Sunday Miscellany - podcast cover

Sunday Miscellany

RTÉ Radio 1www.rte.ie
Radio essays, poems and complementary music, broadcast from Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday mornings since 1968.
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Episodes

Spring blooms and a batch loaf

Sea pinks on the Copper Coast, intimations of mortality in the Irish hawthorn tree, and ways of making a show of yourself, with Pat Boran, Peter Cunningham, Mary Hassett, Maeve Edwards and Lawrence White

May 19, 202432 min

Chieftains and Cherry Blossoms

Cows and cowboy boots, a rookie promoter’s first gig in Galway, and glory days of fun and friendship in Monet’s garden. With Maeve Edwards, Joe Kearney, Ollie Jennings, Philip Judge, Enda Wyley and Rachael Hegarty

May 12, 202434 min

From La Scala in Milan to Bruce Springsteen in Dublin

From Milan to Dublin, a programme on song and speech, finding and using your voice, dancing and self-expression-- with Mark Brennock, Doireann Ní Bhríain, Catherine Foley, Mary Kate O’Flanagan, Fiona Smith and Irish-Palestinian poet Durgham Mushtaha

May 05, 202434 min

A Sculptor’s Sculptor and a Swallow on the Suir

Month’s mind tributes to the late sculptor Imogen Stuart and poet Michael Coady; bonny labouring boy, the smell of new boots and an old coat. With Peter Trant, AM Cousins, Paul Rouse, Alison Fitzgerald, Michael O'Connor and Catherine Twomey

Apr 28, 202436 min

Miracles and Talking Birds

Saints and prayers, crowning glory and a Shakespearean starling, with Elizabeth Oxley, Moya Cannon, Dermot Bolger, Pat Boran, Rosaleen McDonagh and Conall Hamill

Apr 21, 202435 min

Moscow, Mustard and Sand Martins

Returning swallows, an Irishman abroad in the USSR, a German eye on Daniel O’Connell, and Harry Nilsson’s Irish love, with Jim Sharkey, Jenny Beale, Deirdre McQuillan, Daniel Mulhall, Brian Farrell and Denise Blake

Apr 14, 202435 min

Bright visions and moments of joy

A favourite song of Seán Ó Riada’s, wonderful parties, and extraordinary kindness to a young writer starting out: John Banville, Shelly Furlong, Diarmaid Ferriter, Iarla Ó Lionáird and Marina Carr salute seven decades of the Irish Arts Council

Apr 07, 202435 min

Bell chimes and Bach’s St Matthew Passion

Easter eggs, Easter bonnets and the enduring appeal of Bach’s 300 year old masterpiece, with Olivia O’Leary, Paul Johnston, Aidan Mathews, Margaret Hickey, Enda Wyley and John F Deane

Mar 31, 202432 min

Starry Nights and Stardust

Rescue pets and reliquaries, asteroids and a crown of thorns, with Gail Seekamp, Fiona Hyland, AM Cousins, Conor Horgan, Jim Sperin, Mary O’Malley and Denise Blake

Mar 24, 202434 min

A Saint, a Goat and a Rocky Place

Shades of green in a St Patrick’s Day Miscellany with Seán O’Gorman, Máire T Robinson, Joe Kearney, Bernard Dunleavy, John MacKenna, James Harpur and Olivia O’Leary

Mar 17, 202437 min

A lamp, a love charm and a library ghost

Voices in harmony at Creative Brain Week and the New Yorker magazine’s own, Irish, long-winded lady, with Mike Hanrahan, Lourdes Mackey, John MacKenna, Mary Kate O Flanagan, Catherine Foley and James Harpur

Mar 03, 202432 min

Fire, Ice and Paper

Confessions of a cocktail piano teen sensation, Father Damo goes to Ted Fest, a letter to Letter from America, and sawing wood in a Siberian gulag, with Conor Linehan, Michael O’Connor, Henrietta McKervey, Joe Rooney, Joe Kearney and Grace Wilentz

Feb 25, 202434 min

Maths, Machines and Alphabet Magic

Clowns, candymen and a pocket calculator: a poem celebrating human ingenuity and playfulness, with Neil Hegarty, Henrietta McKervey, Leo Cullen, Evelyn Conlon, AM Cousins and James Harpur

