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 this important modernist sculptor was not better known here. Born in Dublin in 1923, her work achieved international recognition in her own lifetime. Dr. Billy Shortall is the author of an essay on Heron in the exhibition catalogue, and has done great work to bring her back to  deserved prominence. An article by Billy on Heron can be read at www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2021/0105/1187779-hilary-heron-sculptor-art-ireland/ Support TCB: www.patreon.com/threecastlesburning 

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 introduces us to a host of brilliant characters, ranging from childhood friends and relations in East Clare to those who would become central to The Gloaming. One figure we meet is Tommie Potts, a Dublin firefighter from the Coombe and a fiddle player. The Liffey Banks remains a beloved record. In this excerpt from a conversation at London's Féile MOTH, Hayes discusses Potts and revisits a tune that means much to him.  

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 career. Later, he returned to scenes of protest against the same theatre for hosting him. In time, all was forgiven and Welles would deliver an astonishing Q and A before a packed Dublin crowd who quizzed him on everything from American politics to the future of cinema.

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 literary influences like Ulysses and Brendan Behan proudly. As an exhibition on the London-Irish currently runs in Dublin's EPIC emigration museum, what better time to discuss this defining London-Irish band who still mean so much? Here Comes Everybody by James Fearnley (Faber & Faber) is available now.

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 Bailey tent at the Luke Kelly Festival, playwright Jimmy Murphy takes us through the story of the Kavanagh masterpiece Luke Kelly made his own. We also get a great rendition from Fergus Whelan (with a little help from Patrick Kavanagh in the recording!).

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 and actor Phelim Drew, the band were like an extension of family. In this discussion, recorded live at the Luke Kelly Festival, we get into great personal memories of The Dubliners and what the band still mean today. Contains some bad language.

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. Immediately, questions were raised about how this event had come to pass. In a new documentary, director Joe Lee and producer Fergus Dowd explore what happened on 17 May 1974. Warning: This episode is quite graphic in describing the day. This episode of the podcast is dedicated to the memory of Derek Byrne.

Temporary interventions into the Dublin streetscape have a curious history. This week, the livestream portal with New York made international headlines. For me, it recalled the CowParade, Bowl of Light and other such things. When you put something out there on the street, there's no way of telling how people will respond. Support TCB: www.patreon.com/threecastlesburning

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 exagerated crowd trouble, the booking of Mungo Jerry, Thin Lizzy and others for Richmond Park would be the first Dublin experience of such a festival here. Why did this festival fail? And how, just a few short years later, had the festival become such an integral part of Irish youth culture?  

To the Dublin press, the American Civil War veterans in Dublin cut an unusual shape. These ‘Yankee’ characters looked different, but they also behaved differently. Under the direction of Captain Thomas J. Kelly, these men would be centrally important to the Fenian uprising of 1867. While history remembers this as a skirmish on a hill in Tallaght, much more happened in March 1867 than that.

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 to mind the Irish revolution, Mount Jerome instead makes us think of the nineteenth century. Still, there is great diversity in who is (and isn't) buied there. This is a story that touches on everyone from Charles Stewart Parnell to the so-called 'General.' Thanks to Patrons of the podcast whose support made this research possible.

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. Edgar Hoover, landing in prison for 'Criminal Anarchy'. What did all of this mean back in Dublin? My guest is Ronan Burtenshaw, author of a recent piece on Larkin for Jacobin magazine: https://jacobin.com/2024/01/jim-larkin-ireland-labor-150

Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc is no stranger to this podcast. While his latest book explores 'The Disappeared' (launching this month from Merrion Press), he has also been undertaking a study of the far-right in Ireland historically. Moving beyond the familiar, like the Army Comrades Association ('the Blueshirts'), Pádraig's study begins with some more overlooked groups. Even before Oswald Mosley, the British Fascisti were a force with surprising connections to Dublin, and an active branch in the city.

SEASON 3! A recent television debate on the Irish language in schools reminded me of a curious story from history. The Language Freedom Movement touches on many widely known figures in 1960s Ireland, including John B. Keane and the broadcaster Gay Byrne. In the Mansion House, a meeting descended into chaos.