The Truth about Munster and Meath: Uncovering Ireland’s Lost Directions
Release Date: 06/06/2025
Courtaparteen: Ireland’s Lost Village Hidden in a Forest
Undercover Irish
▶️ Watch the full three-part video series on YouTube: 👉 https://youtu.be/0KHrtftADsU?si=XkZpK2x22PEZC0dA 👉 https://youtu.be/Eo55vfTsj0o?si=I_PQd3YT79uo7g3B 👉 https://youtu.be/jeRabeYsImA?si=Uq-mao7MQUzI6UlZ ☕ Support the podcast on Patreon: 👉 📸 Follow on Instagram for maps, photos & fieldwork: 👉 https://instagram.com/UndercoverIrish Courtaparteen was once a living Irish village. Today, it’s hidden beneath forestry. In this episode of Undercover Irish, I explore the lost village of Courtaparteen — tracing it through historic maps, satellite imagery, and...
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Spancil Hill: An Irish Ballad And The Heartbreak Of Emigration
Undercover Irish
👉 Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/undercoverirish 📸 Follow on Instagram: @undercoverirish “Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by…” That opening line has echoed for more than a century — from kitchens and pubs to ships, emigrant halls, and even the stands of Celtic Park. In this episode of Undercover Irish, we explore Spancil Hill, one of the most powerful emigrant ballads in the Irish tradition — not just as a song, but as a piece of living history. Ballads like this are history from the ground up. They preserve emotion, memory, and ordinary lives that...
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Roy Keane And Bishop Brennan; Guerrilla Gaeilge 2
Undercover Irish
Roy Keane, Bishop Brennan; Guerilla Gaeilge 2 How Irish Is Alive in the English We Speak Follow & Support Undercover Irish 📸 Instagram Clips, language examples, visuals, and episode updates 👉 instagram.com/undercoverirish ❤️ Patreon Support the podcast, and help keep Undercover Irish independent 👉 patreon.com/undercoverirish What do Roy Keane and Bishop Brennan have in common? More than you might think. In this episode of Undercover Irish, we use two of Ireland’s most recognisable voices — one real, one fictional — to explore how the Irish language is undercover inside...
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Hunger, Gorta, Troscadh: Cultural Memory, Political Resistance, and Brehon Law
Undercover Irish
Episode Notes Hunger, Gorta, Troscadh: Cultural Memory, Political Resistance, and Brehon Law Hunger in Irish history is rarely just about food. In this episode, we explore three words — hunger, gorta, and troscadh — and what they reveal about power, memory, and justice in Ireland. From the cultural weight of An Gorta Mór, to fasting as a recognised act within early Irish law, to hunger as a form of political resistance, this episode traces how deprivation could be imposed — and how it could also be chosen. Drawing on language, law, and tradition, this episode asks how hunger moved from...
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An Irish Christmas: Brush the Floor and Clean the Hearth
Undercover Irish
🎥 Watch the Song from this Episode Huge GRMMA to Grace! 🔗 https://youtu.be/BJyO6xRL5KA?si=8dUh09AjWVaT78Ow Christmas in Ireland — Am na Nollag — is not a single tradition. It is a layering of customs: Christian belief laid gently over practices far older than Christianity itself. In this episode of Undercover Irish, we explore how Irish Christmas traditions preserve ideas of survival, fire, hunger, and renewal — stretching back to the solstice and the rebirth of the sun. Using material from the Dúchas Schools’ Collection, traditional song, and Irish folklore, this episode traces...
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Guerilla Gaeilge: The Irish Hidden in Our English (Hiberno-English, Irish Language Survival, and Hidden Gaeilge Grammar)
Undercover Irish
Guerilla Gaeilge: The Irish Hidden in Our English Undercover Irish Podcast In this episode of Undercover Irish, we explore how Hiberno-English contains hidden grammar, structures, and ways of thinking that come directly from Gaeilge. From phrases like “I do be” and “I’m after doing” to “ye / yiz / youse” and the Irish habit of answering questions without yes or no, this episode argues that Irish is hiding in plain sight inside English. This is not just a linguistic curiosity. It’s a story of survival, resistance, mockery, and internalised shame, stretching from colonial schools...
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An Irish Guerrilla Commander and "The Murder Machine"
Undercover Irish
An Irish Guerrilla Commander and "The Murder Machine" What This Episode Covers ...
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The Irish Way to Understand Time
Undercover Irish
In this episode, we dive into Ireland’s Hidden Curriculum through something deceptively ordinary: the names of the months. By shifting your meon — your mindset — we explore how time itself becomes a doorway to the deeper Irish worldview. We look at: Why the English month names are Roman imports that don’t match Irish reality ...
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Erased Leader: Margaret Buckley and Ireland’s Counter-Revolution
Undercover Irish
Erased Leader: Margaret Buckley and Ireland’s Counter-Revolution 🎨 Exclusive Artwork for Patrons I’ve created original artwork based on Margaret Buckley’s historic portrait — designed to repopularise her image and bring her back into Ireland’s visual memory. Patrons can download, print, share, post, and use the artwork freely. 👉 Download the Margaret Buckley Artwork: 👉 Download the PDF Pack: Episode Summary In this episode of Undercover Irish, we uncover the story of Margaret Buckley — a woman erased from Ireland’s historical record, despite being President of Sinn...
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How the Irish Language Finds Connection in the Dark: Samhain and Uaigneas
Undercover Irish
🎧 How the Irish Language Finds Connection in the Dark: Samhain and Uaigneas When the Irish speak of loneliness, they don’t just name a feeling — they map it. This episode explores uaigneas, Samhain, and how the Irish language finds connection even in the dark. Show Notes As the fires of Samhain fade and the year exhales, the world feels still — that quiet pause between life and death, light and dark. In Irish, this season is Mí na Samhna, a time to honour the dead, light candles, and remember what connects us. But it’s also the season of uaigneas — a word that means far more than...
info_outline🎙️ The Truth about Munster and Meath: Uncovering Ireland’s Lost Directions
What do a New Zealand haka in Limerick and the ancient kingdoms of Ireland have in common?
More than you might think.
In this episode of Undercover Irish, we begin with a defining moment in Irish sporting history: the All Blacks performing the haka at Thomond Park in 2008. But have you ever stopped to ask—what does "Thomond" actually mean? And what ancient map of Ireland lies buried beneath the one we know today?
We trace a path back through time, cutting through the fog of colonial renaming to reveal the true, original Irish place names and the deeper meanings they held. From Munster to Meath, and through the historic sub-kingdoms of Thomond, Desmond, Ormond, and Westmeath, we explore a landscape where names were more than just labels—they were directional signposts, power structures, and cultural touchstones.
In this episode, we uncover:
- 📜 The forgotten Irish meanings of Munster, Thomond, Desmond, Ormond, Meath, and Westmeath
- 🗺️ How these names reflected direction and geography within the Irish worldview
- 🧠 Why knowing these meanings reshapes our understanding of Irish identity, history, and land
- 🔥 How colonisation didn’t just rename places—it redefined reality
- 🌀 What reclaiming these names can do for cultural consciousness and linguistic revival
Whether you're a Gaeilgeoir, a history buff, or just curious about where you really come from, this episode invites you to see Ireland with new eyes and older wisdom.
🔑 Keywords:
Irish place names, Thomond meaning, Munster Irish history, Meath etymology, Irish geography, decolonising Ireland, Desmond Ormond Thomond, Westmeath Irish name, ancient Irish provinces, Gaeilge, lost Irish directions
🎧 Listen now to rediscover the Ireland hidden in plain sight.