Sunday Miscellany: Recent Episodes
RTÉ Radio 1
Radio essays, poems and complementary music, broadcast from Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday mornings since 1968.
Meditations on character from the Miscellany archive, with John Ryan, Bill Kelly, Catherine Marshall, Michael Harding, Val Mulkerns and Maria O'Rourke
The mysteries of cricket, the joy of the Park Run, celebrations of writer Maura Laverty and musician Glen Hansard — and a tempting treat for a magpie, with John O'Donnell, AM Cousins, John Egan, Breda Joyce, Denis Tuohy, Jackie Lynam and Grace Wells
From a mighty session in Dingle to Croagh Patrick to the Heinrich Böll cottage in Achill, an All-Ireland state of mind, with Séamus Moran, Grace Wells, John Lawler, Mary Lavery Carrig, Frank Shouldice and Geraldine Mitchell
Limerick and Galway All-Ireland hopes, a Ukrainian love story and the sweet pleasures of a day on the bog, with Antonia Gunko Karelina, Barry Houlihan, Anne Marie Kennedy, Mike MacDomhnaill, Ann Lane O’Connell, John Vincent Cunningham and Bob Kelly
High-achieving couples, musical ambitions, freedom in a pre-legislative life, learning to swim and the dangers hiding in plain sight....with Evelyn Conlon, Gemma Tipton, John MacKenna, Mary O'Malley, Pat Boran and Joe Kearney
A selection from the 2013 and 2014 archives, from Grace Wells, John MacKenna, AM Cousins, Sara Baume, Iggy McGovern, Susan Stairs and Cyril Kelly
Veronica Guerin remembered, a voyage into the past on a Donegal island, and a tribute to David Hockney, with Brian Farrell, Fiachra Gallagher, John MacKenna, Gail Seekamp, Billy Collins, Mícheál McCann and Moya Cannon
The father-daughter bond over books, football and furniture, Solstice meditations and remembering the great Tommie Gorman, with Christian O'Reilly, Ann Breslin, Paul Johnston, Nollaig Rowan, Grace Wells, Kevin McDermott and Durgham Mushtaha
Dandelions, foxgloves and bohemian trailblazers, life over John B Keane's pub and a friendship forged in literature and music — first of two programmes recorded in St John's Theatre, Listowel, with Joanna Keane O'Flynn, Zaffar Kunial, Elaine Garvey, Bernard O'Donoghue, Colum McCann, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, West Coast Sounds and Lorrraine Nash
Barefoot runs on Bettystown beach, summers at Dollymount, formative swims, a cliff walk and a fateful family boating trip. With Joe Rooney, Maeve Edwards, Romie Lambkin, Pat Boran, Mae Leonard, Peter Jankowsky and Grace Wells
Cowbells and baby birds, the highs and lows of Arsenal fandom, scaling Mount Brandon and saluting the extraordinary voice of Moya Brennan, with John Toal, Lani O’Hanlon, Oliver Sears, Eileen Heron, Philip Judge, Fr Alan Hilliard and Moya Cannon
Strawberries and sunshine, one family’s Census night story, a tribute to beloved poet Paul Durcan, and a gift of a lifetime… with Emer Casey, Pat Boran, Caroline Heffernan, AM Cousins, Mary O’Donnell and Tom Conaty
Secrets of the landscape and the art of songwriting; dogs, dharma and a jar of pickles, with Jim Culleton, Michael Cullen, Katrina Bruna, John Toal, John MacKenna, Grace Wells and Billy Collins
A runaway dog, the gift of music and football fever in Venice, with Zoë Devlin, Michael O’Loughlin, Tom Ryan, Roslyn Dee, Dermot Bolger and Grace Wells
A jazz legend and the joys of bus travel; delving into the Famine records of North Kerry, and a brown bread gift for Lauren Bacall. With Jim Doherty, Niamh Donnelly, Garrett Igoe, Marion O’Dwyer, Bryan MacMahon and Mícheál McCann
An unforgettable road trip, an Irish diplomat’s memories of the Chernobyl disaster and an archivist’s portal to McGahern Country, with John Egan, Carol Taaffe, Joe Hayes, Colin Regan, Antonia Hart and Barry Houlihan
A tribute to In Dublin Magazine, a visit to a Buenos Aires hurling club and advice to the young, with Tim Carey, Alexander McMaster, Grace Wells, Daniel Mulhall, Mary O’Donnell, Mary O’Malley and the late Gabriel Rosenstock
Radio waves and Roger Casement, a Rhode Island Red sisterhood and Semana Santa in Seville, with John MacKenna, Liz McSkeane, Rory Carroll, Doireann Ní Bhriain, Fiona Hyland, John F Deane and Tom Conaty
A special live programme from Wexford Opera House, originally broadcast for the centenary of the Easter Rising, with Billy Roche, AM Cousins, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Prionsías Ó Rathaille and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and music from the Contempo Quartet and more
Live from the Ennis Book Club Festival, including tributes to the late Nuala O’Faolain and Seán Rocks, with writers Niamh Campbell, Hugo Hamilton, Lemn Sissay, Éilis Ní Dhuibhne and Karen J McDonnell
Live at the Ennis Book Club Festival, with Anne Enright, Abi Daré, Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha, Mattie Brennan and Lemn Sissay, with music from Blackie O’Connell, Mickey Dunne, The Metals, Diane Daly, Boris Hunka, Liam Hunka, Katie Theasby, Ger O’Donnell
Butter and buttercups, teenage rites of passage, and a curly-haired girl… with Ciarán Cannon, Margaret Hickey, John MacKenna, Rosaleen McDonagh, Kathleen Murphy, Antonia Gunko Karelina, Tom Conaty and Mary O’Malley
A tribute to the late, great poet, Michael Longley, the politics of dress code, a celebration of lambing season, and wild Dingle peninsula Irish words from the much-missed Manchán Magan...with Olivia O'Leary, Peter Cunningham, Kate O'Shaughnessy, Denis Tuohy and Catherine Foley
Triumph in Twickenham, diamonds and daffodils, and green shoots of hope in dark times, with Mark Horgan, Joseph O’Connor, Olive Travers, Carla King, John O’Donnell and Paul Muldoon
Bracing coastal waters, past-their-prime vessels and the glorious freedom of swimming, with Mae Leonard, Mervyn Wall, Benedict Kiely, Marie McSweeney, Gerald Dawe, Joe McGowan and Anne Le Marquand Hartigan
The comforts of home, the spaces we inhabit and the things we can't do without, with Maurice Craig, Treasa Brogan, Bill Hammond, Mary Arrigan, Fachtna Ó Drisceoil, Tommy Sands and Elaine Sisson
Magical woodlands, stone sanctuaries and divine intervention, with Val Mulkerns, Sam McAughtry, Vona Groarke, Nuala Hayes, Peter Jankowsky, Catherine Ann Cullen, Liz Nugent and Michael Harding
Labour-saving devices, hard labour, labouring cerebrally or otherwise, all forms of work are the theme of today's archive programme, with John Ryan, Angela O'Rourke, Lar Redmond, Benedict Kiely, James Plunkett and Sharon Hogan
Miscellany 50: The Archives was a special series that celebrated the writing Sunday Miscellany featured in its first 50 years. This programme focused on the theme of ‘ritual’ and featured Hilda Murphy, Nuala O'Faolain, Eamon Keane, Margaret Hawkins, Paul Dwyer, Sinéad McCoole and Tadhg Ó Dubhláine
Over the past 100 years, the seismic impact of Ireland's new public broadcasting service on individual homes, society and our political landscape, with Felicity Hayes-McCoy, the late JM Dolan, Gerard Stembridge, Margaret Galvin, John Toal and Olivia O'Leary
Wedding vows, thoughts of home and New Year wishes, from Sweden to Vancouver Island to Rostrevor, County Down, with Conall Hamill, Lani O’Hanlon, Neil Hegarty, Mattie Brennan, Denis Tuohy and Enda Wyley
Post-Christmas blues and a December birthday, angels of heaven and the origins of Gaelic football in Wexford, with Mary O’Donnell, John Toal, Jackie Lynam, Alison Ní Mháirtín, Paul Rouse, the late Manchán Magan and Eithne Hand (pic: Paula Malone Carty)
Palestrina in Rome, an outsize Santa suit, and gifts of kindness from the Liberties to Lagos… featuring recordings from the NCH with the RTÉ CO and more, with Eithne Shortall, Joseph O’Connor, John Toal, Quentin Fottrell, Rachael Hegarty, Chikere Ohoka, Lisa Lambe, the Palestrina Choir and Sarah Shine
A winter wedding, a New Year’s Eve disaster, a Christmas baby and balm for the broken-hearted…Part 1 of Christmas Miscellany with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and special guests Kathleen MacMahon, Paul Muldoon, Mia Döring, Paul Howard, Cauvery Madhavan, the Palestrina Choir and Lisa Lambe
From Skerries to Strabane, East Galway to Alexandria: chance encounters, Christmastime musical delights and a deer of light, with Victoria White, Seán O’Gorman, Lisa McInerney, Jim Maguire, Judith Mok, Denise Blake and James Harpur
John and Yoko in County Mayo, Con Houlihan at 100 and a sniff of Christmas, with Donal Fallon, Louise Kennedy, Niall McArdle, Peter Cunningham Aidan Hynes and Helen O’Rahilly
George Best and Harry Gregg’s footballing friendship, a long-forgotten fire in the Liberties and a poet in Kinsale, with Roslyn Dee, Las Fallon, Sharon Hogan, John Toal, Oliver Sears and Enda Wyley
A special programme marking the anniversary of one of the worst days of violence of the War of Independence, with the support of the GAA Museum at Croke Park. With Colin Regan, Chris Shouldice, Michael Foley, Anthony Ryan, Anne Dolan, Paul Rouse and Louise Hogan
Ravens, crows and the last Irish wolf, diplomatic journeys and a poetry journal’s elegant farewell, with John MacKenna, Denise Blake, Zoë Devlin, Paul Muldoon, Nell Regan, Paul Johnston, James Harpur and Billy Collins
The art of persuasion, the pity of war and the sanctuary of home, with tributes to the late, great Conor Gearty and Sister Stanislaus Kennedy; the writers are Gerry Stembridge, Kathy Donaghy, Tess Hughes, John O’Donnell, Eileen Battersby and Rachael Hegarty
