Dublin’s Hidden Histories is the latest series of ‘Trinity Talks’ from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this series of talks and radio programmes, we feature an exploration of sites in Dublin which are the subject of ‘difficult’ histories, from asylums to prisons. The series presents experienced researchers and compelling storytellers in their subject areas for this exploration of ‘history in the shadows’. The stories are accompanied by live performances by An Góilín Traditional singers.
Episode six – Dublin’s connection to slavery, though complex, remains largely absent from its public memory, according to Ciaran O’Neill, School of Histories and Humanities, who in this live recording will reveal Irish merchants’ involvement across various colonial contexts. Dubliners played a more extensive role than often acknowledged, acting as secondary suppliers, traders, planters, and importers within the broader Atlantic economy.
Despite this, there is limited public recognition of Dublin’s economic links to the trade in enslaved people, partly obscured by postcolonial removal of British and imperial landmarks in the city. Ciarán Murray, Near FM will ask Dr. O’Neill about Ireland’s role within the slave economy including sectors such as sugar refining, banking, and linen production, which profited from colonial networks. The global reckoning on monuments and public history, driven by movements like Black Lives Matter, underscores Dublin’s need to confront this hidden aspect of its past.
Dr. Ciaran O’Neill is Ussher Associate Professor in Nineteenth-Century History, at Trinity College Dublin where his work covers the long nineteenth century and diverse themes such as the social and cultural history of Ireland and empire, the history of education and elites, colonial legacies, modern literature, and public history. He is author of Power and Powerlessness in Union Ireland: Life in a Palliative State (Oxford University Press, December 2024) and editor with Finola O’Kane Crimmins of Ireland, Slavery and the Caribbean; Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Studies in Imperialism (Manchester University Press, 2023).
The episode is presented by Ciaran Murray. Produced by Dorothee Meyer Holtkamp. Sound design by Paul Loughran. Recorded by Gay Graham and Gabor Zajzon. Thanks to Mercedes Lopez for the production assistance. Thanks to Aoife King, Christin Hamilton and all the team in Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute.
The series is made with the support of Coimisiún Na Meán’s Sound and Vision scheme, with the Television License fee.
The Trinity Long Room Hub is Trinity’s research institute for the Arts and Humanities. For more visit https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/about/
For more on An Góilín Traditional singers please visit https://goilin.com/

Dublin’s Hidden Histories is the latest series of ‘Trinity Talks’ from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this series of talks and radio programmes, we feature an exploration of sites in Dublin which are the subject of ‘difficult’ histories, from asylums to prisons. The series presents experienced researchers and compelling storytellers in their subject areas for this exploration of ‘history in the shadows’. The stories are accompanied by live performances by An Góilín Traditional singers.
Episode five – The horror of being left with no choice but the poorhouse lingered long in the Irish psyche and in this episode we hear about the reality of death and dying in the poorhouse. To discuss this, we welcome Shelby Zimmerman, a Social Historian of Medicine, Institutions and Death.







The conversation, led by Near FM’s Ciarán Murray, will explore how by the end of the nineteenth century, the workhouse functioned as Dublin’s largest and most accessible medical institution. We will examine death and dying in the South Dublin Union from 1872 to 1920 with an emphasis on the role the workhouse played in Dublin’s medical landscape for the sick and dying poor. Ciarán will ask Shelby about the profile of the deceased and how the workhouse managed and mismanaged the dead. The discussion will also focus on the burial of those who died in the workhouse.







The songs are gratefully provided by Mick Keely from An Góilín Traditional singers. 
Dr Shelby Zimmerman completed her PhD with Trinity’s School of Histories and Humanities in 2024, where her research looked at the medicalisation of death in the Dublin City workhouses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a social historian of medicine, institutes and death, Dr Zimmerman also was the programme coordinator for the Medical and Health Humanities Initiative at TCD.
The episode is presented by Ciaran Murray. Produced by Dorothee Meyer Holtkamp. Sound design by Paul Loughran. Recorded by Gay Graham and Gabor Zajzon. Thanks to Mercedes Lopez for the production assistance. Thanks to Aoife King, Christin Hamilton and all the team in Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute.
The series is made with the support of Coimisiún Na Meán’s Sound and Vision scheme, with the Television License fee.
The Trinity Long Room Hub is Trinity’s research institute for the Arts and Humanities. For more visit https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/about/
For more on An Góilín Traditional singers please visit https://goilin.com/

