The Secret Bomb-Maker of Ireland: How Rory O'Connor Fueled the Revolution

The Secret Bomb-Maker of Ireland: How Rory O'Connor Fueled the Revolution

In this episode of the Irish History Boys, we reflect on the life and radicalization of Republican figure Rory O’Connor, drawing on Jerry Shannon’s new biography, To Defend the Republic. We examine O’Connor’s transition from a "wandering spirit" working on Canadian railroads to a central, albeit enigmatic, figure in the Irish Volunteers and the IRB.


We explore O’Connor’s surprising personal background, born into a "castle Catholic" family with a father who supported the British regime. We discuss his elite education and early radicalization at UCD, where he first met key figures like Joseph Plunkett. We also delve into his clandestine work at the Larkfield Chemical Company, ostensibly making aspirin but actually "creating bombs for the volunteers" ahead of the 1916 Rising.


Additionally, we trace O’Connor’s "Damascus conversion" from wanting to join the British army in 1915 to becoming a tireless worker in the shadows of the revolutionary movement. We highlight his role as the Director of Engineering for the IRA and his activities as OC of the IRA in Britain, including spectacular jailbreaks and operations in Liverpool.


To conclude, we explore the deep, complex friendship between O’Connor and Kevin O’Higgins, his former colleague in the Department of Local Government. We reflect on the irony of O'Connor serving as O’Higgins's best man in 1921, set against the backdrop of the looming Civil War and the political fractures that would eventually lead to their tragic estrangement and O'Connor's execution

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The Forgotten Pandemic: Ireland’s Deadly 1920s “Sleepy Sickness” Mystery

The Forgotten Pandemic: Ireland’s Deadly 1920s “Sleepy Sickness” Mystery

In this episode of the Irish History Boys, we delve into the "forgotten pandemic" of the early 20th century: Encephalitis Lethargica, or "sleeping sickness". We discuss how this mystery disease left v...

20 Aug 41min

How a Nobel Prize Destroyed Northern Ireland’s Most Powerful Protest Movement

How a Nobel Prize Destroyed Northern Ireland’s Most Powerful Protest Movement

In this episode of the Irish History Boys, we examine the paradoxical year of 1976 in Northern Ireland—a year marked by the second-highest death toll of the Troubles, yet one that offered a fleeting "...

13 Aug 39min

Faulkner’s Failed Sequel: The 1976 Internment Debate

Faulkner’s Failed Sequel: The 1976 Internment Debate

Join Tim McGarry and Dr Cormac Moore on the Irish History Boys as they explore Northern Ireland’s interwar economic collapse and the controversial 1976 internment debate. They analyse how the North’s ...

6 Aug 40min

From the "Black North" to Black Taxis: A Century of Divided Tourism in Ireland

From the "Black North" to Black Taxis: A Century of Divided Tourism in Ireland

In this episode of the Irish History Boys, we reflect on the curious "hairpin bend" of travel in Ireland during 1926, where strangers from abroad were welcomed with open arms while neighbors across th...

30 Juli 39min

The Assassination that Shocked Ireland: The 1976 Sandyford Bombing

The Assassination that Shocked Ireland: The 1976 Sandyford Bombing

In this episode of the Irish History Boys, we reflect on the July 1976 assassination of the British Ambassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, and his secretary Judith Cook. This "mid-morning out...

23 Juli 34min

The Dubliner Who Divided Ireland: The Twisted Irony of Edward Carson

The Dubliner Who Divided Ireland: The Twisted Irony of Edward Carson

In this episode of the Irish History Boys, Tim McGarry and Dr. Cormac Moore peel back the layers of Edward Carson, the man whose statue looms over Stormont but whose roots lie deep in Dublin’s Harcour...

16 Juli 49min

The Battle of the Diamond: Birthing the Orange Institution

The Battle of the Diamond: Birthing the Orange Institution

In the second part of this special series on The Irish History Boys, hosts Tim McGarry and Cormac Moore continue their exploration of the Orange Institution with Dr Jonathan Mattison from the Museum o...

9 Juli 39min

Why the Pope Supported William of Orange: The Surprising International History of 1690

Why the Pope Supported William of Orange: The Surprising International History of 1690

In this special July episode of the Irish History Boys, hosts Tim McGarry and Cormac Moore set aside their usual news archives to explore "orange" history with Dr. Jonathan Mattison from the Museum of...

2 Juli 42min

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