Few can have failed to see the Tuam Mother And Baby home scandal as it unfolded across the world’s media. It remains one of the most shocking cases in the history of the state. Today Jarlath meets the fearless woman who uncovered this secret and continues to fight to this day for justice for all the victims of the home. Catherine Corless is not a journalist or a trained investigator. As she explains here for the first time, she is a woman who grew up in a very unusual and at times difficult home...
Oct 09, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 465
Marion sifts through the ashes of another ridiculous week in American politics and current affairs. She starts with her bizarre visit to the NRA’s AGM in Texas. The focus then turns to Facebook’s hearings where whistleblower Frances Haugen landed a deep blow to the social media giant. Jarlath asks Marion if the slippery Mark Zuckerberg can talk his way out of this one. We take a look back at his previous performances in front of old men with no tech knowledge. In a wide ranging discussion Marion...
Oct 08, 2021•13 min•Ep. 464
Trainers, kicks, runners or whatever you like to call them are the subject of today’s conversation with two Irish sporting icons. The big business of athletic shoes has boomed in the last 30 years beyond all recognition. Today’s runner is expected and recommended to have not one but several pairs to wear on rotation throughout their training week. Jarlath asks Sonia if this is really necessary. Or are shoe companies deliberately making their running shoes less like all round trainers and more li...
Oct 05, 2021•32 min•Ep. 463
What is the X factor? When everyone competing in an activity has talent, what is the extra bit that takes one person above and beyond? Irish athletics legend Marcus O'Sullivan might be one of the best qualified people in the world to unravel this. For almost a quarter of a century he has been the head track and field coach at Villanova University and in charge of spotting talented kids who might just have that extra something. He sits down with Jarlath to discuss his own incredible journey from ...
Oct 02, 2021•34 min•Ep. 462
This week, Marion trawls through a bizarre week in America. R Kelly was finally convicted and Jarlath wants to know why it took this long. Marion explains how the legal establishment has facilitated hush money and NDAs. Will the conviction force the hand of legislators to prevent situations like Kelly’s from occurring again? It looks unlikely if Britney Spears’ toxic conservatorship is anything to go by. This week she aimed to lift the thumb of oppression she has lived under for years. Sarah Gri...
Oct 01, 2021•14 min•Ep. 461
The connection of running to emotion is so direct that it deserves its own episode. Today the greatest Irish track and field athlete of all time examines the mastery of emotional running as a method of self-soothing. Jarlath takes a different approach and examines how running can often bring up dormant emotions resulting in floods of tears while logging miles. He looks at different opinions on why this happens while Trevor Cummins calls the LiveLine to talk about his Berlin marathon experience a...
Sep 28, 2021•38 min•Ep. 460
Mark Pollock returns on the eve of this year’s Run In The Dark. The global fund raising phenomenon has raised millions for his charity Collaborative Cures, The Pollock Trust and funded breakthroughs in the search for a cure for paralysis. Today Mark talks to Jarlath for the first time since their epic first conversation in 2017 about the new journey he has begun, his masterclasses inspired by his own traumatic life experiences, recoveries and passion for the basis for virtual and in person semin...
Sep 25, 2021•31 min•Ep. 459
If you haven’t been keeping up this week Marion is here to give you all the latest from the Love Island relationship of America and France. We learn about their many strops of the past and how Biden might be forced to leave the Villa to get flowers and chocolates for Emmanuel. Apologies are off the menu when it comes to Rudi Giuliani and the lawyers who accused Dominion, the makers of the US voting machines of colluding with everyone from the ghost of Hugo Chavez to German hackers in order to st...
Sep 24, 2021•14 min•Ep. 458
Sonia’s international athletics season finished on a high last Friday and before she breaks down everything you need to know about race day prep, she fills us in on a record breaking night for her German athlete Konstanze "Koko" Klosterhalfen. Sonia immediately returned to Cobh and has a chance to rest the only way she knows how, with a bit of active recovery cross training. Jarlath’s own attempts at mixing up his activity left him “in ribbons” and wondering is basketball the worst of all cross ...
Sep 21, 2021•52 min•Ep. 457
The beloved DJ Jenny Greene joins Jarlath for a wide-ranging discussion of her journey from a kid too sick to sit her state exams to filling arenas with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Plagued for years with a chronic cough, Jenny had no choice but to go on a course of aggressive steroids and miss crucial months and years in school. The story of how she found solace in music while sipping from a converted nebuliser and deciding to not sit the Leaving Certificate has to be heard to be believed. Later ...