A prayer for Rudolf Valentino, fleeting memories and a snowy night of opera in St Petersburg, with Georg Grote, Louise Kennedy, Beth Kilkenny, Justin MacCarthy, Roslyn Dee and John F Deane
Silver sparks, a bog for a pillow and the ‘deserts of the midlands’… A ‘Writing the Bog’ special programme, part 2, in collaboration with the Bog Bothy project by the Irish Architectural Foundation and 12th Field, with writers Adam Trodd, Anne Gately Mercier, Kevin McDermott, Marion McGarry, Isabella Chiadini and Alexander McMaster
Creative discoveries from reading to singing to dancing to painting - a live selection from Waterford Writers’ Weekend and the Red Line Book Festival with Frankie Gaffney, the late Eileen Battersby, John Connell, Catherine Foley, AM Cousins, Rosaleen McDonagh, Kathleen Murphy, Donal Clancy, the Far Flung Trio and more
How do the places we build shape our lives? A programme marking Open House Dublin Festival of Architecture, with Éimear Arthur, Cormac Murray, Emmett Scanlon, Kevin Marinan, Graham Hickey, Julie Cruickshank and FELISPEAKS. Supported by the Irish Architecture Foundation
Saluting some treasures of our culture, language and landscape; remembering Brian Friel on his tenth anniversary, and a poem for the late, much-missed Manchán Magan with Dominic Dromgoole, Adam Trodd, Bernadett Buda, Aoife Barry, David Grant and Noelle Lynskey
Homecomings and departures, a friend for all seasons and tributes to Derek Mahon, Michael Hartnett and more, with Donal Hayes, Grace Wells, Joe Whelan, Mary O’Donnell, Mike MacDomhnaill, Beth Kilkenny and Mary O’Malley
September rituals and youthful rites of passage, with Paul Muldoon, Carol Taaffe, Conall Hamill, Georg Grote, Antonia Hart and Frank Shouldice
A re-broadcast of a special Culture Night Miscellany, hosted by President Higgins and Sabina Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin in 2024, with Manchán Magan, Tim Carey, Mia Döring, Rita Ann Higgins, Donal Ryan and President Michael D Higgins
Stories of the Irish boglands, past, present and imagined future, in collaboration with the Irish Architecture Foundation's Bog Bothy project, with Margaret Hickey, Niamh Donnellan, Karen McHugh, Anthony Baggott, Emmett Scanlon and Claire Cotter
Ireland’s State Coach, the bittersweet first day of school, Thackeray’s travels in Ireland and young boys robbing orchards, with Jonathan White, Zoë Devlin, Enda Wyley, Lourdes Mackey, John MacKenna, Grace Wells and Tom Conaty
Leaving result anxiety, fox cubs by moonlight and meeting Mícheál MacLiammóir -- and a new poem from Paul Muldoon. With Denise Blake, Emma Prunty, Kathy Donaghy, Denis Tuohy, John MacKenna and Paul Muldoon
From the shores of West Kerry to Dublin city’s Georgian squares, to a Traveller man’s campfire – a special programme on Ireland’s treasure trove of shared heritage, marking National Heritage Week, with Eimear Ryan, Theo Dorgan, Colin Regan, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, Oein DeBharduin and Paula Meehan
Marmalade sandwiches and illicit pints of Guinness, and the human tremors and reverberations of history from the Baltic Way to the atrocity of the atom bomb. With David Coughlan, Maeve Edwards, Joe Taylor, Denise Blake, Conor Hanratty and Mary O’Donnell
Fairytales and boarding school blues, travelling light and a treasured sewing machine: a Miscellany archive dip with Michael Harding, Eugene McEldowney, Vona Groarke, the late Peter Jankowsky, Geraldine Mitchell, Kieran Fagan and the late Mary Russell, who died recently
All-Ireland football hopes from Kenmare to Killybegs, Leonard Cohen’s magical Lissadell concert, and more, with John Toal, Regina Devenney, John S Doyle, Tony Griffin, Noel King, Denise Blake and John Cooney
Thumbing a lift, taming a feral cat, the story behind how Babs Keating became Tipperary’s “barefoot wonder” and a father’s love for Cork’s Na Piarsaigh, with Doireann Ní Bhriain, Joe Whelan, Cormac Murray, Theo Dorgan, Lani O’Hanlon and John Allen
Hazy summer days from West Kerry to Beirut, and saluting the pioneering Yeats sisters, with Michael Hilliard Mulcahy, Eunan McKinney, Mae Leonard, Alexander McMaster, Angela Keogh, Mariam Tell and Vincent Woods
Coat checks and cityscapes in New York City; preparing for a family wedding; and reflections on wearing wigs. With Gary Coyle, Neil Hegarty, Cathy Power, John Tuomey, Julie Feeny and Lauren Green
How we see ourselves, and others, and what constitutes home; a selection from the Belfast Books Festival in 2023 and 2004 with Wendy Erskine, John Toal, Neil Hegarty, Marie Howe and Paul McVeigh
The mud of Glastonbury and the elegance of the Monet garden, a St John’s Eve bonfire and the bravery of Irishman Graham Dale, with Conall Hamill, Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha, John Toal, Maeve Edwards, Joe Rooney and Antonia Gunko Karelina
Solstice meditations, a Sydney nightwalk and a visit to Joyce’s Nighttown, with Colin Regan, Kieran FitzGerald, Grace Wells, Fran O’Rourke, Katrina Bruna and Christian O’Reilly
Exam jitters and poetry grinds for teenagers, the heyday of the Irish Press newspaper, and silage-making with a reluctant farm horse, with Alexander McMaster, Denis McClean, Rachael Hegarty, Lani O’Hanlon, Leo Cullen and Catherine Foley
Campervan travels with an intrepid German grandmother, a loaf of heavenly batch bread, and the Heysel Stadium Disaster remembered, with Alexander McMaster, Maeve Edwards, Michael Hamell, Elizabeth Oxley and Vincent Woods
Leaving home and a kind of homecoming; Eurovision memories and a tribute to a beloved brother, with Gráinne Quinlan, William Wall, Fabian McGrath, Joan Shiels, Eileen Heron and Hugo Hamilton.
Post-war wanderings and pilgrimages of the heart, a Rembrandt double-portrait and a poem for Béaltaine, with Denis Tuohy, Clare O’Dea, Barbara Leahy, Kerry Neville, Alan Cook and Lani O’Hanlon
Encounters with wildlife, labour struggles in Italy and remarkable island architecture, with Michael Cullen, William Wall, Nollaig Rowan, Michael Hilliard Mulcahy, Kevin Connolly and Moya Cannon
Shakespeare’s seven ages of man, Jane Austen’s sense and sensibility, pilgrimages of the heart -- and a flickering candle, with Daniel Mulhall, Roslyn Dee, John Toal, Eileen Battersby, John MacKenna and AM Cousins
Easter miracles and a newly risen Notre-Dame; natty hats and singing in public, with Fachtna Ó Drisceoil, Aidan Mathews, Roslyn Dee, Olivia O’Leary, Maria Moynihan and James Harpur
Stirrings of spring and a stubborn donkey, Easter in Beirut and meeting Samuel Beckett, with Kate O’Shaughnessy, Louise Kennedy, Peter Cunningham, Joe Kearney, Jenny Beale and John F Deane
Dentists’ drills, dry stone walls and debtors’ prison, and the Great Gatsby at 100, with Tim Carey, Rebecca Hunter, Brian Crowley, Jessica Freed, Frank Kavanagh and Roslyn Dee
Handwritten letters and mother-daughter rites of passage, a search for identity, and the delightful landscapes of Ireland’s South West, with Barbara Scully, Jamie O’Connell, Brian Daly, James Harpur, Joanne Hynes, Cónal Creedon and Amenazeb Khan
Car troubles, revolutionary whispers and a tribute to a hero of Dublin city, with John Toal, Catherine Foley, Rosaleen McDonagh, Kathleen Murphy, Justin MacCarthy, Paula Meehan and Durgham Mushtaha
Saint Patrick’s hidden holy well, a White House welcome, an encounter with musical genius and a “grand stretch” in the evenings, with Liz Nugent, Daniel Muhall, Karen J McDonnell, Georg Grote, Anne Delaney and Rachael Hegarty
Canine clutter and a feline warrior, a friendship forged in music and a century-old literary scandal, with writers Philip Judge, Alexis MacIsaac, Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha, Margaret Galvin, Lourdes Mackey and Amanda Bell
Oscar night fever and Jaws at 50, placenames of Waterford and saluting Ronnie Delany at 90, with John O’Donnell, Zoë Devlin, Val O’Donnell, Niall McArdle and Catherine Foley
Ghost signs of Dublin, Wexford tales, and climbing Carrauntuohil, with Jamie O’Connell, Margaret Galvin, John MacKenna, AM Cousins, Aoife Barry and Billy Roche
Ministering angels and mutiny at sea, a devastating fire in a Dublin market, and a poem for the late Ivor Browne, with Antonia Hart, Eddie Vallely, William Wall, Rebecca Hunter, Joe Kearney and Lani O’Hanlon
Bittersweet love stories, eye-catching cover art and home thoughts from abroad, with Feargal Ó Dubhghaill, Molly Furey, Joe Kearney, Margaret Galvin, Dermot Bolger, Lani O'Hanlon and Yvonne Cullen
Slip-sliding resolutions, sleepy sheep and saluting the darkness even as winter turns to spring, with Conall Hamill, Beth Kilkenny, Kevin Gildea, Karl O’Neill, Mae Leonard and Neil Hegarty
Sailing to Antarctica, a few sticks of furniture and the life of O’Reilly in Australia, with Hugh Weldon, Margaret Galvin, Mary Dowey, Beth Kilkenny, Daniel Mulhall and Amanda Bell
From Cherbourg to Belmullet to Western Vancouver: friendship, poetry and voyages of the heart, with Mattie Brennan, Peter Cunningham, Cathy Sweeney, Grace Wilentz, Michael Gallagher and Aidan Mathews
Silk Road meditations, dreamy prophecies and the hard winter of 1947, with Emer O’Kelly, Eileen Casey, John MacKenna, Alexander McMaster, Lani O’Hanlon and Denis Tuohy
