In the opening line of his novel The Go Between the writer L.P. Hartley famously quipped ‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’. For me history is about attempting to visit this foreign country L.P. Hartley talked about and seeing what life was like. In this podcast I have trawled through eye witness accounts of travelers to early 19th century Ireland to give you a sense of what life was like in a past where they did things very differently. From bare-knuckle boxing to prostitution, from public transport to what people did for fun, this show takes you on the trip to the foreign country that was Ireland in the 1820s. This is the last show of 2016, thanks to everyone who has supported the show through the year and I hope you & yours have a great christmas and an even better new year!Nollaig ShonaFinPS Don't forget in January I will be launching my new series on the Great Famine. You can help with the series and get lots of extra content by becoming a patron of the podcast today at www.patreon.com/irishpodcast For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy