir of Bohemian Dublin, Dead As Doornails (1976), remains a...
Other People's Lives (with Dermot Bolger)
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Did you learn much about yourself in Lockdown times? Dermot Bolger (poet, publisher, playwright and more besides) discovered some of the incredible p...
Dublin in Maps: From the Soviet Union to D6W (with Joseph Brady)
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Geographer Joseph Brady is the co-producer of a new study of Dublin in maps. This journey begins with the earliest depictions of the Irish capital, bu...
Dónal Lunny: From Emmet Spiceland to Kate Bush
17 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are few careers in Irish music as extraordinary as that of Dónal Lunny. His name will forever be connected with the groups Emmet Spiceland, Pla...
Jim Fitzpatrick: On Che, Phil Lynott and Sinéad O'Connor
04 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A real privilege to talk to an artist who first emerged in the 1960s, and who is still making fantastic work today. Any discussion with Jim Fitzpatric...
From Jim Larkin to Alfred Hitchcock: The Life of O'Casey
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Seán O'Casey had a turbulent relationship with the Abbey Theatre. Now, his Dublin trilogy is back on the stage of the national theatre. Championed wi...
Peig McManus: A Dublin Childhood and a Life Less Ordinary
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Peig McManus was born into a life in tenement Dublin in the late 1930s. In subsequent decades, she became one of Ireland's most recognisable voices f...
"My body to Ireland, my heart to Rome...." (with Claire Halpin)
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The body of Daniel O'Connell is at rest in Glasnevin Cemetery, an institution with which he is eternally linked. His heart? Well, that has been someth...
The Foggy Dew: From Father O'Neill to Sinéad O'Connor
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Sinéad O'Connor. The Foggy Dew is in itself a historic document. Written in 1919, this story of the Easter...
From Lugs Branigan to Led Zeppelin
09 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The National Stadium on the South Circular Road has witnessed some really incredible nights. To some, it is the home of Irish boxing, a story that's c...
Motorcades and Martyr Graves
30 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy arrived into a city in crisis. As Dublin tenements seemed to be collapsing to the touch, the visit of a U.S Pr...
Roddy Doyle Interview: Taxi to Barrytown!
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sincere thanks to the Dalkey Book Festival for the invitation to interview Roddy Doyle. This was a chance to talk about things as diverse as Maeve Bre...
1954: The Birth of Bloomsday
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bloomsday as we know it owes its existence to Brian O'Nolan, otherwise Myles na gCopaleen, otherwise Flann O'Brien. In 1954, he was the catalyst for g...
Tatters Cullen and the Vanishing Suffragettes
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we got some data from the 2022 Census. It seems a good time to look into the past. The census has always given us unusual insights into Ire...
From Skin-the-Goat to Buckshot Forster: The Phoenix Park Assassinations
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Phoenix Park assassinations of May 1882 shook British politics. All had heard of the Fenians, but who were the Invincibles? Today, a cross in the ...
Old Songs and New Revivals (with Macdara Yeates)
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks for your patience! This new episode explores the incredible life and influence of Peadar Kearney, a key figure in the Cultural Revival then, an...
Ragged Trousers and Paint Brushes (with Jimmy Murphy)
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists is a book that had a massive impact on British society. Some say it helped win a General Election, George Orwell ...
From the Ormond Market to the Hacienda
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The area between Smithfield and Capel Street has historically been known as 'The Markets'. A recent event gave some idea of what this area could be. T...
Noël Browne and the Archbishop (with Robert Ballagh)
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. I visited the studio of acclaimed artist Robert Ballagh, who...
A Sort of Homecoming
26 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The story of U2's emergence is connected to the broader story of late 1970s Dublin. From the Project Arts Centre to the explosive visit of The Clash t...
The Beginnings of Dublin Theatre (with Arran Henderson)
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Arran Henderson of Dublin Decoded knows the streets of Dublin inside out. On a walk through streets I always think of as part of a different Dublin st...
Dublin: A Writer's City (with Chris Morash)
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most eagerly awaited books about the city in recent years, Dublin: A Writer's City is a triumph. In this edition of the podcast, presented ...
The Bogside and Fu Manchu: Dublin as Somewhere Else
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of the podcast explores some of the most peculiar films shot in Dublin over many decades. From Fu Manchu to the Bogside, we're looking at...
The Fame and the Fall
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
(Reupload, apologies due to podcast hosting gremlins!) Part II of the Brendan Behan centenary special, this journey brings us through some surprising ...
The Young Brendan Behan
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week marks the centenary of the birth of Brendan Behan. Over two editions, Three Castles Burning will explore the life and times of this remarkab...
Exploring Lucia Joyce (with Joe Chester)
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Musician Joe Chester has produced a beautiful musical tribute to Lucia Joyce, the dancer and illustrator. Daughter of James Joyce, Lucia was born in T...
Diving Bells and Missing Elephants
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, a new app launched exploring the history of Dublin's Docklands. Where do the Docklands begin, and what remains are left of its industrial ...
"When Collins was killed The Terror began" (with John Dorney)
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the outskirts of Dublin city, a series of memorial crosses mark sites were bodies were discovered in 1922 and 1923. A sad part of the Civil...
Soccer's Sinatra: Pele in Dalymount Park
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Pele visited Dublin with Santos in 1972, one Irish newspaper proclaimed him to be "Soccer's Sinatra." In a country that came late to television -...
From the Duke of Wellington to Kellie Harrington
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Luke McManus has produced North Circular, a documentary which brings the viewer on a journey from the Wellington Testimonial all the way through ...
Walking the Winter Lights (with Fergus Whelan)
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, Dublin City Council hosts the Winter Lights festival, lighting up key buildings and sites around Dublin. Myself and historian Fergus Whelan...
An Inchicore Institution (with Dermot Looney)
25 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dermot Looney has spent years working away on a history of Saint Patrick's Athletic. The final product, which includes a beautiful introduction by Bri...
From The Citizen to John 3:7 (with Siobhán Doyle)
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What can we learn about a subject by looking at 100 objects? Thanks to Siobhán Doyle, author of a new study 'A History of the GAA in 100 Objects', fo...
Halloween Special: Hans Holzer and the Ghosts of Dublin
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hans Holzer was a well-known broadcaster and author in the United States, perhaps the most famous 'ghost hunter' of his day. In 1965 and 1966, he made...