Diplomatic travels and inner journeys, from Leitrim to Lourdes, from Ontario to Togo and Nauru – meeting a Daniel O’Donnell fan along the way… a New Year Miscellany with Joe Hayes, Pat Boran, Nuala O’Connor, Angela Keogh, Niall McArdle and Mary O’Malley
A friendly spy, Joyce’s favourite music, and remembering the Dead at Christmastime… with archive from and tributes to some much loved writers we lost this year. With Kevin Mc Dermott, Justin Kilcullen, Conor Hanratty, Judith Mok, Emer O’Kelly, Catherine Foley and Gerald Dawe
Christmas food, seasonal gifting and contemplation and a Dublin legend, with John Toal, Donal Fallon, Maggie Armstrong, Margaret Galvin, John F Deane and James Harpur
Reflections on the Christmas season and an unexpected house guest, a miniature Miscellany for Christmas Eve, with Olive Travers, James Harpur and John F Deane
Puccini in Rome, Star Wars fever and a child’s Christmas wonder: part 1 of Christmas Miscellany with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and special guests, with writers Joseph O’Connor, Rachael Hegarty, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Paul Howard and Joe Kearney
Stories of the revolution and the Irish revival, and heroes and heroines of every hue, with Declan Kiberd, Jim Maguire, Mary Hassett, Síobhra Aiken, Ger Fitzgibbon and James Harpur
Saluting Notre-Dame on its grand reopening, wild geese on the wing, rediscovering a love of Latin and saying Thank You to life – by way of Joan Baez and Violeta Parra, with Kathleen O’Meara, Zoë Devlin, James Harpur, Tom Ryan, John MacKenna and Kathy Donaghy
Guy Mitchell in Finglas, a century old bank raid, and other tales from the 80s and 90s programme archive, with Aodhán Madden, Nuala Hayes, Brian Leyden, Richard Roche, Hugh Oram and Mae Leonard
Irishwomen abroad, wearing vintage and bridging the eternal generation gap – with Peter Cunningham, Helen Lahert, Daniel Mulhall, Denise Blake, Kate Carty and Brendan Coffey
A brush with the law in the London of 'Minder', late flowering and vanishing Dublin, with Derek Mahon, with Peter Trant, Neil Hegarty, Niamh Donnelly, Eileen Casey, Denis Tuohy and Mary O'Malley
Apples, blackberries, and bravery in Nazi-occupied Budapest, with Amanda Bell, John MacKenna, John Toal, Brian Farrell, Kathy Donaghy, Oliver Sears and John F Deane
Angelus bells, Wexford opera nights and a glimpse of Nosferatu, with Joe Kearney, Joe Brennan, AM Cousins, Tom Ryan, Judith Mok, Maura Gilligan and Cal O’Reilly
Cosmic wonders and maths miracles; book tokens, baby names and a much loved poet’s birthday tribute, with Enda Wyley, Paul Durcan, Colm O’Regan, Doireann Ní Bhriain, Jamie O’Connell and Felicity Hayes-McCoy
From Donegal to Dublin, how do the places we build shape our lives? A programme marking Open House Dublin Festival of Architecture, with Éimear Arthur, Cormac Murray, Emmett Scanlon, Kevin Marinan, Graham Hickey, Julie Cruickshank and FELISPEAKS
From traces of the Gauls in France to a Kurdish boy’s story of finding refuge in Ireland, voices from Leitrim’s Iron Mountain Festival: Mary Byrne, Adrian Duncan, Alice Lyons, Zak Moradi, Vincent Woods – with brief music extracts from Eleanor Shanley, Garadice, Zoé Basha, Ultan O’Brien
Paints, pigments and the perfume of old paper. Love objects and the love of books. More from Culture Night at Áras an Uachtaráin, hosted by President Higgins and Sabina Higgins (and other past Miscellany live recordings), with Nell Regan, Aingeala Flannery, Lemn Sissay, Sharon Hogan and Séamus Barra Ó Súilleabháin
Irish words for rain, ghosts of Kilmainham, a tribute to Edna O’Brien and a sprinkle of stardust - a special live Miscellany at Áras an Uachtaráin. Writers: Manchán Magan, Tim Carey, Mia Döring, Rita Ann Higgins, Donal Ryan and President Michael D Higgins.
Glorying in artistic treasures, and dealing with artistic reality, with Caitríona Lally, Julie Feeney, Cristín Leach, Julie Morrissy and John Graham
Brass bands, boarding school blues, and a blacksmith in his forge in Rathiniska, with Carol Taaffe, Colin Regan, Paul Johnston, Margaret Dunne, Fiona Smith and Antonia Hart
Coming-of-age tales and the extraordinary story of the Irish merchant ship the MV Kerlogue, and Seamus Heaney on the byroads of County Wexford, with Elizabeth Oxley, Fran O’Rourke, Kevin Mc Dermott, AM Cousins, Jennifer Carey and Rachael Hegarty
Urban animals and comedy in the city, Frankenstein in Tuscany, and minding the great Nell McCafferty at Italia 90, with John Egan, Ann Marie Durkan, Judith Mok, Norma MacMaster, Joe Rooney and Enda Wyley
From the shores of West Kerry to Dublin city’s Georgian squares, to a Traveller man’s campfire – a special programme on Ireland’s treasure trove of shared heritage, marking National Heritage Week, with Eimear Ryan, Theo Dorgan, Colin Regan, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, Oein DeBhardúin and Paula Meehan
Irish experiences of the Olympic Games in Moscow 1980 and Paris 1924, Peig Sayers’s resurgence, and a love story at Lough Derg, with John Kirwan, Nuala Hayes, Amy Redmond, Maura O’Sullivan and John Egan
A walk in the woods, writing advice from Maeve Binchy and blood in the water at the Melbourne Olympics, with Fergal McCabe, Bernadett Buda, Mike MacDomhnaill, Bernard Farrell, Sharon Hgan and Pat Boran
Dance moves on the pitch, climbing the Reek, an encounter with screenwriter Robert Towne -- and swimming lessons from Tarzan, with Karl O’Neill, Victoria White, Mae Leonard, Gerry O’Boyle, Felim MacDermott and Orlaith Mannion
Sliotars, Cork and Clare superstars and the incomparable Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh remembered, with John Cooney, Seamus McKenna, Róisín Bugler, Jim McKeon, Catherine Foley, Gerry O’Beirne and Éamonn Ó Muircheartaigh
Finding inspiration in France, a slice of Ireland's sporting history and the importance of our physical world. With Judith Mok, Cathy Power, Alice Rekab, Andrew Clancy, Cornelius Browne, William Wall and Cyril Kelly
Love and a family wedding, an architect’s New York, navigating Irish-African inheritances, wigs and being an artist and easel painting in Donegal. With Brendan Kennelly, Cathy Power, John Tuomey, Alice Rekab, Julie Feeney and Cornelius Browne.
Ways of Seeing 2: More words and music from Belfast Book Festival with Paul McVeigh, Marie Howe, John Toal, Mícheál McCann, Maria McManus, and music from Scott Flanigan, Sinéad McKenna, Éimear McGeown, Donogh Hennessy and Trú
Live from Belfast Book Festival at the Crescent Arts Centre, Ways of Seeing: writers Jan Carson, Lucy Caldwell, Glenn Patterson, Emily Byers-Ferrian and Maria McManus with music from Scott Flanigan, Sinéad McKenna and Trú
Reflections on fatherhood, and literary Dublin’s first Joycean jaunt, with Patricia Joyce Oliver, Rory Gleeson, Donal Fallon, Ann Breslin and Oliver Sears
A dip into the Miscellany archive with 1990s pieces by Michael Harding, Nicky Barry, Kevin O’Connor, Patricia O’Reilly, Catherine Cullen and Peter Jankovsky – and a more recent poem from late, much missed poet, Gerald Dawe
Thin Lizzy in Tramore, Brehon Brutalism in Ballsbridge, feathery feats of nature -- and the wisdom, or not, of meeting your heroes. With John Toal, Joe Rooney, Kathy Donaghy, Shane O’Toole, Lani O’Hanlon and Judith Mok
Sea pinks on the Copper Coast, intimations of mortality in the Irish hawthorn tree, and ways of making a show of yourself, with Pat Boran, Peter Cunningham, Mary Hassett, Maeve Edwards and Lawrence White
Cows and cowboy boots, a rookie promoter’s first gig in Galway, and glory days of fun and friendship in Monet’s garden. With Maeve Edwards, Joe Kearney, Ollie Jennings, Philip Judge, Enda Wyley and Rachael Hegarty
From Milan to Dublin, a programme on song and speech, finding and using your voice, dancing and self-expression-- with Mark Brennock, Doireann Ní Bhríain, Catherine Foley, Mary Kate O’Flanagan, Fiona Smith and Irish-Palestinian poet Durgham Mushtaha
Month’s mind tributes to the late sculptor Imogen Stuart and poet Michael Coady; bonny labouring boy, the smell of new boots and an old coat. With Peter Trant, AM Cousins, Paul Rouse, Alison Fitzgerald, Michael O'Connor and Catherine Twomey
Saints and prayers, crowning glory and a Shakespearean starling, with Elizabeth Oxley, Moya Cannon, Dermot Bolger, Pat Boran, Rosaleen McDonagh and Conall Hamill
Returning swallows, an Irishman abroad in the USSR, a German eye on Daniel O’Connell, and Harry Nilsson’s Irish love, with Jim Sharkey, Jenny Beale, Deirdre McQuillan, Daniel Mulhall, Brian Farrell and Denise Blake
A favourite song of Seán Ó Riada’s, wonderful parties, and extraordinary kindness to a young writer starting out: John Banville, Shelly Furlong, Diarmaid Ferriter, Iarla Ó Lionáird and Marina Carr salute seven decades of the Irish Arts Council
Easter eggs, Easter bonnets and the enduring appeal of Bach’s 300 year old masterpiece, with Olivia O’Leary, Paul Johnston, Aidan Mathews, Margaret Hickey, Enda Wyley and John F Deane
Rescue pets and reliquaries, asteroids and a crown of thorns, with Gail Seekamp, Fiona Hyland, AM Cousins, Conor Horgan, Jim Sperin, Mary O’Malley and Denise Blake
Shades of green in a St Patrick’s Day Miscellany with Seán O’Gorman, Máire T Robinson, Joe Kearney, Bernard Dunleavy, John MacKenna, James Harpur and Olivia O’Leary
Women sewing, singing, loving and maybe even dancing in heaven. A Mother's Day special with Maeve Edwards, Joe Whelan, AM Cousins, Paul Howard, Clare Monnelly and Enda Wyley.
