Fin Dwyer & Damian Shiels
48 episodes listed below
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3,000 miles of ocean separate Ireland from the USA, but both countries share a deep and intertwined history. Links between North America and Ireland predate Columbus, stretching back over 1,000 years. Since then, Irish people have shaped the history of the United States. From Ann 'Goody' Glover, who was hanged as a witch in Boston in the 17th century, to JFK, the story of the Irish in the US is fascinating. Join historians Damian Sheils and Fin Dwyer as they join forces to explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of Irish American history.In Season 1 Fin and Damian explore fascinating...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes Irish-American history legible through the pressures migrants carried, met, and helped create across politics, war, race, faith, and memory.
Transatlantic follows Irish history across the Atlantic by asking how migration changed politics, war, memory, and belonging on both shores. Damian Sheils and Fin Dwyer work mainly as a conversational pair, testing explanations against each other and slowing down when a familiar…
Irish enlistment in the US Civil War brings wages and duty into your neat little motive chart.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear look at how the GAA rooted itself in North America and stayed central to Irish community life.
The episode looks at the GAA in North America as something larger than an athletic organization, and that is where it gains its strength. It is most effective when it shifts from structure and rules to the place the GAA has held in keeping Irish identity alive across…
A mining-town history that turns hard labor into memory and recognition.
Leadville, Colorado comes through as a hard mining town shaped by Irish American labor, and the piece is strongest when it ties western extraction to the cost paid by Irish immigrants.
A steady overview of Tammany Hall's corruption, immigrant support, and street-level power in New York.
Tammany Hall comes through as both a byword for political corruption and a machine with a more complicated place in New York history. Damien Shields uses the show's overview format to sort through that tension, asking how much of the reputation was earned and what else belongs…
A clear transatlantic review of Irish-American Civil War politics, labor pressure, and racial belonging.
The US Civil War is treated here as a transatlantic story: what the conflict meant for Irish people in America, and how closely their lives still ran back to Ireland.
A ghost story about Irish America turns grief, religious duty, and family obligation into one uneasy conversation.
Finn Dewar and Damian Shields look at Irish America through a ghost story shaped by unfinished obligation, grief, and belief. A dead wife returns to her frightened husband, asking why he never gave the offering for her mass and telling him to bring their child home to Ireland,…
A clear, compact comparison of how English ideas about land and Protestant mission shaped colonial projects in Ireland and North America.
Transatlantic sets Jamestown alongside Ireland to show how English thinking about land, religion, and colonial enterprise moved across more than one project.
A loose holiday chat that becomes a thoughtful meditation on Irish diaspora memory.
Transatlantic uses its Christmas special to fold a friendly year-end check-in into a thoughtful look at Irish-American history. The hosts move from Finnish snow and holiday illness into a conversation about place names, migration, and the ways Irish identity could take root in…
A Dublin stop that turns Franklin's 1771 visit into a debate about American independence.
This episode treats Benjamin Franklin's 1771 Ireland visit as a small trip with outsized political questions attached. It follows why he came, why Dublin mattered at that moment, and how illness, newspaper notice, and a string of elite meetings helped turn an ordinary travel…
Dramatized deep dives into American history, from the Galveston hurricane to Harper Lee's Mockingbird.
Curious facts, kid-sized and quiz-ready.
This episode explores the little-known history of US military involvement in Ireland during World War I, focusing on the impact of American personnel on Irish communities and the personal research behind uncovering these stories.
The hosts announce the upcoming second season of their podcast, previewing episodes on Typhoid Mary's story and the American Revolution's impact on Ireland.
The hosts discuss St.
This episode explores the history of Catholicism and Irish immigrants in California, focusing on their indomitable spirit in Sacramento.
This episode explores the history of mountain men in the American West and examines the role of Irish immigrants within this iconic group.
This episode explores a microhistorical analysis of one Irish family's emigration from Clare to Connecticut during the Great Hunger, featuring an interview with historian Dr.
This episode explores the story of Hugh Colander and Michael Phelan, two Irish famine immigrants who built a successful billiards table company in 19th-century America.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
This episode explores the prevalence and origins of Irish-related place names across the United States, examining how Irish immigrants transplanted their local landscapes and created numerous towns and villages named after famous Irish locations.
This episode explores the forgotten 19th-century grave robbery case of Patrick Jones and AT Stewart, a sensational crime in Gilded Age New York that connected two Irishmen.
This episode explores the stories of wealthy American heiresses from the Gilded Age who married into Irish aristocratic families during the late Victorian period, examining their lives and lasting impacts on Irish society and heritage.
The hosts discuss their summer hiatus, Damian's archaeological tour of Ireland that generated show ideas, and their plan to maintain consistent podcast releases moving forward.
This episode explores the Fenians, a famous Irish American organization that inspired mythology, discussing its aims and history on both sides of the Atlantic with expert Brennan MacDonald.
This episode explores US military pension files as a rich historical resource revealing detailed information about 19th century Irish immigrants' lives beyond just military service.
This episode explores the lives of Irish emigrant nuns in the diaspora, featuring personal family letters and expert insights on convent life and motivations for joining religious orders.
This episode explores the Irish connections to the Titanic, from its construction to its final journey, recorded live at the port of Cove, its last port of call.
This episode explores Irish involvement in the American Revolution, focusing on Irish emigrants in the colonies and their roles, with plans for a follow-up on the revolution's impact on Ireland.
