Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism and the Early Modern World

This episode, from the Dublin Festival of History 2025, is the 28th annual Sir John T. Gilbert Commemorative Lecture, delivered by Professor Diarmaid Ferriter of University College Dublin on the Dublin playwright Seán O’Casey; his formative years and what influenced his work, which incorporates so much of the social, cultural & political history of early twentieth century Dublin.

This episode, from the Dublin Festival of History 2025, celebrates the charismatic Fulvia who amassed a degree of military and political power that was unprecedented for a woman in Ancient Rome. Acclaimed historian Jane Draycott has used original sources to piece together Fulvia’s life and sort fact from fiction, while also exploring the role of women in Roman society.

In this episode, from the Dublin Festival of History 2025, author Anthony McElligott talks about his book The Last Transport: The Holocaust in the Eastern Aegean, and why the timing of the transport raises important questions in relation to long-term ideological Nazi goals and the immediate contingency thrown up by war.

In this episode, from the Dublin Festival of History 2025, author Kate Vigurs tells the stories of the lesser-known women who worked across Europe, from the Netherlands to Belgium and Poland to Denmark, recruited by Britain's Special Operations Executive in the wake of the Nazi invasion of Europe.

In this episode, from the Dublin Festival of History 2025, Dr Christina Wade looks at the history of beer alongside some of the biggest events in the story of Ireland, as explored in her book titled ‘Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland’. Christina is a co-host of the Beer Ladies Podcast.