Oskar Cox-Jensen tells the story of five songs from the past three centuries which have travelled across borders to and from Ireland, Europe and across the world. First broadcast as a Lyric Feature on RTÉ lyric fm on Sunday 7th November 2021. Rebroadcast 26th March 2023. Listen back here: https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/clips/22229694/ Presented by Oskar Cox-Jensen, this […]
Sublimer Wishes
Sublimer Wishes explores the lives and poetry of Irish women from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries whose work, after years of neglect, is being re-discovered. Episode 1: Olivia Elder, Cathleen O’Neill, Madge Herron – first broadcast Sunday 28th November 2021 on RTÉ lyric fm Episode 2: Angela Greene, Dorothea Herbert, Florence Mary Wilson – […]
Green White Enamel
Green White Enamel tells the story of the linguist, medical doctor and poet Ethna MacCarthy, who has, for too long, been relegated to a footnote in the story of Samuel Beckett. First broadcast: Sunday 5th September 2021, 6 pm, RTÉ lyric fm. Re-broadcast: Sunday 29th January 2023, 6pm, RTÉ lyric fm. Listen back on the […]
One Day / Lá dá Raibh
Equal parts radio play, poetry and music, One Day / Lá dá raibh combines words by Irish poet Louis de Paor with music by New York-based composer Dana Lyn. First broadcast in English and Irish on 14 March, 2021 on RTÉ lyric fm and in Irish on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta on 5 April 2021. […]
The Inishlacken Project
First broadcast: Sunday 28 March 2021, 6 pm, in The Lyric Feature, RTÉ lyric fm. Re-broadcast Sunday 12 December 2021. Listen back to the programme on the RTÉ website: https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/the-lyric-feature/programmes/2021/0328/1206666-the-lyric-feature-sunday-28-march-2021/ Listen back to the programme as a Lyric Feature podcast: https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/21931512-the-inishlacken-project-the-lyric-feature/ In 1951 the Belfast artist James MacIntyre spent a summer on the tiny island […]
Despite the fact that Irish is an endangered language, poetry in Irish is experiencing a remarkable resurgence. In No Egos No Divas: New Poets in Irish, on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 28th July at 16:30, Louis de Paor meets young poets defying the odds. He meets Aifric Mac Aodha, co-editor of the bilingual anthology […]
Undersong
The story of the Irish-born poet Lola Ridge. First broadcast as a Lyric Feature on RTÉ lyric fm on Sunday 8th September 2019. Re-broadcast Sunday 29th November 2020. When poet Lola Ridge died in 1941, the New York Times described her as one of the leading poets of America, but, until recent years, she has […]
Home Thoughts
A one-hour programme which is part meditation, part performance, as poet Gerald Dawe and singer Eleanor Shanley explore the idea of ‘home’, with prose, poetry and songs from Belfast, Galway and Dublin. First broadcast as a Lyric Feature on Sunday 28th January 2018 on RTÉ lyric fm. Repeated on Sunday 30th December 2018. What makes a place […]
Ducks Down
Primary School children of today try out games recorded 80 years ago in the Schools’ Folklore Collection in UCD. First broadcast on RTÉjr as 20 short features in Early Birds with Ray Cuddihy, starting on 22 October 2018. BACKGROUND In a revolutionary scheme initiated by the Irish Folklore Commission in 1937, tens of thousands of children […]
What’s for homework, Miss?
In ‘What’s for homework, Miss?’ producer Claire Cunningham brings us the story of a remarkable project from the 1930s to collect folklore from all over Ireland. Created by the children of Ireland 80 years ago, and with the help of the children of today, this programme explores the wealth of stories in the Schools’ Folklore […]