Thank you for your service to the US and thank you for this great information about Ireland. As a 3rd generation Irish/American mutt, I appreciate this
That was a great discussion lads. I'm from the Camlough Road, in Newry. Grew up in the 70's and 80's in South Armagh and like Kevin, I heard the Narrow Water bomb go off. I've got to tell youse, it was refreshing to listen to a discussion about the Troubles on the You Tube between two people who actually knew the subject and had a reasonably balanced view. Keep up the good work, I love the podcast. Fair play.
Thankyou guys, yes we want more Irish stories, keep them coming. I could listen for hours. God bless you from northwest Iowa, brings back memories of my dad & his stories of Ireland, especially west Cork. I remember watching the Nightly news in the 70s &80s with dad about the troubles in Ireland. I didnt understand much then but this is fascinating now. Thankyou again from Iowa
Fellas, I grew up in the North 1971 to 1992, now in USA for past 30 years. The knowledge you just imparted to me was fascinating, I would love to hear more of this topic. I have been a copper out here for 24 years, so I love all the tactical information from the IRA verses Brit’s. Keep up the awesome work.
I was attached to UK forces during the initial push into iraq in 03. As part of a 6 man team. Before the war we were staged on the border and were at a british chow tent grabbing some sausage and beans. I was approached by a British army colonel who saw my last name (irish butchered at ellis island). He stops with his staff, looks at me and says “hey colonist, where are you from?” I reply “America”. He says “no shit, where did your family come from because nobody is from there.” I say, “ireland”. He asks when and i reply before the civil war. He looks at me and says “i dont know if that is long enough to breed the stupidity out of you!” An Irish regiment NCO yelled and a scotsman from blackwatch got in the mix. Almost turned into a brawl. What was crazy is he was serious… i was approached by a Capt who told me the United Kingdom is anything but united..
"Hey Colonist" sure if he's in The British army he wasn't a true Irishman he's a hypocrite for saying that. Irish Republicans have been Fighting the British for centries and were successful in getting back 26 counties. There are still 6 counties in the north that Irish Republicans are still fighting for through peaceful means.
Sounds like they just needed a excuse for a brawl. The British Army loves fighting eachother if there are no other people to fight. I remember in Berlin there was huge brawl between Royal Green Jackets and the King's Regiment, and they're both English Regiments.
Man if only that Colonel knew how many people in America are mutts such as myself. Would have been interesting to see his reaction to a U.S. soldier that was a Native.
Great listening. As a child born in the UK to Irish immigrant parents, moving back to Ireland in the mid 90’s to then moved back to the UK I have my own memories of what transpired but these facts really tell a story. I am now living in the US and I am active duty US Army so best of luck with going SF Oisin.
I was born and raised in upstate NY, but my dad's side of the family is from Derry. We watched RTE on our Public Broadcast Station everyday and The Troubles were background music for my childhood- we followed it pretty closely. A REALLY informative book about the nitty-gritty details of the period is called "Say Nothing." The author goes into EXTREMELY deep detail about the inner workings of Provo command in the context of the bigger picture.
Thank you! Would love to hear more about Ireland and your experiences there. Americans usually get a condensed version and it’s great to hear it from people that actually lived there.
Kevin, absolutely fascinating session with Oisin. This was a great introduction to what is clearly a very complex subject. Would love some in-depth sessions on the history leading to the modern Irish state, the context for Irish independence in the post-WWI period, a review of the ‘Troubles’ politics, and the post-Brexit landscape and Irish future. Just a great discussion. More, please!
I'm loving the chats lads. 9 years in the Irish Army Band of the Western Command and the Number 1 Army Band. Started off in the Artane Boys Band, Living in San Diego now. All the best, Gerard
100% would like more of this. Barely scratched the surface of this fascinating history and both of you give such a good insight. Could listen to 3+ hours of this in one go
Thank you very much for this fascinating piece of history and opinion, as a european citizen growing up with the Northern Ireland Conflict, this was a great piece of education. Thank you very much, all the best to you and keep up the great work. The internet needs more of that for sure.