Dublin’s Hidden Histories is the latest series of ‘Trinity Talks’ from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this series of talks and radio programmes, we feature an exploration of sites in Dublin which are the subject of ‘difficult’ histories, from asylums to prisons. The series presents experienced researchers and compelling storytellers in their subject areas for this exploration of ‘history in the shadows’. The stories are accompanied by live performances by An Góilín Traditional singers.
Episode four – This episode includes references to topics such as self-harm and suicide. Resources for anyone bereaved by suicide or having suicidal thoughts, can be found here on the HSE website: https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/mental-health-services/nosp/help/
We know that the Great Famine resulted in the death of over 1 million people from starvation and disease, but very rarely do we hear about those that died by suicide. Through desperation and despair many were driven to end their own lives. In this live recording, Georgina Laragy, Dublin Cemeteries Trust Assistant Professor in Public History and Cultural Heritage at Trinity College Dublin, will talk about Famine times–the relief schemes, emigration, and cases that had nothing at all to do with the Famine, demonstrating that for those not directly affected by the failure of the potato crop, life went on, as did deaths other than by starvation and famine fever.
Through a discussion of two cases of suicide which took place in the Dublin region at the time of the Famine, Georgina will demonstrate the impact of the Famine on wider Irish society and assess the trauma that historians speak about generally when we think of the Famine and Irish history.
The songs and poems are gratefully provided by Róisín Gaffney from An Góilín Traditional singers. 
Dr Georgina Laragy is Dublin Cemeteries Trust Assistant Professor in Public History and Cultural Heritage at Trinity College Dublin. As an Irish historian, her work focuses largely on social history, in particular the history of suicide, death and poverty in nineteenth and twentieth century Ireland. As part of her role, Dr Laragy works with the Dublin Cemeteries Trust at Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum developing their public history, education and research activities.
The episode is presented by Ciaran Murray. Produced by Dorothee Meyer Holtkamp. Sound design by Paul Loughran. Recorded by Gay Graham and Gabor Zajzon. Thanks to Mercedes Lopez for the production assistance. Thanks to Aoife King, Christin Hamilton and all the team in Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute.
The series is made with the support of Coimisiún Na Meán’s Sound and Vision scheme, with the Television License fee.
The Trinity Long Room Hub is Trinity’s research institute for the Arts and Humanities. For more visit https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/about/
For more on An Góilín Traditional singers please visit https://goilin.com/

Dublin’s Hidden Histories is the latest series of ‘Trinity Talks’ from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this series of talks and radio programmes, we feature an exploration of sites in Dublin which are the subject of ‘difficult’ histories, from asylums to prisons. The series presents experienced researchers and compelling storytellers in their subject areas for this exploration of ‘history in the shadows’. The stories are accompanied by live performances by An Góilín Traditional singers.
Episode three – The Monto is infamous as Dublin’s 19th Century red light district, especially famed in Joyce’s Ulysses. On the 100th anniversary of its closure, Near FM’s Ciarán Murray is joined by Brian Singleton, Professor in Trinity’s School of Creative Arts, to discuss how and why sites across this area became the inspiration for interactive theatrical performances, and how companies like ANU Productions created performance pieces of Dublin’s inner-city institutions.
Professor Singleton will explore how these performances uncover the hidden histories behind the sites and buildings of Dublin city–sites ranging from the Gloucester Street Laundry on Sean McDermott Street, the last of the Magdalene institutions to be closed in 1996; to the houses 14-17 on Moore Street where the first provisional government meeting took place in the last days of the 1916 Rising. The focus on performance around these sites brings to the fore not a past that glorifies the history of the state, but a past of the people who had lived, suffered, fought, or been incarcerated in those sites–people whose roles in history have been downplayed, hidden, forgotten or erased.
The songs and poems are gratefully provided by Fergus Russell from An Góilín Traditional singers. 
Brian Singleton holds the Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama and Theatre at Trinity College Dublin, and was Academic Director of The Lir – National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College Dublin. He is a former President of the International Federation for Theatre Research and former editor of Theatre Research International (Cambridge University Press). His research interests include orientalism and interculturalism in performance, as well as contemporary Irish and European theatre. His book ANU Productions: The Monto Cycle was published in 2016 and he is also writing a new monograph provisionally titled Theatre and Performance and Neoliberal Ireland.
The episode is presented by Ciaran Murray. Produced by Dorothee Meyer Holtkamp. Sound design by Paul Loughran. Recorded by Gay Graham and Gabor Zajzon. Thanks to Aoife King and all the team in Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute.
The series is made with the support of Coimisiún Na Meán’s Sound and Vision scheme, with the Television License fee.
The Trinity Long Room Hub is Trinity’s research institute for the Arts and Humanities. For more visit https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/about/
For more on An Góilín Traditional singers please visit https://goilin.com/

