Athlone man’s podcast marks 50 years since Dublin bombings

Athlone man Ciarán O'Connor has recorded a new six-part podcast series for RTÉ, entitled The Forgotten, about the tragic Dublin and Monaghan bombings which took place 50 years ago this Friday.

On May 17, 1974, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonated three bombs in the centre of Dublin, and another bomb in Monaghan, killing 33 people and injuring almost 300. It was one of the deadliest attacks carried out during the Troubles, and no one has ever been charged in relation to the atrocity.

Ahead of Friday's anniversary, Ciarán and Barry Lenihan of RTÉ recorded The Forgotten, which was launched by the national broadcaster last week as a radio and podcast series.

Ciarán's aunt, Ann Marren, who was aged just 20 at the time, was killed instantly when one of the bombs went off in the centre of Dublin in 1974.

He explained that she was on her way home to Sligo for the weekend and had left her workplace, the Department of Poles and Telegraphs, in Hawkins House, before making her way down Talbot Street towards Connolly Station.

Ciarán said that Ann was "unfortunately, caught up in the Talbot Street bomb".

"She was going to get a train back to Sligo that evening, and she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

"It's always been a story that I've been aware of, to a degree, and one our family has been aware of over the years. We've attended some of the anniversary Masses in Dublin. We went to the Mass for the 40th anniversary in 2014 as well."

Ann was walking down to the street with two friends, Marian Keenan, who was also from Sligo and Josephine Bradley from Kilcormac when they all heard the first explosion on Parnell Street and kept walking down Talbot Street towards Connolly Station to catch a train home.

Their stories are covered in episode one of the podcast series. Ann was killed instantly, while Josephine survived for a few days before dying the following Monday. Marian suffered injuries but survived.

Ciarán's mother, Margaret recalls the day in the podcast. She was working as a nurse in Scotland and the gardai contacted the police in Scotland who informed the hospital of Ann's fate.

As he has gotten older, Ciarán has become more interested in the story and had the idea of working on a project related to the events of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

"The 50th anniversary provided a good opportunity to revisit the story and the aftermath of it and also to, I suppose, raise awareness about it, because despite it being the deadliest attack of the Troubles, and also a seminal incident in the history of our Republic, there's maybe a lack of awareness about it, among younger generations in particular."

He believes that the podcast reflects how a lot of the families were "left to get on with things" following the tragedy. "There was no counselling, there was no real support system," he said.

He added that part of his motivation for creating the podcast was to tell the stories of those who died or were injured and to raise awareness.

Ciarán approached Barry Lenihan of RTÉ to work on the project during the Covid-19 pandemic, which gave the pair plenty of time to devote to it ahead of the 50th anniversary.

Ciarán added that the podcast series retraces what happened on the day of the bombings, and what has happened in the 50 years since, as well as exploring how survivors and bereaved families are still fighting for justice and truth.

"A number of cars had been stolen in kind-of UVF territory in Belfast that morning, that were later used as car bombs in Dublin, but there was very little ever done about it really.

"There was an initial Garda investigation in 1974, but it was essentially wound down by August, in both Dublin and Monaghan, and that's kind of how things stayed for a long time," said Ciarán.

It wasn't until 1993 that the UVF claimed responsibility for the attacks, with this coming off the back of a documentary made in the UK by Yorkshire Television, called Hidden Hand, The Forgotten Massacre.

Ciarán said that the podcast examined the wider political climate of the time and looked at reasons or questions around why the Garda investigation ended so quickly.

"We've spoken to over almost 70 people as part of the podcast, and that includes dozens of survivors or bereaved or even eyewitnesses, but also we've spoken to researchers and academics."

The local man also made contact with some former members of British Intelligence who were working in the North at the time and who have spoken out about collusion that was taking place around that time.

Interviews were also conducted by Ciarán and Barry across the Republic, Belfast and England.

Speaking about the experience of creating the new podcast, Ciarán stated: "It's been very educational and it's been very enjoyable. I'm very lucky to be able to speak to so many people, who've been so generous with their time, and to kind of tell the stories of what are some of the most difficult and challenging moments in their lives and the lives of their loved ones."

He continued: "It's been a very interesting and enjoyable process in that regard, being able to tell these stories and bring it to a large platform and hopefully ensure that these people are not forgotten in that sense, that their stories are told."

Ciarán has been happy with the response to The Forgotten so far and said that he has received lots of supportive texts from friends and family to date.

He has worked on a number of different podcasts previously, including one which focused on a big crypto scam in 2021.

Ciarán also works as a Disinformation Analyst with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based think tank which specialises in monitoring disinformation, extremism and hate online.

* Episodes of 'The Forgotten' started to be broadcast on RTÉ Radio One last week. You can listen to the six-part series on the RTÉ website, the RTÉ Radio app, or on podcast platforms such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts.