Vanishing Ireland

Turtle Bunbury discusses life and its learnings with Ireland's elders. These are voices of courage, kindness and humour that will resound for future generations. The Vanishing Ireland project was co-founded by Turtle and photographer James Fennell in 2001. Visit https://turtlebunbury.com for more.

Season 1 Finale 10/01/2021

Season 1 Finale Vanishing Ireland co-founder Turtle Bunbury looks back on how a dream to travel around Ireland on a tractor developed into a best-selling book series, a social media platform for the Irish Diaspora and, thanks to SuperValu, a podcast series bringing the voices of the old world into the 21st century. Music by Liam Mulvaney /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20677568

Michael Johnson 09/24/2021

Michael Johnson An unexpected flood, cattle going into a bank and the indispensable Tailor’s Goose are among the recollections of the charming, pipe-smoking 75 year old Michael Johnson, a fifth generation tailor based in Tullow, County Carlow. Season One of the Vanishing Ireland Podcast concludes as Michael recounts some of the remarkable scenes he has witnessed from his window seat in the tailor’s shop, as well and the contentment of working alongside his son. Music by Liam Mulvaney /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20579834

Freda Jones 09/17/2021

Freda Jones "Journeying to her West Cork school on the back of her father’s milk cart is among the earliest memories of 91-year-old Freda Jones, a much admired organist living near Baltinglass, County Wicklow. She recalls her childhood days alongside the Schull to Skibbereen railway line before she left for boarding school at the Collegiate School, Celbridge. She also tells how she was obliged to give up her teaching career in Baltinglass, County Wicklow, following her marriage in 1957." /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20508383

Freda Jones 09/17/2021

Con ‘Durrihy’ O’Sullivan 09/10/2021

Con ‘Durrihy’ O’Sullivan Con ‘Durrihy’ O’Sullivan, who was a teacher in Castletownbere for over four decades, applies his superb 80-year-old memory to recalling the geography, the poetry, and the banter of the Beara peninsula, as well as dancing at the Silver Slipper and how he had to change trains 12 times to get from Kenmare to his school in County Laois. /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20433920

Helen Fegan-Joyce 09/03/2021

Helen Fegan-Joyce From her family’s ancestral sword-making business in Sligo to her own experiences of the damp and hunger of wartime Dublin, 94-year-old Helen Fegan-Joyce recalls the past with exceptional eloquence. As well as stories of her missionary aunt (who tracked down the Bounty crew’s descendants on the Pitcairn Islands) and her nationalist uncle Bertie (a close friend of Arthur Griffiths). /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20359469

Oliver Reed 08/27/2021

Oliver Reed Priests on horseback, women in snugs and serving as a waiter to the King of Siam in Switzerland are some of the recollections of this week’s Vanishing Ireland podcast interviewee Oliver Reed. Born in Athlone, County Westmeath, the 81-year-old recounts his school days and his work as a waiter, bank porter, farmer and more. Music by Liam Mulvaney /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20280989

Philip Lecane 08/20/2021

Philip Lecane In the latest episode, 97-year old Philip Lecane, of Cork City, says he stopped the ageing clock when he was 21. He is certainly one of the most energetic, inquisitive and youthful nonagenarians on the planet. He talks of how his forebears arrived in Cork from Jersey and took command of the city's fire brigade. He ran the family’s newsagent’s shop, established in a time when newspapers were the only real source of public news. With an impeccable memory for detail, Philip recalls how the forward-thinking Sister Benedict taught him to build castles with beach sand in the classroom, and he discusses the brilliantly named Sister Santy Claus, and the priest who counselled mourning widows to wear ‘rejoicing' red instead of sombre black. Music by Liam Mulvaney /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20206181

Miriam Moore 08/13/2021

Miriam Moore Bareback riding into the Irish Sea, tasting ice cream for the family dairy and watching cattle being driven through the streets of Dublin are among the golden memories of this weeks interview with Miriam Moore of County Monaghan. As well as her childhood in north Dublin during the 1940s and 1950s, Miriam recounts her experience of working as a nurse in the days when hospital wards were ruled by no-nonsense Matrons. Music by Liam Mulvaney /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20131010

Jack Roche 08/06/2021

Jack Roche This week’s interview features 77 year old Jack Roche, who spent his working career as greengrocer in Dublin’s Liberties on the city’s southside. He recalls the lively days of buying fruit and veg at auction and transporting it back to Meath Street by horse and cart, an age when cabbage was the top-seller and pineapples the stuff of dreams, and when the older generations’ toothpaste of choice was a cocktail of soot and salt. /episode/index/show/vipod/id/20054696

Dessie Hynes 07/30/2021

Dessie Hynes This week, Turtle speaks with 92 year old Dessie Hynes, an independent spirit if there was one. Dessie has enjoyed a fabulous career as an entrepreneur and famously owned O’Donoghues pub in Dublin city during the 1970’s and 80’s. As a boy, Dessie knew people who were alive during the Great Hunger - Turtle speaks to Dessie about his childhood, his remarkable career and whether Guinness soaked prunes are really something to be encouraged /episode/index/show/vipod/id/19968395

George Knight 07/23/2021

George Knight This week’s interview features 76-year-old George Knight about growing up in Clones, County Monaghan, during its last days as a railway boomtown, and how, as a land-locked teenager, he ran off to sea and found himself sailing across the Atlantic, through the Great Lakes of North America and onwards to places like Panama, Casablanca, Beirut and China during the Cultural Revolution. Music by Liam Mulvaney /episode/index/show/vipod/id/19906028

Betty Ashe 07/16/2021

Betty Ashe This week, Turtle speaks with Betty Ashe, an icon of the Dublin Docklands who has spent the past 80 years watching the world around her evolve from the hardship of the Georgian 'Strumpet City' tenements to the global technological hub of the present day. She brings her exceptional energy to the podcast with her memories of 1960s London, the legacy of Padraig Pearse and her vision for the future. /episode/index/show/vipod/id/19794260

Eddie Lenihan 07/09/2021

Eddie Lenihan This week’s interview features 71 year-old folklorist, Eddie Lenihan, who as a young man journeyed around his homeland listening to the voices and tales of men and women, some of whom were born back in the 19thCentury. /episode/index/show/vipod/id/19686941

Rosemary Smith 07/02/2021

Rosemary Smith This week’s interview features 84-year-old sporting legend Rosemary Smith of Sandyford, Co. Dublin, the most successful female racing car driver in Irish history. Rosemary talks about her motoring triumphs and tribulations, from mastering the pot-hole plenty highways of 1950s Ireland to her dramatic adventures from Afghanistan to Monte Carlo. /episode/index/show/vipod/id/19659848

Myles Clarke 06/25/2021

Myles Clarke On this week’s interview, 84-year-old mountain farmer Myles Clarke of Valleymount, County Wicklow, reflects on a time when the Tilley lamp and Horse Power were the essential items of any farm, and how the parish priest saved his life when he was a baby. /episode/index/show/vipod/id/19577789

Mary Stack 06/14/2021

Mary Stack This week Turtle interviews 88 year old Listowel business woman, Mary Stack. /episode/index/show/vipod/id/19477319

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