Dublin’s Hidden Histories is the latest series of ‘Trinity Talks’ from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this series of talks and radio programmes, we feature an exploration of sites in Dublin which are the subject of ‘difficult’ histories, from asylums to prisons. The series presents experienced researchers and compelling storytellers in their subject areas for this exploration of ‘history in the shadows’. The stories are accompanied by live performances by An Góilín Traditional singers.
In episode two, Ciaran Murray interviews Professor Lindsey Earner-Byrne, School of Histories and Humanities, TCD who reflects on the long history of the Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry in Dublin, which operated from the 1830s to 1992, acting as a ‘refuge’, asylum, and effective prison for generations of Irish women.
They discuss the myriad reasons women were sent there and the changing function and perception of the laundry, along with the relationship it had with its neighbours in the south Dublin community. The discussion will also explore the Justice for Magdalene’s Research (IFMR) resource and the plans to demolish the old laundry-asylum and build apartments in its place. The music is gratefully provided by Michael Stein and Wynton Moore from An Góilín Traditional singers. 
The book featured in this interview  is Mark Coen, Katherine O’Donnell and Maeve O’Rourke (eds), A Dublin Magdalene Laundry: Donnybrook and Church-State Power in Ireland (Bloomsbury, 2023). Prof Earner-Byrne is grateful to Dr Mark Coen for providing her with the annals extract relating to Mary Fleming’s story. 
Lindsey Earner-Byrne was appointed as the Bank of Ireland Professor of Contemporary Irish History in the School of Histories and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin, in August 2023. She is also the director of the Trinity Centre for Modern and Contemporary Irish History and a Fellow of TCD since 2024. She has researched and published widely on modern and contemporary Irish history with a particular focus on poverty, welfare, gender, sexuality, health and vulnerable and marginalised groups.
The episode is presented by Ciaran Murray. Produced by Dorothee Meyer Holtkamp. Sound design by Paul Loughran. Recorded by Gay Graham and Gabor Zajzon. Thanks to Mercedes Lopez on production support. Thanks to Aoife King and all the team in Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute.
The series is made with the support of Coimisiún Na Meán’s Sound and Vision scheme, with the Television License fee.
The Trinity Long Room Hub is Trinity’s research institute for the Arts and Humanities. For more visit https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/about/
For more on An Góilín Traditional singers please visit https://goilin.com/

Dublin’s Hidden Histories is the latest series of ‘Trinity Talks’ from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this series of talks and radio programmes, we feature an exploration of sites in Dublin which are the subject of ‘difficult’ histories, from asylums to prisons. The series presents experienced researchers and compelling storytellers in their subject areas for this exploration of ‘history in the shadows’. The stories are accompanied by live performances by An Góilín Traditional singers.
In episode one, Ciaran Murray interviews Dr. Susan Byrne from the School of Histories and Humanities in TCD, about Mountjoy Prison and female prisoners of the Free State. The singer is Anne Buckley from An Goilin Traditional Singers.
The episode is presented by Ciaran Murray. Produced by Dorothee Meyer Holtkamp. Sound design by Paul Loughran. Recorded by Gay Graham and Gabor Zajzon. Thanks to Aoife King and all the team in Trinity Long Room Hub.
The series is made with the support of Coimisiún Na Meán’s Sound and Vision scheme, with the Television License fee. The Trinity Long Room Hub is Trinity’s research institute for the Arts and Humanities. For more visit https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/about/ For more on An Góilín Traditional singers please visit https://goilin.com/