My Mum (Norwegian) and Dad lived in Belfast through the 70's and so interesting to hear about the military side of things, especially some of the stories like the the laundry business. As civilians they always maintained that you weren't at much risk if not involved politically but did have various close shaves including witnessing a shooting on a Saturday morning while out shopping for food - they were medics and tried to resuscitate the victim but were unsuccessful. I worked in the US in the early 2000s and remember being shocked by the fundraising that went on to fund the IRA.
This is cool I wrote a paper on the political ending of the troubles in hs and have had an interest ever since so getting to hear 1st person accounts is interesting RLTW Kevin
What a wonderful conversation about a fascinating topic. My parents were vacationing in Europe in the 90's during The Troubles, and a train station they'd been at just hours before was bombed. The topic has interested me a lot since I was a kid, and I'd love to learn more about this complicated subject. It seems so different from the UW and FID we'd trained for at 19th Group. Any good book or documentary recommendations?
Any book written by Martin Dillon on the subject..also search BBC iplayer about the 'Troubles ' a few very good programs researched by first class journalists.
A very interesting video . Grew up in north. Armagh during the troubles. As Oisin mentioned the nationalists were told basically education education education. Can’t recall the reason why but life in n.i. was horrible during those times. Was taught by the De La Salle brothers and the stories were similar LOL!! . 1972 started my apprenticeship at a training school 5 miles from Belfast . That was an experience. That area I lived in was part of what was known then as the murder triangle. In 1977 emigrated to Oz.
This was really interesting. I grew up in Dublin in the 1980's and remember watching the Troubles unfold. I remember as a very young guy meeting Catholic refugees who had been burnt out of their Homes in Belfast and had to move to the south. I would love to hear more about your time in the Rangers too. ( I don't think the Irish Government even admitted that they existed in the 1980's)
As an American, I'm deeply intrigued by this history of Ireland. Information about this is hard to come by in the U.S. Especially giving the details of ALL of the groups involved. Here, most of us (Gen X) only thought is was IRA vs British Army. I never knew there were SO MANY moving parts and groups. Fascinating, albeit complicated.
kevin do you plan on doing anymore podcasts with this gentlemen? his knowledge on this topic is incredible, i especially want to hear u 2 talk about the clock work orange conspiracy
Just got back from a two week trip to Ireland. While in Belfast I took the black cab tour and visited all the murals and neighborhoods where a lot of this history took place. I am now fascinated with this topic. To me, as an American, I was somewhat shocked to see IRA signs in so many towns in plain site, however, after gaining a deeper understanding of this topic it makes more sense. Lastly, seeing so much of a palpable political situation in Ireland made me wonder if this is going to kick off again soon, especially with Boris Johnson no longer being Prime Minister of the UK
Let's hope not, eh? The 'New' IRA ( worse name than the 'Real' IRA) just slotted a PSNI police inspector recently. Long war , long peace; Whatever you think of Adams, he knew 'democracy' & demographics will deliver; what , a 32 county socialist democratic republic? Good luck with that in the European super state. Watched a documentary last night that revealed Paisley paid for the explosives in 65/66 false flag ops. Great potted history of 'troubles', INLA & all. Grew still in clink? Best of lads, cheers.
Kevin, was that you in the top middle right of the school picture? Interesting conversation, as an Irish Catholic American I was truly enthralled by the stories
As a kid growing up in the 90s as a Catholic in New York I never understood what was going on in Ireland when our church would always say they were sending prayers to Northern Ireland for the war. Thank you for this breakdown of the events
That’s a right good chat lads! I was born and raised in Wexford, emigrated to the US in my mid 20’s and been here ever since. I was pretty far removed from the troubles up north growing up and never really took a shine to politics until around 2009 here in the US. It wasn’t until then that I started to understand just how interconnected politicians and their agendas were in the US, Ireland and the EU. It’s a different day now in how things are done, but still the same agenda. It’s absolutely shocking to the party of the real IRA with Mary Lou (Ireland’s version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) sitting at the top! Was even a bigger shock to see her having Black Lives Matter supporters outside the campaign headquarters and signs saying Sinn Fein supports BLM when she thought it would get her more votes. As brutal as it was in the north back in the day, at least everyone knew their place and who their opposition was.
