"My grandfather, Edward O'Rahilly grew up in Corofin, Co Clare. A box of medals showed he’d been “involved” in the fight for freedom... But his children never elaborated on what exactly their father had done in his Corofin days." To close, @HelenORahilly cracks a family mystery

"It’s often recounted how John Lennon came to my county of Mayo with his girlfriend, Yoko Ono, in June 1968, having bought an island called Dorinish. It ruffled a few feathers at the time. Some disapproved; others – mostly younger -- admired them for it..." @AidanHynes5 is next

"When I was a child, my two unmarried aunts opened a bookshop in Waterford. They called it Waterford Books. Standing on a corner, across from the Savoy Cinema on Broad Street, it was a decent-sized premises..." A Sniff of Christmas by Peter Cunningham is next @PCTheAuthor

"It's the light, isn't it, that makes winter special in Ireland. Certainly not the bone-chilling cold or the snotty damp, fog settling on the windows of the bus, a smiley face fingered on the glass by an unhappy schoolchild..." Winter Light by Niall McArdle is next @RTERadio1

"The day school broke up for Christmas we used to cross Belfast to collect my grandmother. The drive back to our house in Holywood took us through Ardoyne. As we turned left at Palace Barracks, my granny would say. ‘That’s where my daddy was stationed’..." Louise Kennedy is next

"His observations on players were magnificent. Before anyone, Con spotted the genius of Paul McGrath..." Donal Fallon is up first this morning with 'From Castle Island to Emmet Road: Con Houlihan at 100' #sundaymiscellany #Inchicore @RTERadio1 @fallon_donal

From Castle Island to Clew Bay, Ardoyne to Inchicore: winter light, war stories + more #Sundaymiscellany 7 Dec @RTERadio1 #conhoulihan #johnlennon with @fallon_donal Louise Kennedy Niall McArdle @PCTheAuthor @AidanHynes5 @HelenORahilly Tune in! @djkormac @CormacBegley Tune in!

One of the most emotional nights of my writing life! An honour to be part of Ireland's beloved Christmas @RTESunMisc recording in @NCH_Music with @rte_co, @PalestrinaChoir @lisalambe and @presidentirl Uachtaráin Catherine Connolly in the audience!

⁦@RTESunMisc⁩ Christmas concert is as great as everyone says. Congratulations to the great Sarah Binchy and her team ⁦@RTERadio1⁩ and to the fantastic Robert Read and his ⁦@NCH_Music⁩ - national treasures! Great to meet ⁦@PresidentIRL⁩ too.

Full line-up this morning: George and Harry, by Roslyn Dee; The Great Liberties Whiskey Fire, by Las Fallon; Omnia Vanitas, by Sharon Hogan; Blethering, by John Toal; Meeting the Poet, by Oliver Sears, And Happiness, a poem by Enda Wyley. @RTERadio1 #DerekMahon #MaryLavin

Bicycles and Belfast boys, a long-forgotten fire in the Liberties and a poet in Kinsale: Sunday Miscellany is on air now! #GeorgeBest #HarryGregg #DerekMahon #MaryLavin with Rosyln Dee, Las Fallon, Sharon Hogan, @johnnytoal Oliver Sears @endawyley @dedalusbooks @RTERadio1

"My grand-uncle, Mick Hogan, was just 24 when he walked onto the pitch and he never walked off..." @louise_hogan1 closes this morning's programme, a rebroadcast of our #bloodysunday centenary special @RTERadio1 #sundaymiscellany

"The events of Bloody Sunday in Croke Park quickly took on a national historical significance which occluded the suffering of the bereaved. This is what ordinarily happens in time of war: the rollcall of the dead is absorbed into a conflict..." Paul Rouse, next: Grief and History

"At 9 o’clock on a Sunday morning in November 1920, Percival Smith answered a knock at the door. His father wasn’t dressed yet, so his mother sent the boy..." Voices from Bloody Sunday Morning by Anne Dolan, next #sundaymiscellany @RTERadio1

"On the day of the match, my father was the designated placekicker and was about to take a place kick when an airplane appeared overhead and dropped a red flare..." Anthony Ryan, son of Tipperary player Tommy Ryan, is next #BloodySunday #sundaymiscellany

"It was spring 2007 when Bloody Sunday started to reel me in. I was reporting for the Sunday Times from Croke Park on the Ireland-England rugby game that drew so much commentary at the time..." @MickFoley76 is next with The Bloodied Field #sundaymiscellany #bloodysunday

"On that late November Sunday, the sight of a small spotter plane circling the Croke Park pitch at Jones Road caused concern to my father Jack Shouldice, and the other members of the Volunteer Dependents Fund Committee..." The late Chris Shouldice is next with The Sunday of Blood

"The ‘freedom machine’ remains the only way to traverse this historied old city. When travelling by bicycle, you are part of your environment, cultural and built, rather than looking at it through yet another screen..." First up this morning is @Rego101 Colin Regan @RTERadio1

Coming up 9am @RTERadio1 23 Nov 2025 Voices from Bloody Sunday, 1920: a special programme marking the anniversary of one of the worst days of violence of the War of Independence: @Rego101 Chris Shouldice @MickFoley76 Anthony Ryan Anne Dolan Paul Rouse @louise_hogan1 Tune in!

Had a wonderful evening at the launch of @RTESunMisc book, where my poem found its home among voices I deeply admire. Grateful to the ever-gracious Sarah Binchy and delighted to meet the profoundly moving poet, Denise Blake.