A Broadcasting Legacy: Éamon Phoenix
As well as being a historian and academic, Dr Éamon Phoenix was a renowned broadcaster, appearing in countless TV and radio programmes, documentaries and news/current affairs reports.
This page contains links to many programmes, and also signposts where you might find many of his TV and radio appearances.
Some of the material is publicly available but unfortunately some currently is not, and you may need to ask the publisher for access.
Can you help us add to this collection? Please email with your suggested links.
TV news and current affairs appearances: Peter Heathwood Collection
Dr Phoenix made countless appearances on TV and radio news programmes down the years, particularly since 1998.
It’s not possible to link to all these, however thanks to the remarkable Peter Heathwood Collection of Television Programmes 1997– 2015 at the CAIN archive, it is possible to search for, and read notes of, the content of many of his broadcast appearances locally.
Visit this link and input ‘Éamon Phoenix’ into the search function.
The BBC Year 21 Podcast Collection
For the Centenary of Northern Ireland, the BBC created a series of 50 podcasts.
Éamon Phoenix was, as the BBC presenters Tara Mills and Declan Harvey themselves described, “our guide, companion and chief storyteller this year” for the series.
Episode 48 held particular significance for Éamon. As Tara and Declan write in this episode, he “turned to a story about his own family – that of his grandfather Hugh Napier.
“He’d fought in Gallipoli and returned disabled before being given a job in the Rope Works in Belfast. During 1921, he was forced out, chased and beaten by a mob.
“He survived thanks to the bravery of a woman who heard the commotion and intervened, chasing the crowd away. But for her actions, Eamon Phoenix might not be here today.”
Links:
In no particular order, here are links to many of Éamon’s broadcast appearances – if you know of any more, do get in touch.
The Ulster Covenant
Éamon was a contributor to this William Crawley film exploring the signing of the Ulster Covenant in September 1912.
Produced by Doubleband Films, 2012
Titanic Belfast: Birthplace of a Legend
Éamon contributed to this film tracing Belfast’s emergence as a shipbuilding powerhouse and the construction of the Titanic.
Commercial owner unknown at present, 2012
Radio Ulster Hidden History series x 2
Dr Éamon Phoenix unearths hidden Ulster-Scots history in a series of fascinating journeys of exploration through Ulster’s byways and historic sites. Some publicly available.
Produced by BBC, 2012+
What does Ulster-Scots mean to you?
Dr Éamon Phoenix, Head of History at Stranmillis University College, Belfast, discusses what Ulster-Scots means to him.
Produced by BBC, 2011
NI 100 series
A BBC multimedia series on the centenary of Northern Ireland, in which Éamon made various appearances.
Produced by BBC, 2021
Finding a way out of the darkness was Hume’s mission
Dr Éamon Phoenix, political historian discusses the legacy of John Hume.
Produced by RTE, 2020
100th anniversary of Northern Ireland
Éamon Phoenix, political historian and member of the Taoiseach’s advisory group on commemorations, on Boris Johnson’s announcement today of a plan to commemorate the centenary of the foundation of Northern Ireland.
Produced by RTE, 2020
The History Show Sunday 16 May 2021
Éamon joins presenter Myles Dungan to in an edition that The complex and contested centenary of the creation of Northern Ireland; and a look back at Eurovision 1990.
Produced by RTE, 2021
RTÉ History Show – Northern Ireland Centenary
Éamon joins Cormac Moore, Laura McAtackney and Myles Dungan to talk about this complex and contested anniversary.
Produced byRTE, 2022
Church leaders only aware of President’s concerns over NI service this week
Archbishop Éamon Martin, Catholic Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop John McDowell, the Church of Ireland’s Primate of All Ireland discuss the invitation they sent to President Michael D Higgins to attend a church service marking the foundation of Northern Ireland. Also, Éamon Phoenix, political historian, discusses the story.
Produced by RTE, 2021
Enterprise – A Track Record
UTV’s ‘Enterprise – A Track Record’, told the story of the Belfast-Dublin train service through the years and featured an interview with Éamon Phoenix. It included in-depth interviews & “breath-taking” footage from the UTV archive.
Produced by UTV, 2021