Great podcast!! Count me as someone who'd love to hear more. The 'Troubles' is something that's intrigued me since grade school when our Irish nuns used to talk about it. I read Bobby Sands' diary a few years back, and I don't see how anyone could fault a Catholic from at least being sympathetic to the IRA.
It’s interesting listening to it from a Border/southern Irish point of view. As a Protestant Scottish Brit who served there in the 1990s and whose father served there from 1969 through the 70s we really lost interest after your first tour. After tour No 1, you didn’t care about anyone, catholic, Protestant, you cared about getting home, you went out on patrol, hard targeted everywhere and couldn’t wait to get home. One thing I will say: The drug was controlled by the paramilitaries in Belfast.
Kevin's accent progressively became more Irish sitting down with his fellow Irishman. By the end of the conversation I lost them a few times, lol. Htf does Owen's not have Sean Ryan views on his podcast? This man was doing Goon sht, and killing baddies, while most of our parents were at at recess. When I think of SOF, I think of Kevin Ownes. Igaf if I sound like a fanboi, because I can guarantee he could humble anyone, within 5 mins of listening to his accolades.
Thank you for your service to the US and thank you for this great information about Ireland. As a 3rd generation Irish/American mutt, I appreciate this
That was a great discussion lads. I'm from the Camlough Road, in Newry. Grew up in the 70's and 80's in South Armagh and like Kevin, I heard the Narrow Water bomb go off.
I've got to tell youse, it was refreshing to listen to a discussion about the Troubles on the You Tube between two people who actually knew the subject and had a reasonably balanced view.
Keep up the good work, I love the podcast. Fair play.
Would love to see Oisín back on, he has has great insight and is very well educated on the matter.
That was wonderful. I could easily listen to you two talk for hours. PLEASE do more
Thankyou guys, yes we want more Irish stories, keep them coming. I could listen for hours. God bless you from northwest Iowa, brings back memories of my dad & his stories of Ireland, especially west Cork. I remember watching the Nightly news in the 70s &80s with dad about the troubles in Ireland. I didnt understand much then but this is fascinating now. Thankyou again from Iowa
Fellow Fiachra here, Mom from down the road, Dad from up the road. Love your stuff, thanks a million. Beir buadh!
Thank you for watching
Fellas, I grew up in the North 1971 to 1992, now in USA for past 30 years. The knowledge you just imparted to me was fascinating, I would love to hear more of this topic. I have been a copper out here for 24 years, so I love all the tactical information from the IRA verses Brit’s. Keep up the awesome work.
Kevin, your episodes with Oisin are absolutely fantastic. More, please.
I was attached to UK forces during the initial push into iraq in 03. As part of a 6 man team. Before the war we were staged on the border and were at a british chow tent grabbing some sausage and beans. I was approached by a British army colonel who saw my last name (irish butchered at ellis island). He stops with his staff, looks at me and says “hey colonist, where are you from?” I reply “America”. He says “no shit, where did your family come from because nobody is from there.” I say, “ireland”. He asks when and i reply before the civil war. He looks at me and says “i dont know if that is long enough to breed the stupidity out of you!” An Irish regiment NCO yelled and a scotsman from blackwatch got in the mix. Almost turned into a brawl. What was crazy is he was serious… i was approached by a Capt who told me the United Kingdom is anything but united..
"Hey Colonist" sure if he's in The British army he wasn't a true Irishman he's a hypocrite for saying that.
Irish Republicans have been Fighting the British for centries and were successful in getting back 26 counties. There are still 6 counties in the north that Irish Republicans are still fighting for through peaceful means.
