Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley learn about the extraordinary Willam Butler. A Catholic from Tipperary, he was held aloft by Daniel O’Connell as a baby, witnessed the famine, fought the Fenians in Canada, served as Queen Victoria's Aide-de-Camp, befriended Parnell, and openly supported Irish Home Rule. He nearly prevented the Boer War. 

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley learn about the extraordinary Willam Butler. A Catholic from Tipperary, he was held aloft by Daniel O’Connell as a baby, witnessed the famine, fought the Fenians in Canada, served as Queen Victoria's Aide-de-Camp, befriended Parnell, and openly supported Irish Home Rule. He nearly prevented the Boer War.&nbsp;

William Butler: British Soldier, Irish Writer, Global Adventurer

Kate O’Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman learn about an incredible Irish woman, who helped educate girls from Canada to India. Teresa Ball, founder of the Loreto order, used her dowry to develop her first school, pioneering a business model that offered young women opportunities for education, travel and greater independence.

Kate O’Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman learn about an incredible Irish woman, who helped educate girls from Canada to India. Teresa Ball, founder of the Loreto order, used her dowry to develop her first school, pioneering a business model that offered young women opportunities for education, travel and greater independence.

Teresa Ball: Educating the Daughters of Empire

Lambert Blair: Teenage Trader to Slave Plantation Owner

Lambert Blair: Teenage Trader to Slave Plantation Owner

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley hear about a Meath man who conquered more land in India, more quickly, than Napoleon conquered in Europe. And yet, he is largely forgotten today - in part because he has been eclipsed by his ungrateful younger brother. Richard Wellesley - whose Irish ancestry dates back to the 12th Century, and whose descendants include the current British King Charles III - was a lifelong opponent of slavery and Supporter of Catholic Emancipation. Both his wives were Catholic. And he served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the time of Daniel O’Connell. 

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley hear about a Meath man who conquered more land in India, more quickly, than Napoleon conquered in Europe. And yet, he is largely forgotten today - in part because he has been eclipsed by his ungrateful younger brother. Richard Wellesley - whose Irish ancestry dates back to the 12th Century, and whose descendants include the current British King Charles III - was a lifelong opponent of slavery and Supporter of Catholic Emancipation. Both his wives were Catholic. And he served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the time of Daniel O’Connell.&nbsp;

Richard Wellesley: Ireland’s Forgotten Napoleon

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley learn about the Irish who shaped Romanov Russia: including the musketeer Peter de Lacy, who led a daring amphibious assault on Stockholm, and commanded the Russian forces who captured the Crimea (from the Ottoman Turks). 

They also hear about the Wilmot sisters from Cork who formed an exceptional bond with one of the leading lights of the European Enlightenment, Princess Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova. 

The Princess effectively adopted the younger sister, Martha, as her daughter and the two composed, and translated Dashkova’s life story in French and then English. We also learn about the letters sent home by Catherine Wilmot’s maid, Eleanor Cavanagh, who provides a servant’s eye view of Russia’s serfs and palaces.

Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley learn about the Irish who shaped Romanov Russia: including the musketeer Peter de Lacy, who led a daring amphibious assault on Stockholm, and commanded the Russian forces who captured the Crimea (from the Ottoman Turks). They also hear about the Wilmot sisters from Cork who formed an exceptional bond with one of the leading lights of the European Enlightenment, Princess Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova. The Princess effectively adopted the younger sister, Martha, as her daughter and the two composed, and translated Dashkova’s life story in French and then English. We also learn about the letters sent home by Catherine Wilmot’s maid, Eleanor Cavanagh, who provides a servant’s eye view of Russia’s serfs and palaces.

Musketeers, Maids and Memoirists: The Irish in Imperial Russia

Kate O’Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman explore the fact, fiction and folklore surrounding famed ‘Pirate Queen’ Grace O’Malley. Did she really meet Queen Elizabeth I? Did she really kidnap the Lord of Howth’s grandson? How did she navigate the expansion of British power in Ireland? And just how many types of marriage were allowed under Gaelic law? All will be revealed as we track Grace’s journey from Trad Wife to Girl Boss.

Kate O’Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman explore the fact, fiction and folklore surrounding famed ‘Pirate Queen’ Grace O’Malley. Did she really meet Queen Elizabeth I? Did she really kidnap the Lord of Howth’s grandson? How did she navigate the expansion of British power in Ireland? And just how many types of marriage were allowed under Gaelic law? All will be revealed as we track Grace’s journey from Trad Wife to Girl Boss.

Grace O’Malley: Pirate, Chieftain, Traitor? 

We explore a family link acknowledged by Kamala Harris's father, to Hamilton Brown. Brown travelled from Ireland to Jamaica in the 1700s to work as a bookkeeper. He acquired several plantations farmed by enslaved people. As momentum built to abolish the trade, Brown strove to undermine the abolitionist cause and was paid considerable compensation.

Kamala Harris's link to Irish slave owner Hamilton Brown

Born in Derry, Charles Tegart abandoned his studies in TCD, to join the Indian Police. A keen linguist and master of disguise, Tegart frequently met his contacts at night, dressed in turban and beard as a Sikh taxi driver. He survived multiple assassination attempts. Later his work took him to War of Independence Ireland and Palestine.

Charles Tegart, Police Intelligence Officer

Born to a poor Catholic family in Monaghan, Charles Gavan Duffy worked as a journalist, agitator for tenants’ rights, and MP. His failing health and political influence, led him to emigrate to Australia in the 1850s. Greeted as a political celebrity, he was elected to the Parliament of Victoria, serving as a Minister, State Premier and Speaker.

Charles Gavan Duffy, Premier of Victoria

Kerryman David Tuohy captained four ships transporting enslaved Africans to the Caribbean. Dublin sailor James Field Stanfield provided testimony to the abolitionists. As Governor of Jamaica, Howe Peter Browne tried to end enslavement. Kay Donnellan and Frances Cahill went to Trinidad to teach, but were imprisoned for political agitation.

The Irish of The Caribbean: Slave Owners and Whistle Blowers

From workhouse girls to colonial Governors, and from Tangiers to Tasmania, Kate O'Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman uncover the fascinating stories of Irish people whose lives were shaped by their service in, or agitation against, the British Empire.

Irish Imperial Lives

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