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Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast

Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast

By: Fin Dwyer & Damian Shiels
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About this listen

3,000 miles of ocean separate Ireland from the USA, but both countries share a deep and intertwined history. Links between North America and Ireland predate Columbus, stretching back over 1,000 years. Since then, Irish people have shaped the history of the United States. From Ann 'Goody' Glover, who was hanged as a witch in Boston in the 17th century, to JFK, the story of the Irish in the US is fascinating. Join historians Damian Sheils and Fin Dwyer as they join forces to explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of Irish American history.


In Season 1 Fin and Damian explore fascinating topics including

  • Who was the first Irish person to cross the Atlantic?
  • The Story of Goody Glover who was hanged as a witch in Boston.
  • What was it like to emigrate during the Great Famine of the 1840s?
  • How Irish people shaped the US Civil War?


And much more...


Subscribe and join Fin and Damian on this fascinating journey through our history.

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Fin Dwyer & Damian Shiels Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Tammany Hall: The Irish Political Machine in New York

    Tammany Hall: The Irish Political Machine in New York
    Dec 8 2025

    In this episode of Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast, we’re joined by noted historian Dr. Terry Golway to explore the story of Tammany Hall, the famed New York political machine so long associated with Irish America. In this show you will hear about Tammany's origins, how and when it became a powerful force for Irish immigrants, and how the famed machine operated through its long existence.


    Today, even the word "Tammany" is seen as a byword for corruption and excess. But is there more to Tammany’s story than scandal? Terry helps us to explore this, revealing how Ireland's politics influenced the development of Tammany's operations, and exploring Tammany's often overlooked positive contributions—demonstrating how this a story that is much more than just Boss Tweed and rampant corruption.


    Notes & Sources:


    Terry Golway. Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics.


    Terry Golway Books

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    56 mins
  • Ben Franklin's Forgotten Trip to Ireland

    Ben Franklin's Forgotten Trip to Ireland
    Dec 3 2025

    In 1771 Benjamin Franklin spent more than six weeks traveling through Ireland at a moment when tensions between Britain and her colonies were rising. In this episode Damian and Fin trace his route from Dublin through the Irish countryside and explore the people he met and the conditions he witnessed. Despite being laid low with food poisoning on his first day he quickly became absorbed in what he saw. The poverty of rural Ireland the restrictions placed on Irish trade and the political frustrations of the Protestant elite all left a deep impression on him. These experiences helped shape the ideas he carried back to America and influenced his thinking in the years before the Revolution.


    Further Reading

    Carla Mulford, Benjamin Franklin and the Ends of Empire

    James B. Nolan, Benjamin Franklin: In Scotland and Ireland 1759 and 1771

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    46 mins
  • Irish Mountain Men: Pioneers of the American West?

    Irish Mountain Men: Pioneers of the American West?
    Nov 24 2025
    One of the most enduring stereotypes of early US history is the Mountain Man. This figure often appears as the tough and resourceful frontiersman familiar from films like The Revenant. The stereotype is rooted in fact and in recent months Damian has been researching the Irish men who found themselves in the American West during the early nineteenth century. Fin and Damian explore this history along with who these men were and what brought them into the Rocky Mountains. They also look at how they interacted with Native American tribes in the region.

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    52 mins
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