The word united kingdom is only there because of northern Ireland that word will soon cease to exist
Sounds like they just needed a excuse for a brawl. The British Army loves fighting eachother if there are no other people to fight. I remember in Berlin there was huge brawl between Royal Green Jackets and the King's Regiment, and they're both English Regiments.
So the Irish regiment nco and blackwatch solider started fighting u? Each other? The other brit?
Man if only that Colonel knew how many people in America are mutts such as myself. Would have been interesting to see his reaction to a U.S. soldier that was a Native.
Great listening. As a child born in the UK to Irish immigrant parents, moving back to Ireland in the mid 90’s to then moved back to the UK I have my own memories of what transpired but these facts really tell a story. I am now living in the US and I am active duty US Army so best of luck with going SF Oisin.
I've watched a documentary or two about the conflict, but this did more for me to understand it than any of them.
Glad you enjoyed it
Have listened to this podcast before. But just finished watching “Say Nothing” and came back to re-listen. Great discussion!
My family is from Donegal. Great great grandfather came here at the turn of the 20th. Wish I knew more about him!
I was born and raised in upstate NY, but my dad's side of the family is from Derry. We watched RTE on our Public Broadcast Station everyday and The Troubles were background music for my childhood- we followed it pretty closely. A REALLY informative book about the nitty-gritty details of the period is called "Say Nothing." The author goes into EXTREMELY deep detail about the inner workings of Provo command in the context of the bigger picture.
Thank you for this discussion. It was simultaneously enlightening and thoroughly confusing.
Hopefully further installments are planned for the future.
This was great to listen to. Thank you!
I really want to hear more from Oisin. Seems like a great guy. SF would be lucky to have him.
Thank you! Would love to hear more about Ireland and your experiences there. Americans usually get a condensed version and it’s great to hear it from people that actually lived there.
For balance find people that lived in ulster and bear in mind that each side has pretty strong views.
Such a good conversation. Thanks for sharing
This is extremely interesting. I can listen to these stories all day!!
Kevin, absolutely fascinating session with Oisin. This was a great introduction to what is clearly a very complex subject.
Would love some in-depth sessions on the history leading to the modern Irish state, the context for Irish independence in the post-WWI period, a review of the ‘Troubles’ politics, and the post-Brexit landscape and Irish future.
Just a great discussion. More, please!
I'm loving the chats lads. 9 years in the Irish Army Band of the Western Command and the Number 1 Army Band. Started off in the Artane Boys Band, Living in San Diego now. All the best, Gerard
@gerardnolanmusic Hi Gerard, my children's father served with the BWC following the ASM, Dublin. What years did you serve
100% would like more of this. Barely scratched the surface of this fascinating history and both of you give such a good insight. Could listen to 3+ hours of this in one go
Thank you very much for this fascinating piece of history and opinion, as a european citizen growing up with the Northern Ireland Conflict, this was a great piece of education. Thank you very much, all the best to you and keep up the great work. The internet needs more of that for sure.
I can’t like this enough!! Great podcast!!! Such amazing stories! Thank you both!
An episode I never thought I needed.
Thank you gentlemen!
Awesome episode, thanks for posting!
Thanks for sharing this. 🍻
Love to hear more, both current and historical.
Great conversation, would love more of this. Very interested to hear about IRA/counter insurgency tactics from a guy who fought in the GWOT.
Outstanding, would love to hear more
I absolutely need more of these discussions.
This was incredibly interesting! I’d be interested in hearing more and learning
More please keepem coming I can’t get enough
Growing up we always breezed through the troubles but I was always super interested in it. Love hearing these stories.
My Mum (Norwegian) and Dad lived in Belfast through the 70's and so interesting to hear about the military side of things, especially some of the stories like the the laundry business. As civilians they always maintained that you weren't at much risk if not involved politically but did have various close shaves including witnessing a shooting on a Saturday morning while out shopping for food - they were medics and tried to resuscitate the victim but were unsuccessful. I worked in the US in the early 2000s and remember being shocked by the fundraising that went on to fund the IRA.