Voices in harmony at Creative Brain Week and the New Yorker magazine’s own, Irish, long-winded lady, with Mike Hanrahan, Lourdes Mackey, John MacKenna, Mary Kate O Flanagan, Catherine Foley and James Harpur
Confessions of a cocktail piano teen sensation, Father Damo goes to Ted Fest, a letter to Letter from America, and sawing wood in a Siberian gulag, with Conor Linehan, Michael O’Connor, Henrietta McKervey, Joe Rooney, Joe Kearney and Grace Wilentz
Clowns, candymen and a pocket calculator: a poem celebrating human ingenuity and playfulness, with Neil Hegarty, Henrietta McKervey, Leo Cullen, Evelyn Conlon, AM Cousins and James Harpur
Arboreal hieroglyphics, respectable attire, Gershwin’s Irish influence and a love that couldn’t be stopped. With Kevin McDermott, Margaret Galvin, Jim Doherty, Lourdes Mackey, Moya Canon, Denise Blake and James Harpur
Nervous patients, home from home and the saint among the box hedges, with Rebecca Hunter, Jenny Beale, Peter Trant, Barbara Scully, Niall McArdle and Margaret Galvin
From Old Moore’s Almanac to the jellyfish apocalypse with birdwatching on the Dodder and capturing a flapper skate along the way, with Joe Kearney, Rebecca Hunter, Fiona Hyland, Alexander McMaster, Pier Kuipers and Vincent Woods
Stepping out to dance class, serenading a new arrival, skulduggery in a Scottish graveyard – and rereading the searing Diary of Anne Frank, with Elizabeth Oxley, Peter Cunningham, Emer O’Kelly, Rory Gleeson, Paul Johnston and Vincent Woods
Paintings and poetry, mending and making do, reciting Yeats in New Delhi and a long night of the soul in the Emergency Department, with Daniel Mulhall, Catherine Foley, John MacKenna, Aidan Mathews, Margaret Hickey and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eip
The 'big snow', the real Gabriel Conroy, finding profundity in simplicity and tumbles on winter streets, with Alexander McMaster, Enda Wyley, Conall Hamill, John F Deane, Michael O'Connor and Mary O'Donnell
Absent angels, a post-Christmas brush with the law, and a reckoning with Yeats country, with Grace Wilentz, Michael Harding, John MacKenna, Enda Wyley, Brian Leyden, and Sharon Hogan
Christmas trimmings from Miscellany regular contributors John F Deane, James Harpur and Enda Wyley
A special Miscellany from the National Opera House, Wexford, with writers Joe Kearney, Margaret Galvin, Paul Rouse, Antonia Gunko Karelina, Joe Brennan and Alison Ní Mháirtín, and music extracts from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by David Brophy with special guests Piaras Ó Lorcáin and John Molloy
A Christmas Miscellany from Dublin and Wexford, with Neil Hegarty, Am Cousins, Michael Harding, Denise Blake, Emer O’Kelly and Paul Howard, and music extracts from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by David Brophy and Gavin Maloney with special guests Gráinne Brookfield, Lisa Lambe and Cormac Kenevey
A mother’s secret recipe, true and untrue tales at Christmas and an extraordinary Holy Night, with Aingeala Flannery, John Toal, Paul Howard, Rachael Hegarty, all recorded at the National Concert Hall with music extracts from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by David Brophy and special guests Colm Warren, Maeve Smyth and Sarah Shine
From a magical Waterford bookshop at Christmas to the library of Alexandria, the journey of the Magi to a snowy homeward trek… with John Egan, Enda Wyley, Peter Cunningham, Judith Mok, Catherine Heaney and James Harpur
A selection from the Sunday Miscellany archives, from the 1960s to the 1990s – with Aodhán Madden, Mervyn Wall, Patricia O’Reilly, John Ryan, Rita Normanly, Stephen Rynne and Brendan Kennelly
The tang of the Atlantic, a stenographer for JFK, Thanksgiving Irish style and a small furry rabbit, with Alexander McMaster, Margaret Kelly, Michael Harding, Sinéad Ingoldsby, Kathy Donaghy and Fred Spengeman
Ghostly encounters, poetic presences, and a recalcitrant car, with Gerald Dawe, Mia Döring, Brian Leyden, Catherine Foley, Dermot Bolger, James Harpur and Lani O’Hanlon
Emigration pangs, the Beatles in Dublin, the snows of Leadville and the freedom of small nations, with Peter Trant, Sheila Maher, Joseph Kearney, Pat Dunne and the late Eileen Battersby
Apples, pears and a bad-tempered pierrot, and saluting Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi, with Pat Dunne, Andrea Carter, Ciarán Cannon, Alice Lyons, John MacKenna and Lani O’Hanlon
Halloween bonfires, Dracula’s origins, an island evacuation and the courage of Hugh O’Flaherty, with Declan Hughes, Breda Joyce, Patrick Griffin, Rachael Hegarty, Joseph O’Connor and Gráinne Quinlan
On a brave busking debut, joining a choir, and the hush that falls when an extraordinary voice starts to sing: the place of music and song in our lives in Dublin, with Kevin Connolly, Denise Blake, Colm Tóibín, Tim Carey and Sheila Maher
Gauls, gossamer, and marram grass, and finding refuge – a special Sunday Miscellany from the Iron Mountain Festival recorded at the Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, with Brian Leyden, Mary Byrne, Zak Moradi, Alice Lyons, Vincent Woods, Eleanor Shanley and Garadice with Tom Morrow, Zoé Basha and Ultan O’Brien
Memories of a cinema paradise, Ireland’s early contribution to global aviation history and a mother’s reaction to her daughter's first grey hair. With Dermot Bolger, Kathy Donaghy, Patrick Griffin, Olive Travers, Moya Cannon and Antonia Gunko Karelina
A talent for losing things, a teenage emigrant at large in London, and the sounds and colours of the island of Iona. With Anthony Glavin, Enda Coyle Greene, Liz Nugent, John F Deane and Enda Wyley
Silver at the Ploughing, playful national stereotypes, and Dublin city architect Herbert Simms’s extraordinary achievement, with Rory Gleeson, Fran O’Rourke, Lani O’Hanlon, Tim Carey, Bernadett Buda and Elizabeth Oxley
A second chance at learning to read, and other journeys through education, memory, arts and crafts and more, with John Forkin, Barbara Scully, Justin MacCarthy, Grace Wilentz, Lani O’Hanlon and Grace Wells
Mythical lands, new beginnings, an unforgettable fellow-student and the kindness of strangers. A mix of new and recent archive recordings with Conall Hamill, Mary O'Donnell, Fred Tuite, Olive Travers, Catherine Foley and Gerald Dawe
Earthed lightning, letters of freedom, and a late love poem: a celebration of the late Seamus Heaney to mark his tenth anniversary. With Grace Wells, Gerald Dawe, Denise Blake, Mícheál McCann, Seamus Heaney and Marie Heaney
A transcendent experience at the Botanic Gardens, reflections on the Famine and the Irish language and a lifelong passion for the novels of Thomas Hardy. Sunday Miscellany features Valerie Waters, Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha, Michael O’Loughlin, Mary O’Donnell, John Egan and Lani O'Hanlon
Summer in Viareggio, Venetian fizzy delights, Seventies TV and Robert Graves at home, with Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Gerry Moran, Alan Finnegan, Catherine Foley, Mary O’Donnell and John F Deane
Celebrating architecture and landscape, story and song, and the hidden histories contained in our country's archives, a special programme to mark National Heritage Week with Virginia Teehan, Mícheál Moley Ó Súilleabháin, Olivia O'Leary, Grace Wilentz, Angela Keogh and Thomas McCarthy
A selection from the Sunday Miscellany archives, from the 1970s to the 1990s - with Nuala Hayes, John Ryan, Peter Jankovsky, Aidan Carney, Judith Hoad and Eamon Keane
A special programme as Kerry battles Dublin for the All-Ireland, with memories also of past glorious victories for Cork, Galway and more, with Joe Ó Muircheartaigh, Brendan O'Sullivan, Pat Cunningham, Mary Lavery Carrig and Diarmuid O'Donovan.
Kilkenny hopes, Limerick dreams, “horlinge” through the ages and an umpire hangs up his boots, with Joe Kearney, Lourdes Mackey, Stephen O’Byrnes, John Kelly, Gerry Moran and Feargal Purcell
Breaking new ground in arts, crafts -- and fashion; the pioneering Yeats sisters; and why everyone’s dog is the best dog with writers Eunan MacKinney, Michael O’Loughlin, Joanne Hynes, Lani O’Hanlon, Noel King, Mia Döring and Gerald Dawe.
Swift boxes, borders and safe places to nest: More live recordings from Ballyshannon, Derry and most recently, the Belfast Book Festival at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, with writers Neil Hegarty, Maureen Boyle, Louise Kennedy, Kerri Ní Dochartaigh and Colette Bryce
A special programme on the theme of home and belonging, recorded recently at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, with Cherry Smyth, Wendy Erskine, Mícheál McCann, John Toal and Maureen Boyle
Tango dancing, a golden Wimbledon ticket, musical glory days, dancing friends and Dev, with Antonia Gunko Karelina, John Egan, Gerald Dawe, Roslyn Dee and Charles Lysaght.
