We are paying tribute this week to the late writer and researcher of all things Irish, Manchán Magan who has departed our current world for the next one. We talk about his influence on the recent fire under the belly of Irish culture and share a few pages of his book '99 Words For Rain'.

Good news for the artists of Ireland came in the form of the basic income scheme for artists being stamped as permanent. We hear from writers, playwrights and poets on what this news means and the reality of being an artist in Ireland.

We've got a load of Irish sayings courtesy of listenter Theresa McCormack, a circle of life poem from Tanaaz about her own Granny and a banger of a poem from Derek Walcott as a reminder to be kinder to ourselves.

Our Agony Aunt is back helping someone who has a certain itch to scratch. Filthy carry on, really.

Music this week is from Ciaran Lavery who was recently shortlisted for the Northern Ireland Music Prize.

Hopefully see a few of you at the Rising Tide event this Wednesday.

Ryan and Leon

Poems from the show

Mánchan Magan - 99 Words For Rain

https://www.easons.com/ninety-nine-words-for-rain-and-one-for-sun-manchan-magan-9781804583340?srsltid=AfmBOoqb6KOMGIik3tc1OAUqANYGgiHJ3iML-zn-Vz0QUicV1sOZRep4

Derek Walcott - Love After Love

https://allpoetry.com/love-after-love

Leon Dunne - Scars On The Landscape

Tanaaz Kothawalla - Mangoes And Granny

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/poe_tryforme/

Agony Aunt - A Man

Music by Ciaran Lavery

https://ciaranlaverymusic.com/

Support the show

Original music by Matthew Keating
Artwork by Paddy Downey
Introduction and co-produced by Lisa Downey

Alright, alright, alright...it was too tempting to type so leave us alone.

How else do you expect us to start this podcast description when we're celebrating the poetry of Matthew McConaughey? Exactly. There are many poems we could have shared from his new books 'Poems and Prayers' but we went with Tips Included. Its a 2 hour listen to complete the audiobook, so create some space in your week and listen to his new book on Spotify asap.

After a week in Benalmadena, Ryan came home to Ireland gasping for a bit of Irish craic and, as fate would have it, that is exactly the subject of Irish Times columnist Brianna Parkins' column in the weekend edition that we picked up on arrival home, so we share her piece.

We have poetry from Norma Gill about believing in the future when grief arrives, a poem about a lesbian date that came with an unexpected twist and we also have our first ever trilingual poem!

Thanks for everyone's support. We would love to see the show expand so if you do like the show, please do review, like and tell your mates.

Yup poetry

Ryan and Leon

Poems from the podcast

Tips Included - Matthew McConaughey

https://greenlights.com/

Brianna Parkins - Good chat? Only when you leave Ireland, you realise it isn't universal - Irish Times Weekend Magazine Column - 27th September 2025

https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/brianna-parkins/

Norma Gill - The Rocky Patch

https://www.instagram.com/_words_to_soothe_/?hl=en

Ola Majekodunmi - On Her Own Terms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn9iQ_9lWi8

Hannah Porter - Lesbian Van

https://www.instagram.com/hannahkatep_/

Agony Aunt - Thought Invader

Music from Ben Reid - The Risen People

https://www.tiktok.com/@benreid___/video/7554574732532649218

Support the show

Original music by Matthew Keating
Artwork by Paddy Downey
Introduction and co-produced by Lisa Downey

We have a chonky boy of an episode for you this week!

Due to the magical powers of our sound man, the wonderful Finn O'Reilly (@finnreuben), we present to you our Culture Night episode recorded live at The LAB in Dublin.

This episode is an absolute banger, where we cover everything from poetry, comedy, storytelling and music ( interpretive dance doesn't transfer over to audio very well sadly).

First up we have the amazing Aoife Dunne (@aoife_is-never_dunne) who opens up our show and not only has our audience in fits of laughter, but also strums on the heartstrings with her personally reflective poetry. Ryan is in then for a post-performance chat with Aoife about all things writing.

Next up the Corkonian Bard that is Daragh Fleming (@daraghfleming) speaks of the dark side of masculinity and how he plans to raise the baddest men on the planet (by making them be sound). Leon swoops in after for a sophisticated chat about Daragh's writing process.

Third up the amazing Eve (@allthingsevemusic) serenades us with her incredible lyrics and powerful voice. Leon chats with Eve about what it's like writing in a different language.

The last of our fantastic performers- Danni Culllen (@dannicullen_gypsy_soul) lures you into the ancient art of storytelling with a tale from the myths of Irish folklore. Ryan is up after to chat about where one can go to learn such a craft.

Finally to wrap up the show, we have several audience members grace the stage with some amazing poetry that they wrote on the night! It was amazing to hear such incredible pieces that were made up on the hoof. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you to everyone who contributed x

Support the show

Original music by Matthew Keating
Artwork by Paddy Downey
Introduction and co-produced by Lisa Downey