Who are Ireland’s elites? That question was once easily answered, but not since independence upended the entire social order! In this episode Naomi O’Leary visits a castle in Dublin that has been the home of one family for 35 generations — and finds the current heir still feels he’s not accepted as one of Ireland’s own. Tim Mc Inerney investigates how his own ancestors went from being aristocrats’ servants to rebels in one generation. Or perhaps they were rebels all along? We speak to an expert who says Ireland today is in denial about having elites, when they are hiding in plain sight. Find out who they are and more in our chat with elitism expert Dr. Ciaran O’Neill.
For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/transcripts/transcript-elites/
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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.
For decades, Ireland was synonymous with Catholic control – but the last 30 years have seen a new cultural climate take hold in the country, and a furious backlash has broken out against the legacies of the Church’s institutional stranglehold. Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney look at how the Church became so powerful in the Irish Republic in the first place, and the reasons behind its dramatic fall from grace in recent times. We’ll be talking to the formidable local historian Catherine Corless, who exposed institutional abuse and cover-ups on a massive scale in 2014, and we’ll also interview journalists and doctors at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, which inspired public outrage when the state almost gave it over to an order of nuns with a questionable past.
For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/transcripts/transcription-the-catholic-church/
Support this podcast
Recent politics have revealed a common lack of knowledge about Ireland and Northern Ireland in the Britain at a time when it is of vital strategic importance. What is behind the blind spot? We call this phenomenon ‘The Knowledge Gap’, and investigate how it came to be by comparing the history courses taught in Ireland and the UK, with some striking results. Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney hear from experts on Northern Ireland who found themselves in the eye of the storm following the recent election which brought the Democratic Unionist Party unexpectedly close to power in Westminster and unleashed huge demand for crash courses on Northern Ireland. This episode reveals that uncertainty about where the UK begins and ends is widespread — including among those whose job is to know.
For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
Support this podcast
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.
Who are Ireland’s elites? That question was once easily answered, but not since independence upended the entire social order! In this episode Naomi O’Leary visits a castle in Dublin that has been the home of one family for 35 generations — and finds the current heir still feels he’s not accepted as one of Ireland’s own. Tim Mc Inerney investigates how his own ancestors went from being aristocrats’ servants to rebels in one generation. Or perhaps they were rebels all along? We speak to an expert who says Ireland today is in denial about having elites, when they are hiding in plain sight. Find out who they are and more in our chat with elitism expert Dr. Ciaran O’Neill.
For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/transcripts/transcript-elites/
Support this podcast 
After listening to our