Feb 18, 202434 min

Forbidden love, correct attire, and ancient landscapes

Arboreal hieroglyphics, respectable attire, Gershwin’s Irish influence and a love that couldn’t be stopped. With Kevin McDermott, Margaret Galvin, Jim Doherty, Lourdes Mackey, Moya Canon, Denise Blake and James Harpur

Feb 11, 202434 min

Brigid, Bolivia and Biting Creatures

Nervous patients, home from home and the saint among the box hedges, with Rebecca Hunter, Jenny Beale, Peter Trant, Barbara Scully, Niall McArdle and Margaret Galvin

Feb 04, 202436 min

Feathers, Flappers and a Full Moon

From Old Moore’s Almanac to the jellyfish apocalypse with birdwatching on the Dodder and capturing a flapper skate along the way, with Joe Kearney, Rebecca Hunter, Fiona Hyland, Alexander McMaster, Pier Kuipers and Vincent Woods

Jan 28, 202436 min

Burns, Borderlands and a New Baby

Stepping out to dance class, serenading a new arrival, skulduggery in a Scottish graveyard – and rereading the searing Diary of Anne Frank, with Elizabeth Oxley, Peter Cunningham, Emer O’Kelly, Rory Gleeson, Paul Johnston and Vincent Woods

Jan 21, 202434 min

Pilgrim Souls, Old Souls

Paintings and poetry, mending and making do, reciting Yeats in New Delhi and a long night of the soul in the Emergency Department, with Daniel Mulhall, Catherine Foley, John MacKenna, Aidan Mathews, Margaret Hickey and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eip

Jan 14, 202436 min

Winter Travels and Emotional Challenges

The 'big snow', the real Gabriel Conroy, finding profundity in simplicity and tumbles on winter streets, with Alexander McMaster, Enda Wyley, Conall Hamill, John F Deane, Michael O'Connor and Mary O'Donnell

Jan 07, 202432 min

An Angel Feather and a New Year Wish

Absent angels, a post-Christmas brush with the law, and a reckoning with Yeats country, with Grace Wilentz, Michael Harding, John MacKenna, Enda Wyley, Brian Leyden, and Sharon Hogan

Dec 31, 202332 min

A St Stephen’s Day Wexford Carol

A special Miscellany from the National Opera House, Wexford, with writers Joe Kearney, Margaret Galvin, Paul Rouse, Antonia Gunko Karelina, Joe Brennan and Alison Ní Mháirtín, and music extracts from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by David Brophy with special guests Piaras Ó Lorcáin and John Molloy

Dec 26, 202342 min

Snow, Sleds and Silver Bells

A Christmas Miscellany from Dublin and Wexford, with Neil Hegarty, Am Cousins, Michael Harding, Denise Blake, Emer O’Kelly and Paul Howard, and music extracts from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by David Brophy and Gavin Maloney with special guests Gráinne Brookfield, Lisa Lambe and Cormac Kenevey

Dec 26, 202344 min

Christmas Pudding and a Night Divine

A mother’s secret recipe, true and untrue tales at Christmas and an extraordinary Holy Night, with Aingeala Flannery, John Toal, Paul Howard, Rachael Hegarty, all recorded at the National Concert Hall with music extracts from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by David Brophy and special guests Colm Warren, Maeve Smyth and Sarah Shine

Dec 17, 202330 min

A Christmas Baby and a Battered Menorah

From a magical Waterford bookshop at Christmas to the library of Alexandria, the journey of the Magi to a snowy homeward trek… with John Egan, Enda Wyley, Peter Cunningham, Judith Mok, Catherine Heaney and James Harpur

Dec 10, 202333 min

JFK and a Furry Rabbit

The tang of the Atlantic, a stenographer for JFK, Thanksgiving Irish style and a small furry rabbit, with Alexander McMaster, Margaret Kelly, Michael Harding, Sinéad Ingoldsby, Kathy Donaghy and Fred Spengeman

Nov 26, 202336 min

Trysts, Teenagers and Poets

Ghostly encounters, poetic presences, and a recalcitrant car, with Gerald Dawe, Mia Döring, Brian Leyden, Catherine Foley, Dermot Bolger, James Harpur and Lani O’Hanlon

Nov 20, 202334 min

Conkers, Beatle Boots, and Remembrance

Emigration pangs, the Beatles in Dublin, the snows of Leadville and the freedom of small nations, with Peter Trant, Sheila Maher, Joseph Kearney, Pat Dunne and the late Eileen Battersby

Nov 12, 202334 min
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