Sep 18, 2021•31 min•Ep. 456
This week our US correspondent Marion McKeone takes us inside the emotional Senate Judiciary Committee hearings where gymnasts abused by Larry Nasser detailed the horrendous treatment they suffered at the hands of the FBI. The anger at the Department Of Justice’s failure to attend the hearings, the agents who failed to act on the information they obtained and the shocking mishandling of crucial evidence are just some of the details that come under the microscope. Later Marion looks at the re-ele...
Sep 17, 2021•11 min•Ep. 455
Sonia gives Jarlath the raw and unfiltered truth on what most runners leave out from their running routine and why even the elite athlete rolls the dice not knowing exactly how much damage this can do. Currently travelling to the stadiums she used to dominate, Sonia explains to Jar how different it feels to be the coach this time around. We asked the club members for their running hacks and you're going to love some of the wild answers we received. "Directions Gate" rumbles on as Jarlath gets su...
Sep 14, 2021•45 min•Ep. 454
Actress and writer Jade Jordan sits down with Jarlath to discuss the inspiration behind her stunning new book “Nanny, Ma & Me”. Learning to cope with racism, discrimination and abuse is hard enough but a large portion of the population deny it’s very existence, that is something else entirely. Jade explains how the institutional racism the past three generations of her family have faced might have to get worse before it gets better. The presumption that each generation is more tolerant than ...
Sep 11, 2021•36 min•Ep. 453
Marion McKeone was right there when the World Trade Centre crumbled and the world became a different place. On the 20th anniversary of this devastating event, she looks back on what she observed on that day. Together with Jarlath she traces the events and decisions that followed. The thirst for revenge and even torture began that night. Marion recalls the Irish survivor she encountered, the case for invading Iraq and how Bin Laden evaded Bush. Later Jarlath asks Marion for an update on Californi...
Sep 10, 2021•18 min•Ep. 452
Is it possible to run without doing yourself harm? Sonia dials in from Belgium for a frank discussion about the pitfalls that scare many off getting involved. We also hear the first hand experiences of our listeners. In harrowing detail one listener gives us an account of a terrifying assault she suffered while running in Dublin. Sonia provides her usual no-nonsense advice for women and men who want to free themselves from the fear of these things. There’s even more in today’s illustrated notes ...
Sep 07, 2021•58 min•Ep. 451
This week, we have a very special treat for our listeners in which we bring you the Author's Bumper Special. We have delved into the Irishman Abroad archives with over 8 years of interviews with some of Ireland's top writing talents working and living both at home and abroad. From Marian Keyes, Paul Howard and Blindboy to Cecelia Ahern, Roddy Doyle and Louise O'Neill, we hear the fascinating tales from their incredible careers, their own unique approaches to the writing process, the origin stori...
Sep 04, 2021•45 min•Ep. 450
With Marion McKeone away this week we bring you an extra special bonus comedy Selection Box to start your weekend off with a laugh. You’ll probably know John Hastings from his barnstorming performance on America’s Got Talent but the life he lived prior to that big moment is even more extraordinary and hilarious. John sits down with Jarlath on the eve of his first album release to talk about the rare infant dyspraxia he was born with that led him to be mercilessly bullied in school. Known for his...
Sep 03, 2021•29 min•Ep. 449
After a sensational weekend of athletics at home and abroad, Sonia sits down to talk to Jarlath about the latest events and the less talked about guidelines that make the running world go round. Every field of endeavour has its own code of conduct, accepted and understood best practice. Sonia offers her take on the most important ones including those pertaining to the track while Jarlath quizzes the Olympic great on the more absurd rules he has come across. From snot rockets to the art of gettin...
Aug 31, 2021•31 min•Ep. 448
This week, actress and writer Clare Dunne makes a welcomed return to An Irishman Abroad for a very special Selection Box episode. Clare speaks about the much-anticipated release of Herself, how COVID positively impacted upon her IFTA award win, the honour she felt to be named in Variety's Screenwriters to Watch 2020 list and much more. As a treat, we are also giving you a healthy chunk of exclusive content from Clare's first interview on the show which details the writing and making of Herself. ...
Aug 28, 2021•53 min•Ep. 447
Recorded prior to yesterday’s events at Kabul airport, in this week’s episode Marion McKeone examines the latest twists and turns in the Harvey Weinstein scandal. The former movie mogul is back in court facing 11 sex assault charges involving five women in Los Angeles County after prosecutors returned to a grand jury this week to resuscitate a rejected count. Later in the episode Jarlath and Marion delve into the Ron Jeremy case and ask whether Prince Andrew will ever co-operate with the increas...