We want more of this!! 🇮🇪🇬🇧🇺🇸
Excellent conversation lads,from a Newry man that’s served in the 27th battalion for over 15 years
Awesome! More please!
Hell yeah! More of this Irish stuff please. And again I ask you try and infiltrate the Jocko Podcast for a good one!. Thanks again brother
This is cool I wrote a paper on the political ending of the troubles in hs and have had an interest ever since so getting to hear 1st person accounts is interesting RLTW Kevin
As an Irish man living in Ireland, great insight, brilliant.
What a wonderful conversation about a fascinating topic. My parents were vacationing in Europe in the 90's during The Troubles, and a train station they'd been at just hours before was bombed. The topic has interested me a lot since I was a kid, and I'd love to learn more about this complicated subject. It seems so different from the UW and FID we'd trained for at 19th Group. Any good book or documentary recommendations?
Any book written by Martin Dillon on the subject..also search BBC iplayer about the 'Troubles ' a few very good programs researched by first class journalists.
Super interesting! You guys absolutely should do this again!
A very interesting video . Grew up in north. Armagh during the troubles. As Oisin mentioned the nationalists were told basically education education education. Can’t recall the reason why but life in n.i. was horrible during those times. Was taught by the De La Salle brothers and the stories were similar LOL!! . 1972 started my apprenticeship at a training school 5 miles from Belfast . That was an experience. That area I lived in was part of what was known then as the murder triangle. In 1977 emigrated to Oz.
Glad you got away, thanks for the comment
Fantastic!! More please!!
I love hearing about what’s going on over in Ireland, and about its history. Keep the content coming.
This was awesome! So cool to hear about all this stuff! Keep up the fantastic job Kevin and hope to hear more on this.
I absolutely loved this chat. Thanks guys.
From Shaun in Kerry
Would love to know how Oisin did with SF,Cavan man watching in Australia,love. The podcasts
Thank you for this. Please do it again; soon and often if possible!
Great content as always, keep it up mate
This was really interesting. I grew up in Dublin in the 1980's and remember watching the Troubles unfold. I remember as a very young guy meeting Catholic refugees who had been burnt out of their Homes in Belfast and had to move to the south. I would love to hear more about your time in the Rangers too. ( I don't think the Irish Government even admitted that they existed in the 1980's)
The rangers were only formed early 1980s good too that Ireland moved into a new modern era 🇮🇪
Great interview! Would love to get on the show Kevin.
I also heard that knee orthopedics in Ireland were world class. Because of all the practice putting knees back together.
Now a days paramilitaries do kneecapings above the knee itself. How things change lol
Simply... Thank you both.
Great to listen too thanks
Great episode, interesting topic and very informative.
As an American, I'm deeply intrigued by this history of Ireland.
Information about this is hard to come by in the U.S. Especially giving the details of ALL of the groups involved. Here, most of us (Gen X) only thought is was IRA vs British Army. I never knew there were SO MANY moving parts and groups.
Fascinating, albeit complicated.
Good stuff boys. Great knowledge of the conflict in the north
We need a part 2!
Man I knew it was complicated over there but wow. Really appreciate listening to this history.
Please do this again!
kevin do you plan on doing anymore podcasts with this gentlemen? his knowledge on this topic is incredible, i especially want to hear u 2 talk about the clock work orange conspiracy
He has look for one about ‘The Fenian Brotherhood’
@@Jobbazz i found it last night, i want to hear him tlk about clock work orange as well one day.
Outstanding episode, very informative, thank you
I could listen to this for hours, we heard some and read more but this is amazing.
Great podcsst!!!!
Excellent discussion.