Poets, pirates, penitents, AE, Matt Talbot, a garden gnome, and plans for the summer solstice, with Joe Kearney, Fran O’Rourke, Katrina Bruna, Gavin Corbett, Grace Wells and Rachael Hegarty
A Bloomsday special recorded for the centenary of Joyce's epic novel in the Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. With Rachael Hegarty, Emer O’Kelly, Joseph O’Connor, Sara Keating, Declan Kiberd, Barry Gleeson, Malachy Robinson, Anita Vedres, Dermot Dunne, Darina Gallagher and Sinéad Murphy
The perfect Sunday fry, nosy neighbours at a house viewing and what it means to be an individual. An archive selection from the 1970s to the 1990s, with William Wall, Bernice Harrison, John Ryan, Eric Cross, Stephen Rynne and Mary Arrigan
Turf footing, a silent retreat and a Communion day in Cahir, with Colin Regan, Niamh Campbell, Peter Cunningham, Frank Shouldice, Margaret Galvin and Vincent Woods
Gentle strolls and the morning commute, the Mendelssohns and the Wyse Powers, and a dark day in Dublin and Monaghan, with Katrina Bruna, Daniel Mulhall, Kate Carty, Kevin McDermott and Lorna Siggins
Telephone conversations, travel woes, dashed dreams and devoted love, with Nicole Flattery, Conall Hamill, Rory Gleeson, Barbara Scully, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe and John F Deane
Birds, bees, the Boyne, the Shannon, and keeping faith with The Boss, with Vincent Kenny, Cathal Ó Gallchóir, Kerry Neville, Grace Wells, Kevin Connolly and Elma Walsh
The glory days of advertising, a fjord in Mayo and a maypole in Finglas, with Liz Houchin, Pat Dunne, Phlip Judge, Dermot Bolger, Rachael Hegarty, John F Deane and Catherine Foley.
A border centenary, Venice in Shakespeare’s day, outsiders, memory and forgetting, with Peter Trant, Elizabeth Oxley, Pauline Kelly, Tim Carey, Elizabeth Power and Vincent Woods
President Theodore Roosevelt’s Irish obsessions, farewell to Long Wave 252, and a birdman at the bottom of the garden, with Daniel Mulhall, Michael Hilliard Mulcahy, Emer O’Kelly, Paul Hughes, Lani O’Hanlon and Denise Blake
John Huston, Hedy Lamarr, the Good Friday Agreement at 25 and Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Leipzig, with Maria Hayden, John McDonald, Hester Scott, John F Deane, John Toal and Vincent Woods
Meeting Lauren Bacall, Gonzaga College’s triumph and Camille Souter’s vivid art, with Marion O’Dwyer, John O’Donnell, Emer O’Kelly, Alannah Robins and Neil Hegarty
A selection from the Miscellany archive from the 1970s and 1980s, with writers Mervyn Wall, Val Mulkerns, Dominic Roche, Patricia O’Reilly, Benedict Kiely and Eric Cross
Memorable moments of motherhood, rebel songs and a glorious St Patrick’s Day parade, with Maeve Edwards, James Harpur, Clare Monnelly, Pier Kuipers, Geraldine Mitchell, Colin Regan and Claire Garvey
The night U2 became U2, the extraordinary life of million selling novelist, Ethel Voynich, and wild Irish words, with Michael McNamara, Deirdre McQuillan, Peter Francis, Manchán Magan, Catherine Foley and Kate Carty
Fawns and foxes, birdwatching and Babycham, and Pelé’s Dalymount date, with Feargal Ó Dubhghaill, Margaret Galvin, Desmond Traynor, Ann Marie Durkan, Brian Farrell and Catherine Foley
A terrifying World War II encounter, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty’s courage, a life changing summer in Germany and a mysterious jar of pickles, with James Harpur, Felicity Hayes-McCoy, Mark Brennock, Katrina Bruna, Joseph O’Connor and Michael O’Loughlin
A departing bank and a cash free society, forgotten revolutionary Darrell Figgis and fiddler Mickey Finn, with Sharon Hogan, Peter Cunningham, Chris McHallem, Margaret Galvin, Joe Kearney and Miriam Uhlemann
Jane Austen’s Irish love, a pair of border collies, a basket of eggs and Schubert’s Trout Quintet, with Paula Shields, Lourdes Mackey, Jody Clarke, Sara Shine, Lani O’Hanlon, John F Deane and Vincent Woods
Saints and swallows, the early days of Dublin Airport, and Brendan Behan’s love of the sea, with Blanaid Behan, Conall Hamill, Máirín O’Malley, Jim Culleton, Rachael Hegarty, Noelle Lynskey and John MacKenna
Brussels brunches, birthday feasts and "little cow" fudge in the Warsaw ghetto, with Frank Kavanagh, Noelle Lynskey, Oliver Sears, John MacKenna and Charles Lysaght
Face blindness and body work, sun, stars, and seeing infinity in a grain of sand, with Dermot Bolger, William Wall, Mary O’Donnell, Rita Ann Higgins, Lani O’Hanlon and John F Deane
Home remedies and medical miracles, vanishing Dublin and 70 years of Waiting for Godot, with Alan Graham, Margaret Galvin, William Wall, Aoife Barry, Liam Lally and John F Deane
Showbusiness families and the ties that bind, with Ferdia MacAnna, Conall Hamill, Emer O’Kelly, Nollaig Rowan, Olive Travers and Lani O’Hanlon
Re-published due to earlier technical issues - featuring St Francis and the moving crib, Joe Dolan and Dennis O'Driscoll remembered, and UL at 50, with Nollaig Rowan, Kevin McDermott, Mary Wall, Mae Leonard, Declan O'Driscoll and John F Deane
Bleary farewells and new year beginnings, stormy western seas, Jane Austen's nieces' Donegal connection, and remembering the great Pele, with Neil Hegarty, Emer O'Kelly, Conor Hanratty, Karl O'Neill, Niamh Campbell and Barbara Scully
Christmas Miscellany with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and special guests: a mix of new and archive recordings from this annual event, recorded at the National Concert Hall. Singers Róisín O’Reilly, Connor McKeown and Andrew Gavin feature, and the writers include Tim Carey, Edel Coffey, Paul Howard and the late Eileen Battersby
Bats, flies, Santa Claus malfunctions and seasonal homecomings - Part 1 of the festive celebration, with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and special guests, conducted by Gavin Maloney. With writers Declan Kiberd, Kathleen MacMahon, John Toal, Paul Howard, Rachael Hegarty and soloists/special musical guests Mia Cooper, Úna Walsh, Trú and Connor McKeown
St Francis and the moving crib, Joe Dolan and Dennis O’Driscoll remembered, and UL at 50, with Nollaig Rowan, Kevin McDermott, Mary Wall, Mae Leonard, Declan O’Driscoll and John F Deane.
A selection from the very first edition of Sunday Miscellany in November 1968, with the voices of Anthony Cronin, Val Mulkerns, Patrick Kavanagh (who died the year before the programme went on air; his piece was recorded by actor Pat Layde), John Ryan and Eric Cross
A cello and a nightingale, General Custer's last handshake, aspirational social housing initiatives and finding your own voice, with Joe Kearney, Henrietta McKervey, John MacKenna, Mary Kate O'Flanagan, Ronan Kelly, James Harpur and John F Deane
Discovering the site of Troy, remembering the great Christy Hennessy, clearing a family home and Erskine Childers: the riddle of the man, with Fran O’Rourke, Philip Judge, Mary Wall, Barbara Scully, Peter Cunningham and Grace Wilentz
School reunions in the trenches, overcoming language barriers to find a common humanity, Mick Dell from Clonmel and the Kildare native whose work was quietly revolutionary, with James Harpur, Maria Farrell, Margaret Galvin, Brian Patterson, Mae Leonard and Rachael Hegarty
A fashion plate changes shape, endangered languages, the salmon of knowledge, a blue cup in Bucharest and close ties with the poetry of Leland Bardwell, with Philip Judge, Clare O'Dea, Grace Wells, Frank Shouldice, Catherine Foley and John McLachlan
Colm Tóibín’s favourite soprano, Dracula and the Sligo cholera epidemic, Puccini at home and Kilkenny’s first ‘witch’, with Colm Tóibín, Louise Kennedy, Karl O’Neill, Muriel Bolger, AM Cousins and Gerry Moran
The church that provided guidance to a boy in Finglas West, memorable Dublin first nights, avian invaders at Wexford Festival Opera and unsung female rebels of 1798, with Brian Farrell, Margaret Galvin, Dominic Dromgoole, Tom Mooney, AM Cousins and Denise Blake
Soft, fresh days in Inishbofin, Irish hospitality, treasured possessions, missing Brendan Kennelly and a chocolate cake for Pete Seeger, with John Toal, Helen Lahert, Daniel Mulhall, Leo Cullen, Mae Leonard and Gudrun Boch-Mullan.
