Páraic Kerrigan On His New Book: Pop Culchie

What do Daniel O’Donnell, Nadine Coyle’s missing passport, Fat Frog ice cream, iodine tablets, Housewife of the Year and the television programme Alive-O have in common? They’re all part of the wonderfully strange story of modern Ireland. Alan Morrissey was joined by Páraic Kerrigan, bestselling author, researcher and Assistant Professor at UCD, whose new book, Pop Culchie: The Irish Popular Culture That Made Us, was published last week. Part cultural history, part memoir and part affectionate trip down memory lane, the book revisits the television shows, pop stars, scandals, fads and national obsessions that have shaped Irish life over the past half-century. From forgotten pop groups and reality television to moral panics and unlikely national icons, Páraic argues that the things we watched, listened to and talked about tell us far more about Ireland than we might imagine. He’s also a former Traitor from the second season of The Traitors Ireland, and someone who believes that Fade Street and Dublin Wives deserve serious academic attention! Image (c) Pádraic Kerrigan