The Road Less Travelled is a new series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this episode we welcome Mark McMahon, whose educational journey took him from his local community school in Blanchardstown to the Pathways to Law Programme organised by Trinity’s Access Programme (TAP), and on to a degree in Law and Business at Trinity College Dublin, and becoming a Barrister. Mark will be in conversation with Sarah Grimson, the Foundation Course Co-Ordinator with the Trinity Access Programme.
About the Series
The Road Less Travelled is a series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM featuring current and past students from Trinity College Dublin who have taken the road less travelled to education. We meet men and women from all walks of life who have overcome social barriers and surpassed prejudice and discrimination—all for the opportunity to study at third level and in Trinity’s Arts and Humanities. In this series, we celebrate different experiences in education, meeting fascinating people with unique life stories.
The Road Less Travelled radio series is produced by Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland through the television licence fee. The Trinity Long Room Hub would like to thank Trinity’s Access Programme (TAP) for their assistance in relation to the series.
 

The Road Less Travelled is a new series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Daryl Hendley Rooney, a PHD student in Trinity’s Department of History. From Crumlin in Dublin, Daryl is the first in his family to attend University. Daryl is in conversation with Professor Jane Ohlmeyer,  Trinity’s Erasmus Smith Professor of Modern History and the former Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub.
About the Series
The Road Less Travelled is a series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM featuring current and past students from Trinity College Dublin who have taken the road less travelled to education. We meet men and women from all walks of life who have overcome social barriers and surpassed prejudice and discrimination—all for the opportunity to study at third level and in Trinity’s Arts and Humanities. In this series, we celebrate different experiences in education, meeting fascinating people with unique life stories.
The Road Less Travelled radio series is produced by Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland through the television licence fee. The Trinity Long Room Hub would like to thank Trinity’s Access Programme (TAP) for their assistance in relation to the series.

The Road Less Travelled is a new series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Patricia Stapleton who was the first student through Trinity’s Access Programme to achieve a PhD. Patricia will be in conversation with Senator Lynn Ruane, who herself returned to full-time education as a mature student through Trinity’s Access Programme graduating from Trinity College Dublin with an honours degree in Political Science, Philosophy, Economics and Sociology in 2016. We’ll also hear from Patricia’s youngest son Liam.
About the Series
The Road Less Travelled is a series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM featuring current and past students from Trinity College Dublin who have taken the road less travelled to education. We meet men and women from all walks of life who have overcome social barriers and surpassed prejudice and discrimination—all for the opportunity to study at third level and in Trinity’s Arts and Humanities. In this series, we celebrate different experiences in education, meeting fascinating people with unique life stories.
The Road Less Travelled radio series is produced by Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland through the television licence fee. The Trinity Long Room Hub would like to thank Trinity’s Access Programme (TAP) for their assistance in relation to the series.

The Road Less Travelled is a new series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM. In this episode, Patricia McCarthy  speaks about her journey as a person with physical and visual impairments navigating a challenging education system in the 1970’s and 80’s to become a research fellow within the School of Education, Trinity College Dublin and a champion of inclusivity and access for third level education,.  Patricia is in conversation with Ciaran O’Neill, Professor in Nineteenth-Century History and Deputy Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub who has served as the Community Liaison Officer for Trinity encouraging inclusive access to the college community from the immediate local areas.
About the Series
The Road Less Travelled is a series from the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Near FM featuring current and past students from Trinity College Dublin who have taken the road less travelled to education. We meet men and women from all walks of life who have overcome social barriers and surpassed prejudice and discrimination—all for the opportunity to study at third level and in Trinity’s Arts and Humanities. In this series, we celebrate different experiences in education, meeting fascinating people with unique life stories.
The Road Less Travelled radio series is produced by Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland through the television licence fee. The Trinity Long Room Hub would like to thank Trinity’s Access Programme (TAP) for their assistance in relation to the series.

The Road Less Travelled is a new series from the Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM. In this episode, Roja Fazaeli is an Assistant Professor in Islamic Civilisations at Trinity College Dublin talks to Karim Al Abbasi about his educational journey which took him from Syria to moving with his family to Ireland and studying in Trinity College. We also hear from Sarah Grimson, Karim’s course coordinator in the Trinity Access Programme (TAP).
About the Series
The Road Less Travelled is a series from the Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM featuring current and past students from Trinity College Dublin who have taken the road less travelled to education. We meet men and women from all walks of life who have overcome social barriers and surpassed prejudice and discrimination—all for the opportunity to study at third level and in Trinity’s Arts and Humanities. In this series, we celebrate different experiences in education, meeting fascinating people with unique life stories.
The Road Less Travelled radio series is produced by Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland through the television licence fee. The Trinity Long Room Hub would like to thank Trinity’s Access Programme (TAP) for their assistance in relation to the series.

The Road Less Travelled is a new series from the Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM. In this episode, Professor Eve Patten, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub sits down with Leah Kenny to talk about her journey to education and how an opportunity with Trinity’s Access Programme led her to an English studies programme and a love of Samuel Beckett. We also hear from Leah’s mum Karen Kenny, her greatest champion.
About the Series
The Road Less Travelled is a series from the Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM featuring current and past students from Trinity College Dublin who have taken the road less travelled to education. We meet men and women from all walks of life who have overcome social barriers and surpassed prejudice and discrimination—all for the opportunity to study at third level and in Trinity’s Arts and Humanities. In this series, we celebrate different experiences in education, meeting fascinating people with unique life stories.
The Road Less Travelled radio series is produced by Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland through the television licence fee. The Trinity Long Room Hub would like to thank Trinity’s Access Programme (TAP) for their assistance in relation to the series.

A panel discussion with Richard Duckworth (TCD), Shauna Caffrey (Analog On), and Lara Albergo (Analog On), as part of the Women’s Stories series, a collaboration between Near FM Community Radio and the Trinity Long Room Hub.
Three of the four Analog On members are women. The stories are their own, and best related in person—yet there are some general observations that hold true in the case of Analog On and, perhaps, in general when one is discussing the topic of women in music technology. The key accessibility factor is education—the opportunity to enter the electronic music world (as a subset of the music industry), is granted by courses that feature music technology components. This has led to a shift back to a more equal gender balance as employers and acts are more likely to hire on the basis of merit. One of our members has carried out research in this area, and it was found that some of the younger women interviewed had never experienced bias in the industry.
The programme includes performance, segments about historical women in electronic music and segments about the instruments used and the concepts behind electronic music, interspersed with contributions from the members of the band.
All episodes in the Women’s Stories series are available here
Made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television licence fee.

An ‘in-conversation’ with Dr. Isabella Jackson, School of Histories and Humanities, and Miss Xun Liu, Trinity Centre for Asian Studies, as part of the Women’s Stories series, a collaboration between Near FM Community Radio and the Trinity Long Room Hub.
This talk looks at women’s lives in 18th century China, based on the Chinese classical novel, The Dream of the Red Chambers. We focus mainly on women’s lives inside the great mansion dating back to 18th century China, including both the aristocratic class and the servants in the household. Through both literature and historical records, the speakers will introduce women’s social role, education, marriage and moral issues. Dr. Isabella Jackson and Miss Xun Liu offer dynamic perspectives on women’s lives in 18th century China to the audience and share their knowledge of history and literature. Extracts from the novel are read by Ms Siyi Du, PhD Candidate in the Department of History, Trinity College Dublin.
All episodes in the Women’s Stories series are available here
Made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television licence fee.

Listener advisory: This programme contains discussions on sexual violence and very strong language. Listener discretion is advised. If you are affected by anything you hear on this programme you can call the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre in confidence on 1800 77 8888, email counselling@rcc.ie or visit drcc.ie
Programme 4 in our Women’s Stories series. Readings and lecture on Virginie Despentes’ books by Louise Kari Méreau (School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies) accompanied by actors Sarah O’Rourke and Lloyd Cooney. Recorded as part of the Women’s Stories series, a collaboration between Near FM and the Trinity Long Room Hub.
Virginie Despentes’s life deeply influenced her writing career, and studying her novels allows the reader to ask and study controversial and delicate issues of society that need to be more closely addressed by women; such as prostitution, homosexuality, assault, and addiction. Comparing extracts from her works Baise Moi and Vernon Subutex, the talk will discuss the theme of violence, and its link with sex and femininity that informs the writer’s cynicism.
Made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television licence fee.