This episode interviews public historian Jake Wynn about the history of Irish immigrants in Pennsylvania's coal mining region and their connection to Civil War heritage.
This episode explores the story of Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary, examining her life as an Irish-American figure and the ethical dilemmas surrounding her role in public health history.
This episode explores the historical presence and significance of the Irish language in the United States, examining its often-overlooked role in Irish-American history.
This episode explores the often-overlooked history of Irish immigrants in New Orleans through an interview with Professor David Gleeson, offering a fresh perspective on Irish American heritage.
This episode explores the complex story of Irish emigration during and after the Great Hunger, focusing on the Atlantic crossing experience, arrival in North America, and debunking common myths about this pivotal historical period.
This episode explores the legacy of Irish immigration to New York City, focusing on historical sites and community impact with expert guests.
This episode explores the Irish-American involvement in the Battle of Gettysburg through an interview with Civil War expert Harry Smeltzer, focusing on historical connections and battlefield insights.
This episode explores the IMRCA project, a University of Galway resource featuring thousands of letters from Irish immigrants in North America, with insights from professors Brendan McSwivna and Daniel Carey.
This episode explores the often-overlooked Irish-American history in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina, featuring historian Professor David Gleeson.
This episode explores how the American Revolution transformed Ireland's politics, society, and the Catholic Church, examining transatlantic connections and historical consequences.
This episode explores the often-overlooked impact of American troops stationed in Northern Ireland during World War II, examining both military and social consequences including racial tensions and population changes.
This episode of Transatlantic, an Irish-American history podcast, introduces a discussion about Mother Jones, a prominent labor activist known as 'The Most Dangerous Woman in America'.
This episode explores the real history of St.
This episode explores the true story of Annie Moore, the first immigrant processed through Ellis Island, featuring an interview with genealogist Megan Smolenyak about her research and new book on the subject.
This episode explores the complex relationship between Irish and Irish American identities through historical connections in Waterford, Ireland, including emigration patterns and cultural tensions.
This episode explores the rise of Catholic power in New York through an Irish-American historical lens, beginning with a discussion about extreme weather in Ireland.
This episode vividly describes the rampant corruption, criminality, and social tensions in 1880s San Francisco as it transformed from a gold-rush town to a sprawling metropolis.
This episode explores the often-overlooked Irish emigration to America in the decades before the Great Famine, examining why people left Ireland and chose the United States as their destination.
Fionn Duar and Damien Shields discuss Irish involvement in the American Civil War, using Damien’s book and pension-file research to focus on personal stories rather than battlefield mechanics.
Finn de Weyr and Damien Shields use Transatlantic’s Christmas special to answer listener questions about Australian convicts, 1798, San Francisco street names, and 19th-century remittances.
This inaugural episode introduces a new podcast exploring Irish American history from its earliest transatlantic beginnings to modern influences, covering both well-known and hidden stories across centuries.
The hosts explain their recent recording break due to technical issues during a U.S.
Benjamin Franklin's September 1771 trip to Ireland is treated as a possible turning point in his path toward American independence.
In the first episode of Transatlantic, hosts Finn Dewar and Damian Shields introduce their podcast on Irish-American history, discussing their backgrounds in archaeology and history, and setting out to explore the deep, often overlooked connections between Ireland and North America dating back over 1,000 years.
This episode explores the story of Ann 'Goody' Glover, an Irish woman hanged as a witch in 17th-century Boston, and how her trial influenced the later Salem witch trials.
Finn de Weyre and Damian Shields examine Irish involvement in the U.S.
Transatlantic hosts Finn Dewar and Damian Shields examine how the Irish Folklore Collection recorded memories of emigrants and attitudes toward America in stories gathered from Irish schools during the 1930s.
Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast examines how English colonization in Ireland shaped the Jamestown colony founded in Virginia in 1607.
Damien Shields and historian Terry Galway examine how Tammany Hall developed from a New York fraternal society named for Tammawand into a Democratic political machine.
["Episode 44 of Transatlantic: An Irish-American History Podcast follows Finn DeWare and Damien Shields as they talk with Bennett Burke, the public relations officer of the United States Gaelic Association, about the GAA in North America.", "Burke says hurling appears in the Americas in the late 1600s and early 1700s, and he connects Irish schoolmasters on frozen Canadian lakes to an early version of hockey.", "The discussion then moves to Michael Cusack's 1884 GAA, the 1888 East Coast tour through New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark, Providence, and Lowell, and the failed bid to raise 5,000 pounds.", "It closes on the 1947 All-Ireland football final in New York, where Cavan beat Kerry 2-11 to 2-7 and Michael O'Hare asked broadcasters to stay on for five more minutes."]
["Leadville, Colorado sat at 10,200 feet and reached about 35,000 people after a silver rush began in 1877 or 1878.", "Professor Jim Walsh estimates that Irish or Irish American residents made up as much as 20% of the town in the early 1880s, with arrivals traced to Allihies, Waterford, Tipperary, Donegal, Mayo, and Pennsylvania coal country.", "Walsh describes 10- to 12-hour underground shifts, frozen work clothes in subzero weather, wooden shanties, and a pauper cemetery whose average age is 22.", "The episode follows the 1880 strike, Michael Mooney, martial law, the 1896 labor clash, and the memorial work that now names Leadville's poorest dead."]