Tales of the street and tales of home, Moonlight in Mayo and life before “Love Me Do”, with Joe Whelan, Tess Hughes, Pat Dunne, Judith Mok, Margaret Galvin and Kevin Marinan
Michael Hartnett, well-timed acts of kindness, Maeve Binchy’s favourite poem, a pioneering comprehensive school and more, with Denise Blake, Margaret Galvin, Mike Mac Domhnaill, Tim Carey and Gordon Snell
Father Ted as a young man, ploughmens' dreams, autumnal meditations and Shakespeare's Garth Brooks connection, with Fred Tuite, Emer O'Kelly, Fran O'Rourke, Sarah Traynor, Lani O'Hanlon and John F Deane
A live programme from Portumna, Co. Galway from the recent archive, with Grace Wells, Anne Marie Kennedy, Louis de Paor, Noelle Lynskey, Bernard O’Donoghue, the Contempo Quartet and Breda and Claire Keville
Meeting the Queen, Gorbachev in Shannon, Donegal sayings, mixtapes and more, with Joe Hayes, Denise Blake, John MacKenna, Jackie Lynam, Roslyn Dee and Rachael Hegarty
An unexpected exhibit in Derry, a schoolboy faces losing his best friend, seeking refuge from a New York heat wave, an Ecuadorian aeroplane in Galway, adventures in cat sitting and a tribute to Donal Musgrave, with Neil Hegarty, Joe Whelan, Yvonne Judge, Pat Coleman, Quentin Fottrell and Catherine Foley
Bittersweet homecoming journeys, Donnybrook Fair carousing through the ages, an extraordinary encounter with Princess Diana and tributes to Séamus Heaney, with Peter Trant, Paul Doran, Ann-Marie Durkan, Chris McHallem, Kevin McDermott and Rita Ann Higgin
A walk-on part in the Michael Collins film, the craze for Collins in London, a grandfather’s secret, travel discombobulations in JFK and more, with Joyce Hickey, John MacKenna, Margaret Galvin, Lourdes Mackey, Thomas McCarthy and Ruth Deasy
Aga Khan Cup dreams, the celebrated 1792 Belfast Harp Assembly, Irish-Libyan family memories and recalling “the King”, with Amy Redmond, Kevin McDermott, Emily Cullen, Farah Abushwesha, Gerry Moran and Noel King
Mel Gibson in Meath, the legendary Con Houlihan remembered, the art of letter-writing and more, with Christina Hession, John MacKenna, Denis McClean, Rita Ann Higgins, AM Cousins and Oliver Sears
The Irish abroad, door dancing, stargazing and more, with Margaret Hickey, Brian Farrell, Tim Carey, Daniel Mulhall, John Toal and, from the Miscellany archive, Maeve Binchy
A beloved vintage Galway jersey, a life-expanding sea voyage, swimming on the radio and the silence of Valentia Island, with Christina Hession, Joe Kearney, Brendan O’Sullivan, Breda Joyce, Brian Cosgrove and Noel King
Hurling heroes of Kilkenny and Limerick, a fox at midnight, a female freemason, and channelling your inner Kate Bush, with Gerry Moran, Christina Hession, Stephen O’Byrnes, Emer O’Kelly, Catherine Foley and Joe Kearney
Inspirational art of ancient Greece, Paris under the Nazi's, being a Francophile, a life at sea and the small things that give us hope, with Isabel Nolan, Maylis Besserie, Clíona Ní Ríordáin, John Tuomey and Niamh O'Malley
Summer swimsuits, student summers abroad, evocations of New York and Greece and links between Ireland and Brittany, with Mae Leonard, Shane O’Sullivan, Lauren Green, Gary Coyle and Neil Hegarty
Seán MacBride remembered, Eric Ravilious’s distinctive art, a dramatic Sligo jailbreak, and a lifelong love of an uncool pop star, with John Hedigan, Mary O’Donnell, Doreen Finn, Breege Brennan, Joe Kearney and Gerald Dawe
Marking the centenary of Joyce’s epic novel at Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, a vibrant live mix of words and music with Rachael Hegarty, Emer O’Kelly, Joseph O’Connor, Sara Keating, Declan Kiberd, Barry Gleeson, Malachy Robinson, Anita Vedres, Dermot Dunne, Darina Gallagher and Sinéad Murphy
Swifts, swallows and the Skerries triathlon, meeting Paul McCartney, and Ulysses in the jazz age, with Margaret Galvin, Gerry Mullins, Tim Carey, Ann Marie Durkan, Angela Keogh and Colin Murphy
Considerations around The Great Book of Ireland, created by Irish artists, writers and composers between 1989-1991, which in time would echo other great books of the past with Thomas McCarthy, Michelle McAdoo, Dorothy Cross, the late Mathew Sweeney and Michael Coady
Exam anxieties, audience protests, overheard conversations and Maeve Binchy’s writing advice, and fearless Dervla Murphy remembered, with Margaret Ward, Rachael Hegarty, Ian Sherry, Bernard Farrell, John Toal and Pádraig Ó Macháin
Bright visions, wonderful parties and things of the spirit: a special Miscellany marks the Arts Council of Ireland’s 70th anniversary, with John Banville, Shelly Furlong, Diarmaid Ferriter, Iarla Ó Lionard and Marina Carr
Secret languages, silent retreats, Ireland’s last Viceroy and things not to put on pizza, with Niamh Campbell, Jonathan White, Seán Beattie, Olive Travers, Nuala O’Connor and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe
Mary Maher remembered, a snatch at Eurovision fame, glory days in a Dingle pub and meditations on a sense of home, with Séamus Dooley, Tom Clonan, Sharon Hogan, Mary Wall, Joe Ó Muircheartaigh and Mary O’Donnell
Barley sticks and bonbons, teenage anxieties, a mysterious hill, a haybarn and a poem for Strokestown, with Tim Carey, Leo Cullen, Lani O’Hanlon, Martine Madden, Vincent Woods, Mia Döring and Noelle Lynskey
Full-body tattoos, finding poems on the Dart, rainy day picnics, meeting the Hothouse Flowers and more, with Joe Kearney, John MacKenna, Catherine Foley, Jackie Lynam, Denise Blake and John Toal
Pot-bellied pet lambs, unopened Easter eggs, composer Maurice Ravel and a monastic retreat on Caldey Island, with John Toal, Jonathan Duignan, Mae Leonard, Margaret Galvin, John F Deane, Leo Cullen and Noelle Lynskey
Dreamy journeys by bus, a lost 1916 dispatch, and the opera houses of Tirana, Berlin and Odessa, with Michael O’Connor, Frank Shouldice, Lourdes Mackey, Frank Kavanagh, Eva Bourke and John F Deane
A fraught father-son relationship, a lost friend, and Milo O’Shea remembered, with Joe Dowling, Oliver Sears, Margaret Galvin, John MacKenna, AM Cousins, Rosyln Dee and Grace Wilentz
Soap bubbles and speech therapy, a couch collector, a Kurdish boy in Ballyshannon, and Mother’s Day labours of love, with Margaret Galvin, Dermot Bolger, Olive Travers, Denise Blake, Joe Whelan and Rachael Hegarty
The wearing of the green in Ireland and Pakistan, new words for wine and painter Seán Keating remembered, with Gerald Dawe, Rosheen Callender, Mary Dowey, Bernadett Buda and Carla King
Football, feminism and friendship; the island of Montserrat’s Irish links; and “the lads that will never be old,” with Joe Kearney, Yvonne Judge, John Toal, Rosaleen McDonagh, Kathleen Murphy, Conall Hamill and Catherine Foley.
Wild words as Gaeilge from the Dingle peninsula, snowdrops, chocolates and the city of Kyiv through the decades, with Manchán Magan, Peter Trant, Bernadett Buda, Catherine Foley, Grace Wells, Joe Hayes and Vincent Woods
Meeting John Wayne, a wanderer in Paris, the tenements of Edinburgh and more, with Paddy Murray, Maïa Dunphy, Margaret Galvin, Grace Wilentz, Bert Wright, Kathleen Murphy and Michael O’Loughlin
Comedy on Zoom, places that feel like home, and writer Leland Bardwell remembered, with Conor Horgan, Jody Clarke, Pauline Shanahan, Brian Leyden, Joe Kearney, Barbara Scully and Vincent Woods
Mountain light, lockdown love, a prayer to St Valentine and more, with John MacKenna, Rosaleen McDonagh, Kathleen Murphy, Joe Whelan, Margaret Galvin, Rachael Hegarty and Denise Blake
Ulysses at 100: birdwatching, birthdays and Joyce in Trieste Birdwatching on Sandymount Strand, the trailblazing Wyse Powers and Joyce’s obsession with his own birthday, with Fionn Ó Marcaigh, Gerry Moloney, Cora Crampton, Tim Carey, Nuala O’Connor and Kevin Mc Dermott
Joyce’s wartime refuge and his favourite song, Bloody Sunday remembered, and the day Otto Frank came to visit, with Lorna Siggins, Máirín O’Malley, Seán Beattie, Fran O’Rourke, Judith Mok and Colette Bryce
A late blooming hurling career, the heart-searing songs of Robbie Burns – and “little cows” fudge in the Warsaw Ghetto, with Oliver Sears, Margaret Galvin, Tim Carey, Bert Wright, and Grace Wilentz
The silence of the salt desert, the Mullers of Kilmore Quay, the wine of the Rubiayat and the genius of Jack B Yeats – A M Cousins, Dermot Bolger, Mary O'Donnell, Lani O'Hanlon and Niall McArdle
Playwright Brian Friel remembered: marking the current production of Faith Healer at the Abbey Theatre and the recent RTÉ television documentary, Brian Friel: Shy Man, Showman, we rebroadcast our Miscellany programme to the playwright. With Joe Dowling, Emma O'Doherty, Denis Conway, Nuala Hayes, Vincent Woods and David Grant
Remembering the big snow of 1982... teaching your mother to waltz... and celebrating Boss Croker, Peg Woffington, and other real life figures in Joyce’s Ulysses with Maeve Edwards, Daniel Mulhall, Lani O'Hanlon, Bernard Farrell, Cathy Sweeney and Kevin McDermott
More from our annual live show at the National Concert Hall (mix of new and archive material) with special guests Olivia O’Leary, Manchán Magan, AM Cousins, Thomas McCarthy, Eavan Boland, Paul Howard, Lisa Lambe, Caoimhe Ní Fhlaharta, Séamus Ó Flaharta, the Voice Squad, Geraldine Doherty, and Cormac Kenevey and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
A Christmas show from the National Concert Hall with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and special guests Lisa Lambe, Cormac Kenevey, Conor Linehan, Caoimhe Ní Fhlatharta, Séamus Ó Flatharta, Lisa McInerney, Emer O’Kelly, John Toal, Denise Blake and Joe Kearney
Christmas homecomings, winter light, a turkey pluckers’ concert and sweet singing in the choir with Conor Horgan, Margaret Galvin, Rachael Hegarty, Niall McArdle, Kevin McDermott and John F Deane
Diaspora yearnings, an alternative winter solstice, an audience with Samus Ennis and Christmas with the Count, with Jim Galvin, Christina Park, Tom McGurk, James Harpur, Lourdes Mackey and Mary Maher
Celebrating travel writer Dervla Murphy’s independent mind and adventurous spirit, from Lismore to Delhi, Ramallah to Kabul: affectionate tributes from Lelia Doolan, Clare O’Grady Walshe, Patrick Cockburn, Jo Murphy-Lawless, Kate Thompson and Raja Shehadeh
A Cavan copper king, a New York fashion queen, and Irish American connections from Washington to Montana… a Thanksgiving-infused Sunday Miscellany, with Brian O’Donovan, Mary Coleman, Dan Mulhall, Grace Wilentz, Deirdre McQuillan and Denise Blake
Affectionate tributes to the late Brendan Kennelly, midnight moonlighters, wild geese and more, with Brendan Kennelly, Tom Clonan, Breda Joyce, Barbara Scully, Gerald Dawe and Paddy Moran
Oscar Wilde in November, appreciating Dublin's Custom House, and a Leonard Cohen requiem, with Cathy Sweeney, Tim Carey, Louise Kennedy, Brian Farrell, John MacKenna and Catherine Foley
Revisiting Brideshead revisited, running your first marathon, and the Hellfire Club and the “wrong sort of tourist”, with Joe Kearney, Karen J McDonnell, Tom Ryan, Denise Blake, Maura Gilligan and Kevin McDermott
Marking the 70th Wexford Festival Opera: stories, music and song from Wexford, with Margaret Galvin, Joe Brennan, Tom Mooney, Jackie Morrissey, AM Cousins and Sinéad O’Reilly
Beloved pets, a visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and remembering Tony McMahon, with Kevin McDermott, Ann Marie Durkan, Lani O’Hanlon, Grace Wilentz, Michael O’Connor, Declan Collinge and JM Dolan
Fiddlers, bluesmen, small potatoes and big dreams: highlights from Miscellany Live at the Donegal Bay and Bluestacks Festival in recent years, with Martin McGinley, Little John Nee, Denise Blake, Dave McHugh and Anthony Glavin
Walter Scott in Ireland, the golden age of the horse in Dublin, and remembering Seán Ó Riada, with Dan Mulhall, Barbara Scully, Catherine Foley, Ann Marie Durkan, Joe Kearney and Declan Collinge
Farewell to Angela Merkel, kindness and camaraderie on the buses, and a poem for Evie Hone, with Michele Kelly, John F Deane, Frank Kavanagh, Grace Wilentz, Catherine Foley, Olive Travers and John MacKenna
30 years of the Commitments, the first Alzheimer’s patient, and the show goes on at the Olympia. With Emer O’Kelly, Kevin McDermott, Jackie Lynam, William Wall and Rachael Hegarty
Nuala O’Faolain on a bicycle in Brooklyn... the story of how income tax was invented... and making friends with your own first name, with
St Anthony's special powers, Mayo and Tyrone in the heart and soul, and the Mayor of the World Trade Centre... With Helen O'Rahilly, Eoin Pól Ó Rúis, Aida Lennon, John MacKenna and Kate Kerrigan
Zoom calls and beauty contests, reading Hemingway, and the Italian "city of a thousand sails"
Limerick hurlers’ magical patterns, why Cork wear red, and meeting Christy Ring – an all-Ireland hurling final special.
