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Private Notes
Damien Dempsey explores the life of his grandfather Thomas, who was born in America. Why did his mother bring him home to Ireland, but without his older brother, or her husband? It’s a story that leads Damien to 19th century Fall River Massachusetts to find out about the lives of his ancestors who worked there in the cotton mill industry and right through to Letterfrack in Connemara where he discovers the harsh realities of what life was like for his grandfather who was incarcerated in its notorious industrial school. Also on his father’s side, Damien learns about the heroics of his great grand aunt Jenny Shanahan who fought in Dublin Castle with James Connolly’s Irish Citizen Army in the 1916 Rising. He reflects on the hardship of her life as she struggled to receive her military pension and died at a young age. On his mother’s side, the uncommon surname of Bridgeman opens up a window into an aspect of 19th Century Dublin that Damien had no knowledge of: his ancestor was a respected Freeman of the City – one of few Catholics afforded the privilege – who ends up being accused of treason and rebellion in the era of the Young Irelanders and was incarcerated in the same prison as one of Ireland’s greatest civil rights campaigners Daniel O’Connell.
Pat Shortt can trace his name back five generations in rural Offaly. What appears to be a life of poverty and evictions turns around in the 1850s with the arrival of the railroad in Birr. Three generations of his family made their livelihoods on the tracks.
Music, ambition and invention brings Pat to London to follow the footsteps of his grandfather’s siblings right to the heart of World War II where he discovers the secret work carried out by his mysterious granduncle Brendan during the Blitz.
On his maternal side, Pat discovers a side to his stern grandmother that he had never known before and finally by delving more deeply into his little known maternal side an unexpected door is opened to a murder mystery which gripped Ireland involving one of his ancestors. On the surface, a petty land dispute, but in reality a dark tale of infidelity and intrigue.
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power explores her ancestry, finding secret military officers and a Communist scourge of the Catholic heirarchy.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern explores his family's past bringing him right to the heart of the divisions that were all too common during the Civil War and discovers more about his tight-lipped father's revolutionary youth.
Laura Whitmore's paternal lineage takes her on a journey through the Fenian uprising of 1867, to the various industrial disputes and lockouts in Dublin in the early 20th century, and the deadly Spanish flu epidemic of 1918
Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar traces his roots, including a Singapore born grandfather who was a ceremonial drummer boy for Queen Victoria and an uncle who fought with Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War. Adrian’s paternal family history reveals a long line of Catholic tradespeople who found themselves ghettoised in the predominantly Protestant town of Portadown when partition was introduced in 1921. Adrian himself moved from Enniskillen to Portadown when he was just 10 years old as the Troubles broke out. He visits the town and reflects on the parallels between his own life and that of his ancestors.
On his mother Pauline’s side, there’s a deep-rooted military angle, tied to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers regiment in Enniskillen, which sees Adrian’s grandfather Walter born in Singapore, enlisting as a young boy and acting as the ceremonial drummer boy for Queen Victoria on her visit to Ireland in 1900. With so many of his family members fighting for the British over the generations, Adrian reflects on how times were different when they enlisted and how this would never have been a consideration for him or his brothers.
The religious theme continues through the programme into Europe – Adrian’s Uncle Charles enlisted with the Irish Brigade under Blueshirt Eoin O’Duffy to fight with Franco against ‘godless’ communism during the Spanish Civil War. Adrian traces his journey to the battlefield in Spain where he learns about how his uncle and the other volunteers had no idea what they were letting themselves in for and how the atrocities they witnessed stayed with them for a long time.
