🎧 Episode 6: May McGee, the woman who fought to make contraception legal in Ireland

May McGee was a young, hearing-impaired mother to four children under the age of two living in a caravan when she took the Irish State to the Supreme Court challenging its position on contraception, and won.

Complicated pregnancies including a stroke she suffered in one meant that she was advised to take contraception by her doctor – but the spermicidal jelly she ordered in the post was intercepted by Customs and she and her husband were threatened with prison. She was furious at the Government interfering in her private life.

May, who died late in 2025, made it possible for Irish women to plan their families and to take control of their own fertility.

📲 To listen, find us wherever you get your podcasts.

‘It was one up for the women’: Mary ‘May’ McGee's family to celebrate her life at funeral

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Anna Wintour is only following in the footsteps of Carmel Snow, who edited Harper’s Bazaar for 25 years, with a vision of catering to “well dressed women with well dressed minds”. She brought Dior and Givenchy to a US audience, hung out with Coco Chanel and Salvador Dali, and edited writers like Truman Capote, Maeve Brennan and Frank O’Connor, never losing her interest in championing Irish writing.

📲 To listen, find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Clodagh Finn: Carmel Snow, the Irish Anna Wintour who reshaped US fashion

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🎧 Episode 4: Irish sisters at the heart of European culture – Sarah and Amelia Curran

Sarah Curran was best known to generations as the tragic fiancée of United Irishman Robert Emmet, but in her own right she was a writer, poet and talented musician who made connections across Europe. Her sister Amelia was a notable artist who painted the famous portrait of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and that of her husband, the Romantic poet, and came to the attention of US Vice President Aaron Burr, currently enjoying a resurgence in notoriety thanks to the musical Hamilton. How two sisters from Newmarket in Cork came to associate in such exalted circles is a fascinating story. 

📲 To listen, find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Clodagh Finn: Amelia Curran, the Irish painter who immortalised poet Shelley

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🎧 Episode 3: Oonah Keogh,first female member of the Dublin Stock Exchange

The first female stockbroker in the world made her debut on the trading floor of the Dublin Stock Exchange in 1927, at a time of unprecedented equality and opportunity for Irish women. Her groundbreaking role was entirely forgotten by all but her family until documents in relation to her were uncovered by stock exchange staff during Covid – and now there’s a room named after her in the grand old building.

📲 To listen, find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Clodagh Finn: How Oonah Keogh made history on the Dublin Stock Exchange in 1925

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“A tough type of woman, at the moment growing quite a successful moustache... Not particularly intelligent, and does not seem [to] take her work very seriously”

Despite this blistering account of her capabilities written by a training officer, Maureen O’Sullivan was one of the most successful Allied agents in the French Resistance, lasting seven months in the field compared to an average life expectancy of six weeks.

Her fascinating life story has been uncovered in recent years and she’s been honoured in France.

📲 To listen, find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Clodagh Finn: In the footsteps of Irish secret agent Maureen O’Sullivan

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Calling women pigs has been a trope to bring down women throughout history.

The famous ‘pig-faced woman’ of Dublin was a trailblazer – in the 1700s she set up Ireland’s first public hospital using an inheritance from her twin brother.

Working with artisans, builders, doctors and notable figures in Dublin society, her work provided the first freely available medical treatment to the city’s poor.

The hospital she founded is home to the HSE today.

🎧 To listen, find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Clodagh Finn: If only we had hospital builder Madam Steevens in today's world

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A single act of kindness by a Red Cross nurse to eight year old Manizha Khan would change the course of her life forever – that one action would save her from Taliban death threats twenty years later and lead her on her journey to Ireland.

Growing up in Pakistan as a refugee, studying dentistry in China and returning to Afghanistan as a highly educated woman during the country’s brief years of liberation, Manizha was bound to be a target for the Taliban when the Americans pulled out.

Working as Dean of a University Dental School, as the Taliban rolled into Herat and shots fired outside, she frantically printed student records – so they could prove they had studied, if the chance ever came again to resume education.

"I was in the university because the students were very scared that if university archive burns, then all their records will be destroyed.

“We were printing records for the students and signing and stamping them.

“My husband called, and he said the Taliban have entered the city, stop what you are doing, I'm coming to pick you up, just leave...

“Some people started laughing and they're like, well done now, all you women, you will be going back home. You enjoyed freedom for 20 years. Now again, back home, sit in your home, raise children...These things were coming from the people who are working with us, people we called brothers, people we called colleagues."

Read Manizha Khan’s article in this week’s Irish Examiner

Ireland welcomed me, but new rules mean my path is impossible to follow

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After months of living under suffocating Taliban rule, losing her much-loved job, encountering death threats and oppression, Manizha and her family escaped from Afghanistan thanks with help from an old friend. 

Arriving in Ireland at Christmas, Manizha and her family were welcomed warmly by their new neighbours in Rosscarbery.

"When we came, it was Christmas. And I remember when we reached Irish soil, my daughter said, where is Santa Claus? Because Dublin Airport was so beautiful with decorations.

“We were in Reenascreena at the time and that house was so isolated and all the neighbours came to us. They brought us Christmas gifts. They brought us Christmas cards. They brought us cookies. They didn't let us feel lonely. It wasn't like a show, you know, they didn't come to see ‘that poor refugee family’. It wasn't like that.”

“It was like, look at this refugee family alone here during Christmas.”

Ireland is home now.

“I think I am Irish. If God forbid tomorrow Ireland goes in war, I will be fighting for Ireland. I would die for Ireland. I won't let Ireland go to the same pain that Afghanistan went through.”

Read Manizha Khan’s article in this week’s Irish Examiner

Ireland welcomed me, but new rules mean my path is impossible to follow

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Massive delays in parcel delivery, one operator gone out of business just weeks before Christmas and a growing sense that some stockings may be filled with IOUs this festive season has consumers all up in a heap.

Irish Examiner columnist Caitriona Redmond has been keeping abreast of delivery problems this Christmas and she is the guest on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

Caitríona Redmond: Who is responsible when deliveries go missing from your doorstep?

An Post Christmas backlogs grow as customers wait a week or more for parcel deliveries

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Mother of four Naomi James from Co Louth died in June 2024 after giving birth to her youngest son.

Having previously experienced traumatic births in hospital, Ms James laboured at home and was brought to hospital where she later died. Her family believes she may have been influenced by the online Free Birth movement to avoid medical intervention.

A recent investigation into the Free Birth movement by the Guardian found an industry worth millions of dollars to a few figurehead leaders, putting the lives of women and babies worldwide at risk.

Irish Examiner Health Correspondent Niamh Griffin has been covering this story. She is the guest on today’s Deirdre O’Shaughnessy podcast.

Mother who died after giving birth was 'exceptional', her husband says

Maternity care in Ireland has seen 'a lot of change', leading to better outcomes, leading doctor says

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90 year old Callaghan (Cal) O’Keeffe gave his life to save a woman from being hit by a reversing car in 2024.

The retired school principal and farmer from North Cork was posthumously recognised last week with a gold medal at the National Bravery Awards.

His son Martin spoke to Deirdre about the life and death of an extraordinary hero.

Bravery Awards: Gold medal for 90-year-old Cork man who died saving a woman's life

Posthumous bravery award for Cork man who gave his life to save stranger

Man, 90, who died in Fermoy saved another life moments before being struck by car

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The disappearance of Jimmy O’Neill is one of Ireland’s longest running mysteries. The 16 year old messenger boy disappeared in 1947 after being accused of stealing a postal order, and his family’s decades-long search has only raised more questions than answers about the conduct of local Gardai at the time.

With most of his surviving family long dead, Jimmy’s brother Frank continues to search for answers, following traces of Jimmy to Liverpool and beyond.

Today’s guest on the Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast is Alison O’Reilly, and you can read her coverage of this case at irishexaminer.com.

Brother of child missing since 1947 to address National Missing Persons Day event

Jimmy O'Neill letter to be forensically examined 77 years after his disappearance

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In his first visit to Ireland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ireland repeatedly for its “steadfast support” for his embattled country.

Speaking in the Dáil, he said Ireland’s support for the thousands of Ukrainians who have sought protection here and for the country’s defence was rooted in a shared historical understanding.

On today’s podcast, Irish Examiner political staff Paul Hosford and Louise Burne break down the visit, from President Connolly’s welcome at Áras an Uachtaráin to the statement from People Before Profit, who did not applaud the Ukrainian President’s speech.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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Last week's 'Lancet' report on ultra processed foods (UPFs) established that ultra processed foods are damaging both our mental and physical health, across all the major organ systems of the body.

