What makes his book so valuable, however, are the quirky subjects he chooses to illustrate how history really works: the great winter freeze of 1740 and the famine that followed; crime and duelling; an emigrant voyage; evictions. These episodes get behind the historical headlines to give a glimpse of past realities that might otherwise be lost to view.

The author has retained the original episodic structure of the radio programmes. The result is a marvellous mosaic of the Irish past, delivered with clarity and narrative skill.