Celebrating architecture and landscape, story and song, and the hidden histories contained in our country's archives...?a special Sunday Miscellany programme to mark National Heritage Week.
Stone-carving, painting, woodturning... and a little Kilkenny hurling. Marking 50 years of Irish craft, a selection from the Sunday Miscellany archive with a live show recorded in 2011 at the WatergateTheatre as part of Kilkenny Arts Festival
A celebration of Yeats and Sligo. This special programme, first broadcast in 2015, was recorded at Drumcliffe Church as part of the Tread Softly festival. It was produced by Aoife Nic Cormaic.
Sweltering summer days, Saturday night fever and a pilgrimage up the Reek, with Bernard Dunleavy, Mary Wall, Gerald Dawe, Mary O'Donnell, Lani O'Hanlon and James Harpur
Youthful romance and rejection, summer at Duckett's Grove, Carlow, a Monaghan man’s link to Apollo 11, and unasked for advice from Maeve Binchy; with John MacKenna, Angela Keogh, Joe Kearney, Daniel Reardon and AM Cousins @DeniseMcGBlake
Flying over France on a starry night, Hippolyte Jammet's Parisian hotel and other Franco-Irish connections, with Frank Keegan, Anne Marie Sheridan, John Hedigan, Darius Whelan and Grace Neville
Emigrant tales, the voice of the Yankees and the perennial pull of home… with Jonathan White, Denise Blake, Nollaig Rowan, Tim Carey and Tom Ryan
Literary feuds, a history of the Martello towers, and the origins of the first Bloomsday with Vincent Altman O’Connor, Tim Carey, Jane Clarke, Jimmy Murphy, Éabha Jones and, from the Sunday Miscellany archives, The First Bloomsday by Anthony Cronin – first broadcast 50 years ago this year
A fight with an octopus… an adventure with a marmalade cat… and Reading in the Dark: remembering the late Derry writer, Séamus Deane with William Wall, Colette Bryce, Susan Weir, Justin Kilcullen, Tim Carey and Thomas McCarthy
Lazy Sunday afternoons, sun-dappled evenings back at hurling training, walking the Dodder, ageing well in an old house and Bob Dylan at 80 with Michael Foley, Conall Hamill, Jerusha McCormack, Kevin McDermott and Kate Carty
Border crossings and earthquakes, the trials and tribulations of long term renting and an early brush with the concept of fake news… with Sian Quill, Oliver Sears, John Kelly, John Toal and Clare O'Reilly
An emergency pet passport … close encounters with the art police… the remarkable life of Father Joseph Mallin, son of a 1916 leader and more, with Tom Clonan, Clodagh O'Donoghue, Chris McHallem, Nell Regan, J M Dolan and Vincent Woods
A life changing phone call, a hug-fest, watching the Chernobyl disaster unfold from the Irish Embassy in Moscow and more........ with Peter Trant, Joe Hayes, Angela Keogh, Catherine Foley, Gerry Moran and Gerry Dawe
The agony and ecstasy of being a fan, from Arsenal to Bay City Rollers; a dinner fit for Shakespeare; and a poetry workshop with the late, much-missed Eavan Boland. With writers Frank Shouldice, Oliver Sears, Denise Blake, Margaret Hickey and Frank Kavanagh
The end of the Sarajevo lockdown, the 80th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, and the enduring power of music and song, with Mark Brennock, Olivia O’Leary, Gerald Dawe, John Toal and Lucy Caldwell
Yuri Gagarin's extraordinary achievement... olfactory adventures in inter-railing... James Joyce’s own favourite, feathery Barnacle goose.... and birdwatching with Gerrit Van Gelderen: - with writers Michael O'Loughlin, Nuala O'Connor, Rory Gleeson, Denise Blake, Grace Wells and Brian Farrell
A baseball legend’s moment of history, a remarkable story from the War of Independence, a Traveller woman’s crowning glory, lunch with John McGahern, Tony O'Malley's Good Friday paintings, with Joseph Kearney, Clodagh O'Donoghue, AM Cousins, Tim Carey, Rosaleen McDonagh, Kathleen Lawrence and John MacKenna
Stories and storytelling from the Aran Islands to Istanbul… retracing the steps of O’Sullvan’s march… and the cookery book that united Italy with John MacKenna, Roslyn Dee, Jody Clarke, William Wall, Denise Blake and Alannah Robins
Set dancing, sweet things and an outrageous showman… seeking out a mother’s true identity… and a Hungarian visitor’s Irish fine dining experience: fish and chips on the Bray seafront. With Brian Daly, Joe Kearney, Catherine Foley, Bernadett Buda, Lemn Sissay and Rachael Hegarty
Horsewhips and hatpins, ill-fated statues, Gary Halpin's random act of kindness and Mary Wollstonecraft's pioneering feminism... with Conall Hamill, Lourdes Mackey, Michael O'Loughlin, Mae Leonard, John Toal and Catherine Foley
Highlights from past Sunday Miscellany Live in Ennis shows as part of Ennis Book Club Festival in Glór, Ennis. Rescue donkeys, interrailing incidents, the newspaper preferences of the people of Miltown Malbay and a fine mix of music and song with Maurice Crowe, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Noel Harrington, John Hurley and Dee Collins.
Curlews and sanderlings... bath time, dirty boulevards and old Beatles haunts... and the great friendship of Michael Davitt, Land League founder, and artist Sarah Purser with John MacKenna, Fionn Ó Marcaigh, Carla King, Jonathan White, Paula Shields and Gerald Smyth
Angels and sponge cakes … high notes and high ambition... and the golden talent of Patrick Scott with Conall Hamill, Jody Clarke, Lani O'Hanlon, Emer O'Kelly, John MacKenna and Vincent Woods
Neapolitan delights. pyrotechnics in Portobello... turf wars . evolving burial rituals... and remembering designer Sybil Connolly, in her centenary year with Henrietta McKervey, William Wall, Deirdre McQuillan, Donal Ryan, John Horgan and Olive Travers
Belfield Days: a special programme marking 50 years of University College Dublin’s Belfield Campus, with writers Gerry Stembridge, Ellen Rowley, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Paul Rouse, Eilis O’Brien and Daisy Onubogu
Jack B Yeats’s canal bank walks, a marathon after-dinner speech, a terrible wartime event and more… With Dermot Bolger, Oliver Sears, Mary Dowey, Shaymus Kennedy and Roslyn Dee
A bad-mannered saint, Belgian beer, Cajun Chicken, and bad manners at dinner... Plus we rebroadcast Lemn Sissay's powerful poem Fallen, honouring his birth mother, recorded at last year's Ennis Book Club Festival. With Emer O'Kelly, Tim Carey, John Toal, Lani O'Hanlon and Lemn Sissay
Miracles and cures and healing wells... the problem of perpetual motion... what does vintage really mean? and the story of an Irish fashion trailblazer, Carmel Snow. With Conall Hamill, Deirdre McQuillan, Brian Leyden, AM Cousins, Denise Blake and Dónal Ryan.
