Hello and welcome
to Ireland’s Own.

We hope you are doing well, and that you have found plenty to keep you occupied as the lockdown continues. And the good news is that we have another extremely interesting issue of Ireland’s Own for you to enjoy!

2RN was the first radio broadcasting station in the Irish Free State. It began broadcasting on 1 January 1926 and continued until 1933, when it was succeeded by Radio Athlone (later Radio Éireann). The station was run by the Irish Post Office, under the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, writes Gerry Breen in this week’s cover story.

Paula Redmond remembers Miles Byrne, a leader in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and chef de bataillon in
Napoleon’s Irish Legion, who died on January 24, 1862. In his Islands of Ireland Series, David Mullen takes a nervous drive across the seabed to Omey Island off the coast of Connemara, and Sheila O’Kelly profiles Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, who wrote under the name ‘The Duchess’, and was an Irish author of popular romantic fiction.

Ticks can cause Lyme Disease in dogs, writes our resident vet, Pete Wedderburn, while in his Role of the Irish in WWII Series, Con McGrath profiles Major General Hugh John ‘Pat’ Casey, Designer of The Pentagon and Douglas McArthur’s chief engineer in The Far East.

Quantum of Solace is Patrick Brennan’s pick in his James Bond Season, while Gemma Grant visits Aughnanure Castle in her Castles of Ireland series. Midnight Run is our Classic Film, while Paul Swift takes a trip along the River Poddle.

We have all this for you to enjoy alongside regulars Cassidy, Dan Conway, Just A Memory, Stranger Than Fiction, Marjorie’s Kitchen, pen pals, jokes, songs, The Witness Statements and much more. Take care, and I hope to catch up with you all again next week.

                                                                                                         Best wishes,

Seán Nolan, Editor, Ireland’s Own