Actually very interesting conversation Kevin, I’d love to hear more about Oisíns journey to sf
Just got back from a two week trip to Ireland. While in Belfast I took the black cab tour and visited all the murals and neighborhoods where a lot of this history took place. I am now fascinated with this topic. To me, as an American, I was somewhat shocked to see IRA signs in so many towns in plain site, however, after gaining a deeper understanding of this topic it makes more sense. Lastly, seeing so much of a palpable political situation in Ireland made me wonder if this is going to kick off again soon, especially with Boris Johnson no longer being Prime Minister of the UK
Let's hope not, eh? The 'New' IRA ( worse name than the 'Real' IRA) just slotted a PSNI police inspector recently. Long war , long peace; Whatever you think of Adams, he knew 'democracy' & demographics will deliver; what , a 32 county socialist democratic republic? Good luck with that in the European super state. Watched a documentary last night that revealed Paisley paid for the explosives in 65/66 false flag ops. Great potted history of 'troubles', INLA & all. Grew still in clink? Best of lads, cheers.
I would really love to hear more of this.
Great talk guys. This is awesome
Great interview Kevin
A great chat about a period of history I was pretty shielded from living down the south. More please
loved this and would love to hear more
Could listen too you two for years
Loved this! Learned so much more!
Absolutely phenomenal
learned A Lot from this I've got ancestry from 1600's county Tyrone and county Sligo which I suppose is in the trouble area.
I thought this was really interesting and would love to hear more!
As an American that don't k own anything about that stuff that was fascinating
Dope! This is gonna be good
Kevin, was that you in the top middle right of the school picture? Interesting conversation, as an Irish Catholic American I was truly enthralled by the stories
As a kid growing up in the 90s as a Catholic in New York I never understood what was going on in Ireland when our church would always say they were sending prayers to Northern Ireland for the war. Thank you for this breakdown of the events
I enjoyed this , a good yarn
That’s a right good chat lads!
I was born and raised in Wexford, emigrated to the US in my mid 20’s and been here ever since. I was pretty far removed from the troubles up north growing up and never really took a shine to politics until around 2009 here in the US. It wasn’t until then that I started to understand just how interconnected politicians and their agendas were in the US, Ireland and the EU.
It’s a different day now in how things are done, but still the same agenda.
It’s absolutely shocking to the party of the real IRA with Mary Lou (Ireland’s version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) sitting at the top! Was even a bigger shock to see her having Black Lives Matter supporters outside the campaign headquarters and signs saying Sinn Fein supports BLM when she thought it would get her more votes.
As brutal as it was in the north back in the day, at least everyone knew their place and who their opposition was.
Fantastic overview. Would love more and if possibly in depth. Include required reading!
This is gonna be rad.
That was great Craic!!😃👍🏼🍀
Reasonable take on the situation.
In for more of this
Very interesting 👍 👍
This was great most I've learned about the troubles
Great podcast!! Count me as someone who'd love to hear more. The 'Troubles' is something that's intrigued me since grade school when our Irish nuns used to talk about it. I read Bobby Sands' diary a few years back, and I don't see how anyone could fault a Catholic from at least being sympathetic to the IRA.
They (the IRA) killed quite a few Irish Catholics, I'm not sure if that sits easy with you.
It’s interesting listening to it from a Border/southern Irish point of view. As a Protestant Scottish Brit who served there in the 1990s and whose father served there from 1969 through the 70s we really lost interest after your first tour. After tour No 1, you didn’t care about anyone, catholic, Protestant, you cared about getting home, you went out on patrol, hard targeted everywhere and couldn’t wait to get home.
One thing I will say: The drug was controlled by the paramilitaries in Belfast.
MORE!!!!
loved it, yes i want more.
Very interesting, do you see parallels with the current situation in the USA?
Fascinating
Great! Cheers :)
Kevin's accent progressively became more Irish sitting down with his fellow Irishman. By the end of the conversation I lost them a few times, lol.
Htf does Owen's not have Sean Ryan views on his podcast? This man was doing Goon sht, and killing baddies, while most of our parents were at at recess. When I think of SOF, I think of Kevin Ownes. Igaf if I sound like a fanboi, because I can guarantee he could humble anyone, within 5 mins of listening to his accolades.