Food writer Michelle Darmody says Ireland could be a leader in cleaning up our food systems, but we need a Minister for Food first Michelle is the guest on today’s episode of the Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

Read Michelle’s article here Michelle Darmody: Ireland could lead the way in ultra-processed foods control

Listen back: Podcast: I tried to give up ultra-processed foods — here's what happened

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In August 2022, 75 year old mother of four Miriam Burns was found strangled and beaten in her Killarney home after family members asked neighbours to check on her. 

Her 55 year son Billy, who suffered from bipolar disorder and was known to abuse drugs and alcohol, was convicted of her murder in the Central Criminal Court on Monday. He will be sentenced on Friday.

On today’s podcast, Deirdre speaks to court reporter Eoin Reynolds, whose reporting on this case you can read in the Irish Examiner and on irishexaminer.com.

Jury rejects insanity defence and finds Kerry man guilty of murdering his mother.

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There have been six chartered deportation flights out of Ireland so far this year. It comes as, against the backdrop of heated statements and debates, the Irish Government has been hardening its rhetoric on immigration.

Earlier this month, the Irish Examiner was given a rare look behind the curtain of what happens as people are forcibly removed from the country as 52 Georgian nationals – including three families – were sent on a chartered plane to that country’s capital Tbilisi.

Irish Examiner security correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe was the journalist who witnessed it all and he’s the guest on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

Inside Ireland’s deportation system: How gardaí carry out large-scale charter removals

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A man in his twenties is in Garda custody today after the stabbing of Stella and Brian Gallagher at their home in Ballinlough on Monday night.

Residents of the Shrewsbury Downs estate on the southside of Cork city heard a disturbance outside between 8 and 9pm on Monday night and were warned by Whatsapp message to remain in their homes and lock the doors.

Irish Examiner reporter Ann Murphy has been covering this story and is the guest on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

'It is frightening': Neighbours in shock as couple named locally after fatal Ballinlough attack

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The Holly Bough has been part of a Cork Christmas since 1897. With its unique combination of Cork folklore and history, photos from Corkonians here and abroad, puzzles, original writing and artwork, assembling it each year is a marathon task for Editor Mary Corcoran.

On this bonus Holly Bough edition of the Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast, Mary and Deirdre delve into the detail of what makes the Holly Bough so special.

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Growing numbers of new mothers are living in fear their babies will be taken from them by social services because they are homeless.

One woman who spoke to the Irish Examiner remains in hospital with her baby after a C section, but is afraid that when she is discharged her baby will go into care.  

In a statement, Tusla the Child and Family Agency said “Our goal is always to keep children within their family units whenever possible. It is important to emphasise that managing any referral of concern involves an extensive process.

"This process can include several steps including screening, preliminary inquiries, initial assessments, and appropriate onward actions. Actions may then lead to family support services, safety planning processes, or, as a last resort, taking the child into State care, either voluntarily or through a court order.”

In September, 16,614 people were living in emergency accommodation, almost a third of them children. Over 3,000 women are now homeless, the highest number ever. The Government this week launched a new housing plan, promising 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030.

Irish Examiner Reporter Alison O’Reilly joins Deirdre on today’s episode of the podcast.

Homeless mums fear their babies will be taken into care

Some 76 babies impacted by mothers taking drugs during pregnancy

'I feel safe': How Anew helps pregnant homeless women and their babies

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23 year old Emer O’Loughlin was found dead in a burned-out mobile home in the Burren, Co Clare in April 2005. An inquest into her death last week established – 20 years on - that another person was involved in the young art student’s death.

Her sister Pam O’Loughlin has been campaigning for Gardaí to treat Emer’s death as murder since the family learned in 2010 that she had been buried without a cause of death, her case treated as accidental. A forensic examination at that time established that she had been violently killed.

23 year old Emer’s last known movements were to borrow a phone charger from neighbour John Griffin, a native of Mervue in Galway city.

Griffin is the chief suspect in Emer’s death, but a series of bizarre events culminated in his disappearance off the island of Inis Mór.P am believes he faked his own death, and is hiding somewhere in Europe.

In the years since Emer died, her mother has also passed away. Now her family, including her elderly father Johnny, hope that last week’s inquest may pave the way for a breakthrough in the case.

Pam O'Loughlin is the guest on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

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