A talk by Professor Ruth Barton, School of Creative Arts,  as part of the Women’s Stories series, a collaboration between Near FM Community Radio and the Trinity Long Room Hub.
When Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) made her Hollywood debut in the 1938 exotic adventure, Algiers, Time magazine reflected the popular response to her on-screen presence, branding the young Viennese emigre a ’smoldering, velvet-voiced, wanton-mouthed femme fatale’. Since her death and even somewhat before that, Hedy Lamarr’s reputation has grown. To quite a large extent, this has been because of her increasing fame as an inventor. During the war she, with American avant-garde composer George Antheil, invented a long-range torpedo missile device that was patented, but never used. Instead, she was encouraged to put her beauty rather than her brains to the service of the American war effort, raising many millions of dollars in war bonds. Her career, meanwhile, fell prey to new postwar expectations of women’s roles and to her own reluctance to do anything other than, in her own words, ‘stand still and look stupid’ on screen.
This talk considers Lamarr’s dilemma and the tensions between beauty and intelligence, which have not gone away. It may have become easier for women in science since Lamarr’s invention was rejected, but prejudice around what constitutes appropriate careers for women lingers on to the detriment of scientific exploration.
Supported by the Broadcasting authority of Ireland with the Television licence fee.

How We Imagine Her: Giulia Farnese from Source to Screen
A panel discussion as part of the Women’s Stories series, a collaboration between Near FM Community Radio and the Trinity Long Room Hub.
“How We Imagine Her” is facilitated by Dr Ruth Barton (TCD Film Studies) places actress Lotte Verbeek in conversation with academic specialist Dr Catherine Lawless, Assistant Professor, The Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies, and Daria Drazkowiak, doctoral candidate in the Department of History, TCD.  They discuss the process of adapting Giulia Farnese, the famous mistress of Pope Alexander VI, from primary source to screen. This discussion invites the audience to consider how both historians and entertainment professionals strive to find the human element in storytelling. The panel also includes audio clips from the series The Borgias as well a Q&A session with a live audience.
About the Series
Women’s Stories is a new radio series collaboration between Near FM and Trinity Long Room Hub. It featuring professors and researchers from Trinity’s Arts and Humanities talking about women throughout the centuries and challenging dominant narratives about women today.
From history to film, and music, the series features talks and discussions recorded in front of a live audience for broadcast and podcast to Near FM listeners.
Women’s Stories is supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and explores topics as diverse as the story of Giulia Farnese, an Italian born mistress to Pope Alexander VI, to widows in early 17th century Ireland and right through to present day stories from the front line of Irish women in music technology.
Made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television licence fee.

‘Late the wife of …’: Widows and the 1641 Depositions
A talk by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, School of Histories and Humanities, as part of the Women’s Stories series, a collaboration between Near FM and the Trinity Long Room Hub.
Please note that this podcast will contain strong language referring to violence which some people may find disturbing.
This programme explores the stories of widows, especially those from the ‘middling sorts’, living in early seventeenth-century Ireland and looks at the roles they played – as participants, as survivors and as victims – in the wars of the 1640s.
Deposition quotes read by Mary McNamara
About the Series
Women’s Stories is a new radio series collaboration between Near FM and Trinity Long Room Hub. It featuring professors and researchers from Trinity’s Arts and Humanities talking about women throughout the centuries and challenging dominant narratives about women today.
From history to film, and music, the series features talks and discussions recorded in front of a live audience for broadcast and podcast to Near FM listeners.
Women’s Stories is supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and explores topics as diverse as the story of Giulia Farnese, an Italian born mistress to Pope Alexander VI, to widows in early 17th century Ireland and right through to present day stories from the front line of Irish women in music technology.