Tag Archives: podcast

WHEN The Clare Champion called Dermot Sheedy on a Friday morning he was en-route from North Clare to Limerick to ensure the safety of a load of records. “It’s a chaotic morning. We got delivery of the new album in Limerick so I had to drop everything, get in the car and go to Limerick,” he said. “Barry is away in the US, his house is the point of contact for everything Hermitage Green and there’s a pallet after arriving in his driveway in Limerick and I’m on the way. Hopefully it doesn’t rain!” The new album is entitled ‘Connection’ and is being released on September 20. It is the first offering from the band since ‘Hi Generation’ three years ago, and he says it is a change of direction from what has preceded it. “We’re very proud of it. It’s a different sounding album. I wouldn’t necessarily say it would be familiar to our fan’s ears,” he said. “A …

THIS week sees the third series of Ennis man Fergal O’Keeffe’s podcast GAA Minor Moments come to a conclusion, with the final interviewee being GAA president Jarlath Burns. While the podcasts do have a GAA theme, they are also of broader interest with those featured including several people who would not be primarily known for hurling or football. Included are stars of other sports such as Niall Quinn, Mick Galwey and Billy Walsh, and musicians Danny O’Reilly from The Coronas and Bressie, who all played minor for their county before going in different directions. A passionate Clare supporter, Fergal’s interviewees have also included Jamesie O’Connor, Anthony Daly and most recently, Tony Griffin. He clearly does extensive research on his subjects beforehand, something that shines through, while he possesses a wonderful voice for broadcasting. Another big part of what has made the series a success is his willingness to broaden discussion, to give the listener a real sense of the person …

Former Clare hurler and writer, Tony Griffin, is the subject of a new podcast entitled GAA Minor Memories, which has just been released. Reminiscing on his minor days in the podcast, Griffin speaks fondly about his personal highlight at that grade – beating Cork alongside his Clare teammates. The main piece of advice he offers to younger players is to play the long game, to look at playing minor as the start of your journey rather than the end. He emphasises that some of the biggest names across both hurling and football in the present day never made their own minor squads. Making his senior debut for Clare in 2000 and scoring six points from play in this fixture, Tony looks back at how the relationships between teammates have developed over the years. Tony remarks on the evolution of this relationship, from a place of being deliberately tough on newer players, to today where teammates have great camaraderie and support …

BEER, craft brewing, sustainability and food pairings are among the topics of a new podcast series from the Independent Craft Brewers of Ireland (ICBI), supported by Bord Bia. Clare features strongly in the new limited edition podcast series, which is entitled ‘Craft Community, the Local Irish Beer Podcast’. Peter Curtin and Birgitta Hedin Curtin, of The Roadside Tavern, Burren Brewery and The Burren Smokehouse are ideally placed to provide expert insights and tips on food pairings and beer styles. They share their culinary and brewing secrets in Episode Five of the series, alongside the proprietors of The Dungarvan Brewery and The Whitefield Brewery. Hosted by beer sommelier and award-winning drinks writer, Susan Boyle, the podcast series aims to raise awareness of the Irish craft brewing sector and to encourage people in Ireland to find out more about the craft beers being produced locally.  Over six episodes, host Susan will be joined by some of Ireland’s leading craft breweries on themes including sustainability, branding, craft production, and business development. The weekly episodes will …

A CLARE-based podcast is attracting a growing international listenership with inspiring contributions from artists of various disciplines who are living in or originally from this county. ‘The Creative Souls of Clare’ podcast is hosted by Lahinch author and social innovator Ruairí McKiernan. Since its launch just over a year ago, the podcast has been making waves, boasting listeners in over 27 countries, including Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Qatar, Iran, the Philippines, Finland, Portugal, and Mexico. The podcast first came about following the cancellation of the launch for Hitching for Hope, Ruairí’s hugely popular book documenting his travels around Ireland in the wake of the economic crash. The pandemic forced him to cancel all events, including his planned ‘World tour of Clare’. This was to involve events in various County Clare libraries as part of an initiative by Creative Ireland to promote creativity in the community. Ruairí’s response to the enforced cancellations might be considered to be an act of …

THE first-ever episode of the news Cuimhneamh an Chláir podcast will go live online this weekend. The Clare Oral History Podcast, produced by Paula Carroll, will provide deep dives into the oral history archive of Cuimhneamh an Chláir, which now contains over 12 years of memories and stories collected from the county’s oldest citizens. The most surprising, interesting, informative, inspirational and moving of these stories will now be shared in a permanently accessible way, thanks to funding from The Heritage Council. The pandemic has forced many organisations to review how they work and it inspired Cuimhneamh an Chláir to find new ways to share its material. Ordinarily, the main focus would have been put on live community events where the stories recorded in an area were brought back to that area. “The pandemic has made that kind of in-community sharing  impossible in the last 18 months’, said Paula. “Older people have been isolated in their own homes – the very …

“YOU’LL laugh, but I’m actually an introvert,” says Theresa Roseingrave, Barefield ‘newbie’ entrepreneur, mother and the woman behind the podcast series ‘Ladies of Measure’. The eight part series features intimate and candid conversations with some of this country’s strongest, but often less ‘obvious’, female leaders. Explaining her vision for the popular podcast which is now in its second series, she tells us, “Through life, I’ve been fortunate to always work with, and be surrounded by, inspirational women. I wanted to share the stories of women like them and use their journeys to help inspire others. I’m not talking about celebrities – real women walking the path of life just like the rest of us. It’s so easy to look at each other and think “she’s got it all – she’s successful and has her act together”, but it isn’t always so, and it isn’t always a battle easily won. I look at Maria Walsh, MEP, who was so open about …

THOUSANDS of people have learned new skills and developed new interests during this year’s lockdowns. Some of us have learned to bake banana bread or found a new found love of running or gardening, while others have gone a bit further from the beaten track. One of these is Fergal O’Keeffe, an Ennis native now based in Tipperary, who has been making a weekly podcast series called Travel Tales with Fergal. Each episode features a discussion with a different person about their travel experiences, and it has already included several Clare contributors including sports stars Anthony Daly and Keith Wood, as well as journalist Richard Fitzpatrick. Fergal is a son of James O’Keeffe, of the well-known Ennis bar, while his brothers and sister still live in the town. He now lives in Clonmel, where he is also in the licensed trade. He said he got the idea for a travel podcast because he was regularly listening to less positive ones. …