Aug 27, 2021•12 min•Ep. 446
It’s the one year anniversary of the Irishman Running Abroad! Sonia dials in from Portland after watching her 2 mile record fall to one of her own athletes at the Pre Fontaine Classic this past weekend. While she fills us in on what it’s like to see the fastest 100 metres since Flo Jo, Jarlath goes to the other end of the spectrum to give us a full report on the hill session organised for listeners at The Hill of Tara. The myth busting begins with the Olympic legend setting us straight on whethe...
Aug 24, 2021•35 min•Ep. 445
I have fallen for this podcast you can download it to your phone! This week, we hear the story of The Saw Doctors from the band's inception to where they are today in never before heard detail. It’s the perfect way to celebrate 30 years since the release of their timeless debut album, “If This Is Rock And Roll, I Want My Old Job Back”. Guitarist Leo Moran joins Jarlath to speak about falling in love with music, the influence of The Boomtown Rats on the band and to tell some of the funniest touri...
Aug 21, 2021•33 min•Ep. 444
The unfolding catastrophe in Afghanistan is the subject of today's podcast with a deep dive from Marion into the beginnings of the war and a discussion of why 70% of Americans are backing Joe Biden's pull-out from the country. Finally, Marion looks at what she believes will happen next in this crisis. To hear every episode in full and to gain access to the entire back-catalogue of over 500 Irishman Abroad episodes that are not available on iTunes for just the price of a pint every month visit ww...
Aug 20, 2021•13 min•Ep. 443
After months of burning the candle at both ends, Sonia is feeling the strain as she returns to the USA. She talks to Jarlath about all she has learned about fatigue over the years and how it can actually be used as a tool to increase speed long term. There are questions from the listeners around how much time an average runner should devote to recovery and a ridiculous story of Sonia's first stateside park run and how it brought out the competitive animal in her. There’s a detailed look at a Son...
Aug 17, 2021•28 min•Ep. 442
This week, Leinster, Ireland and Lions rugby legend Rob Kearney joined Jarlath for a rare long-form conversation about his life and career. Rob opens up about being bullied at school, how he is being patient with himself in retirement and how a mistake in the gym one day at the age of 19 caused him one of his biggest career regrets. Rob speaks openly about why international rugby in Ireland is suffocating, his recent move to the GAA, Michael Cheika, contemplating staying in Australia, how he did...
Aug 14, 2021•32 min•Ep. 441
It took a week of protests, media pressure and one Marion McKeone podcast to tip Andrew Cuomo over the edge and into resignation. This week Marion and Jarlath examine what exactly happened to force this supposed street fighter to wave the white flag. His half-hearted apology gets an autopsy and Jarlath asks if Cuomo is positioning himself as the Democrat Trumpish outsider candidate. Does he still have fans? Unsurprisingly, yes. Marion looks at the state of Biden’s Covid vaccine rollout and the L...
Aug 13, 2021•12 min•Ep. 440
As the dust settles on Kellie Harrington’s triumph, Jarlath Regan asks Ireland’s greatest ever track and field athlete about what lies ahead for Ireland’s golden girl. Sonia looks back on the moment her life changed in the same fashion, examines the idea of pressure in those moments where gold is on the line and offers a rare insight into why being a runner helped her get her privacy back when her world was invaded. Jarlath and Sonia look back on their first pop up running event at Seán Moore pa...
Aug 10, 2021•34 min•Ep. 439
This week, one of the most talked about Irish musical talents Róisín O joined Jarlath for a fascinating and heartbreaking conversation about her life and career to date. Róisín explains her creative response to the pandemic during her time spent in lockdown in Kerry, her approach to life and her renewed focus on cutting unsupportive people out of her life. Róisín opens up about how she misses the stage, her imposter syndrome with songwriting and how she finds the lack of a clear roadmap for the ...
Aug 07, 2021•32 min•Ep. 438
This week Marion didn’t need to go into the archives to find a scandal worth talking about. As we recorded this episode, the Andrew Cuomo scandal continued to unfold before us. The New York Governor has fallen from grace after almost a dozen women came forward to say he sexually harassed at work. Even President Biden has weighed in to urge Cuomo to step down. This seems less and less likely, as Marion explains, partially because of his fight tooth and nail attitude. He has attempted to dismiss t...
Aug 06, 2021•12 min•Ep. 437
After almost 12 months and nearly 50 episodes, Jarlath and Sonia meet face to face for the first time to discuss that awful sense we all get from time to time. Feeling like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew whether it’s at work or in running can leave us feeling frazzled, depressed and completely exasperated. Sonia has some simple yet effective advice as always for anyone feeling this way. Unlike most of us, she has felt the weight of the world on her shoulders when performing on the worl...
Aug 03, 2021•28 min•Ep. 436