New Year meditations... snow longings... The Lass of Aughrim... and a winter bonfire... with John O'Donnell, Lani O'Hanlon, Mary O'Donnell, Tim Carey, Michael O'Connor and John F Deane
Birthdays at Christmas time; tumultuous happenings of a century ago; and the things that got us through the year that was; with Colin Murphy, Lourdes Mackey, Nollaig Rowan, Aoife Barry, Síofra O'Donovan and Mary O'Donnell
An owl in a Christmas Tree, an unforgettable letter to Santa, Christmas catering with explosives, and more: a rich and delightful Christmas Miscellany with writers Paul Howard, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Tom McGurk, Dónal Ryan, Vincent Woods, Danielle McLaughlin, Jonathan White and Rachael Hegarty
Highlights from Sunday Miscellany Live at Christmas: past programmes recorded in the National Concert Hall with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in recent years, with writers Paul Howard; Michael Harding; Mae Leonard and John F Deane
It's just over five years since we lost renowned playwright Brian Friel and 40 years since Field Day's seminal production of Translations at the Guild Hall in Derry. On this programme, a special Friel-infused programme, with memories and tributes from Joe Dowling, Nuala Hayes, Denis Conway. Emma O'Doherty, David Grant and Vincent Woods.
In this programme: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s briefest of visits to their Clew Bay Island... Remembering Liam Clancy’s genius... swapping singing for the adrenalin rush of outdoor sea swimming... and Hungary and the Soviet Union’s famous showdown at the 1956 Olympics... with Aidan Hynes, Nollaig Rowan, John MacKenna, Mary Wall and Bernadett Buda
On this week's programme, the bicycle as GAA freedom machine -- and in the writings of celebrated travel writer Dervla Murphy, who celebrates her 89th birthday this weekend. Also, Vaclav Havel's liking for toast and Patrick Kavanagh's Drumcondra haunts with Dermot Bolger, Barbara Scully, Frank Kavanagh, Hannah Kiely, Colin Regan and Vincent Woods
Bloody Sunday remembered, a special programme on the day of bloodshed that was 21 November, 1920 in Dublin, supported by the GAA Museum at Croke Park, with Chris Shouldice, Michael Foley, Anthony Ryan, Anne Dolan, Paul Rouse and Louise Hogan
On this programme: Ghosts and graveyards... boozy bohemia... and a monkey in a television studio -- what could go wrong? -- all part of the mix on this week's Miscellany. With writers Jonathan White, Madeleine Keane, Lourdes Mackey, Kevin Mc Dermott and Mícheál Nelson
On this programme: Conquering a stammer; Saluting Angela Lansbury at 95; Running away from home -- and reconsidering; Wexford's Halloween customs involving cabbage -- and How the world responded to the death of Terence MacSwiney... with Chris McHallem, Mary Wall, Dermot Bolger, AM Cousins, Lourdes Mackey, and Vincent Woods
In this programme: Home thoughts from abroad… a friendship forged in postwar Sarajevo… John 'Bower' Bradley and Lourdes Celtic Football Club... and Dublin City University at 40 with Frank Shouldice, Donal Hayes, Helen O'Rahilly, Lani O'Hanlon and Kevin McDermott
This week a selection from Sunday Miscellany Live programmes at the Red Line Book Festival, recorded in the Civic Theatre in Tallaght in 2016 and 2017 broadcast to mark this year’s Red Line Book Festival which is taking place entirely online; with scripts by Dermot Bolger, Eileen Casey, Marita Conlon-McKenna, Rosaleen McDonagh and Declan Hughes
A poetry-infused Sunday Miscellany with childhood memories of Robert Frost in New Hampshire from Jerusha McCormack; a mother's delight in the words of Patrick Kavanagh by Jim Sperin; and a tribute to the late Derek Mahon, by Gerald Dawe. Also Nicole Flattery on a telephonic sisterhood and memories of the 1941 Belfast Blitz by Garrett Igoe
This week on Sunday Miscellany, tall tales and different kinds of truth… memories of the writer Frank O’Connor and the untold story of St Finbar; a programme from the archive marking the Cork International Short Story Festival, with writers Mary Leland, Cónal Creedon, William Wall, Madeleine D’Arcy, Joe Sweeney and Liadáin O'Donovan
Highlights from Culture Night shows past, recorded in Dublin Castle and Collins Barracks (Asgard Room) in recent years, with Paul Howard, Sharon Hogan, Deirdre Mulrooney, Conall Hamill, Martin Tourish, Tríona Marshall, Simon Morgan, the Carolan Trio, + Shane Hennessy
Travel longings, travellers’ tales and beloved islands from Lambay to Iona – all part of the mix on today's programme with Mary O'Donnell, Leo Cullen, Denise Blake, A M Cousins and John F Deane
In this programme, exam result anxiety… a delightful friendship forged in Belfield… re-reading Brian Keenan’s memoir of captivity in Beirut, and more, with Norma McMaster, Roslyn Dee, John MacKenna, Kevin McDermott, Frank Kavanagh, and James Harpur. Tune in! RTÉ Radio 1 Culture on RTÉ #LeavingCert2020
Highlights from a live show in Ballyshannon as part of the Donegal Bay and Bluestacks festival last autumn, with Olive Travers, Patrick Hull, Little John Nee, Colin Regan, Denise Blake, Conor and Michael Murray, Tara Connaghan and Ellie Nic Fhiongaile, Hatchlings and Sarah E Cullen
Handbags and glad rags; Sartre’s idea of hell… and a profile of Lady Margaret Huggins, Irish astronomer. With Eleanor Methven, Tim Carey, Chris McHallem, Mary Dowey and A M Cousins
Misdirected phone messages… the “rule of three” -- and what does it mean when a bird flies into your house? with Pauline Shanahan, Brian Leyden, Emer O'Kelly, Lani O'Hanlon and Michael Kelly
In the week Ireland mourns the loss of visionary leader John Hume, we rebroadcast our joyful programme from the Derry Playhouse celebrating the Civil Rights movement. First broadcast in October 2018 it features writers Anne Devlin, Andy Hinds and Eamonn McCann, poetry from Colette Bryce and Susan McKay's beautiful and insightful tribute to Pat Hume
Sunday Miscellany Live at the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire, recorded to celebrate 200 years of the harbour in 2017, with writers Joseph O’Connor, Nuala Ní Domhnaill, Evelyn Conlon, Gerald Dawe and Leo Cullen
"I never thought it was strange that my father went to work clean as a new pin, and returned covered from head to toe in thick black coal dust." This week writers remember the Arigna coal mines 30 years after they closed down, with Brian Leyden, Caroline Wynne, Charlie McGettigan, Yvonne Woods and Vincent Woods
Youthful hopes and dreams... ghost ships of old and modern times.. an all important spare single shilling... and one of Belfast's darkest days. With Brian Farrell, Carol Nicholas, Andrew Doherty, Lani O'Hanlon, Gerald Dawe and Olive Travers
Summer jobs and suspicious minds... basil, Bolivia and Bob Marley... and Abbé Edgeworth, the Longford-born priest who played a heroic role in French history. With John Hedigan, Rachael Hegarty, Anne Delaney, Niall McArdle, Gerald Dawe and Mary O'Donnell
Jonathan White on Bob Sheppard, the voice of Yankee Stadium; Denise Blake's new baby telegram; Sheila Killian on a lost glove and an anti-war march; Joe Ó Muircheartaigh on missing Wimbledon and restaging the 1980 final on a Kerry beach; and Quentin Fottrell on familiar strangers in New York.
Beer and kindness in Bordeaux, Cór Chúil Aodha's hotline to heaven, JFK in Ireland; the family you choose for yourself, and Jean Lurçat's visions. With Noel Harrington, Catherine Foley, Deaglán de Bréadún, Rosaleen McDonagh, and Emer O'Kelly And music from Peadar Ó Riada and Cór Chúil Aodha, Charles Trenet, the Clancy Brothers, and Nina Simone
Fathers, bicycles, and a missing statue... And Italia 90 in the best company. With John Egan, Chris McHallem, Catherine Foley, Paula Murphy, Sheila Maher and Gerald Dawe
Songs, stories and Joyce’s idea of what makes a nation... with Fran O'Rourke, Conall Hamill, Breda Reid, Barry McCrea and Deirdre Mulrooney
On today's programme, Shakespeare, serenity and sitting out Italia 90… With Colin Murphy, Pat Hanratty, Aoife Barry, Leo Moran and Bibi Baskin
Listowel Writers' Week at 50: highlights from live shows at the festival over the years. With Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín, Róisín Whelan, Cyril Kelly, Christine Dwyer Hickey and Seamus Heaney, and music from Elizabeth Cooney, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Redmond O’Toole, Seamus and Eoin Begley, Diane Daly, Boris Hunka and Jacqui Hynes
Remembering the Heysel stadium disaster... coping with a pet cat who dislikes you... and tributes to the late Eavan Boland. With writers Rachael Hegarty, Mary O’Malley, John MacKenna, John O'Donnell, Michael Hamell and Niall McArdle
Confessions of a devoted Johnny Logan fan, A father's war memories; Sifting through the motherlode of keepsakes; Farewell, again, to Bewleys; In grief and lockdown, a chink of light: with Roslyn Dee, Sinéad Ingoldsby, Maggie Armstrong, Enda Wyley and Conor Horgan
Front line defenders and local heroes... a New York friendship under lockdown... and the love story of the late Tiede and Elisabeth Herrema. With writers Frank Shouldice, Helen O'Rahilly, Christopher Fitz-Simon, Quentin Fottrell and Angela Keogh.
This week we re-broadcast a special live programme from University of Limerick with writers Joseph O’Connor, Mary O’Malley, Donal Ryan, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Mae Leonard and William Keohane with live music from among others Blackie O'Connell, Seamus Fogarty, and the Irish World Academy House Band
Cold water swimming, Glen Hansard's other birthday and an Orangeman under the bed... With Brian Farrell, Jackie Lynam, Gerald Dawe, Karen Sorensen, Margaret Hickey, and Larry McCluskey
In this programme: adventures in homeschooling, decluttering opportunities, Daniel O’Connell’s Notre Dame connection, a pandemic reading list and more with contributions from Barry McCrea, Kate Kerrigan, Conall Hamill, Grace Neville and poems from Geraldine Mitchell and Catherine Foley