A new podcast exploring some of the most dramatic and little-known stories from 200 years of Irish policing has been launched in partnership with Acast.
The Póilíní Podcast is presented by Garda historian Dr John Reynolds and writer and journalist Helen Moorhouse, with each episode drawing on a different story from the history of policing in Ireland and beyond.
Produced by Tinpot Productions and hosted by Acast, the series will examine cases involving serving police officers, their families, criminals and wider Irish society.
Among the stories featured are that of a policeman who administered first aid at a graveside in Wicklow shortly before his own execution, a riot in a Kilkenny laneway in 1831 whose legacy can still be heard in football chants today, and an attack on four Irish policemen in an Australian swamp that contributed to the downfall of one of history’s most notorious outlaws.
The producers describe the series as a collection of stories about “duty and danger, life and the law, police and perpetrators”, drawing on more than two centuries of Irish policing history.
Dr Reynolds spent 40 years as a member of An Garda Síochána, working across surveillance, serious crime investigations, disaster victim identification and frontline emergency dispatch.
Since retiring from the force, he has founded the Garda Museum and served as chief coordinator for the Garda centenary.
He is joined by Helen Moorhouse, a writer, journalist and novelist with a particular interest in history.
Together, the pair will use historical records and individual case histories to reconstruct events involving members of the various policing organisations that have operated in Ireland and Irish officers who served overseas.
The series aims to place individual stories within their wider social and historical context, while also looking at the lives of the people behind the uniforms and the communities in which they served.
Each episode will take a story from what the producers describe as a “policeman’s notebook”, using it as the starting point for accounts ranging from major criminal cases to forgotten episodes involving individual officers and their families.
The Póilíní Podcast is produced by Tinpot Productions and is available through Acast and major podcast platforms.
