013: The Last March: O’Sullivan Beare

Grab your boots and your best raincoat, because this week we’re trekking into the wild soul of southwest Ireland — the rugged, windswept Beara Peninsula.

In this episode, The Last March, we follow the haunting trail of Dónal Cam O’Sullivan Beare, the chieftain who led one of the most heroic and heartbreaking retreats in Irish history. After the fall of Gaelic resistance at the Battle of Kinsale in 1602, O’Sullivan and around 1,000 of his people set out on a desperate 500-kilometer winter march through hostile territory — with the Beara Peninsula as their starting point.

We walk the landscape he walked: from the copper-rich hills of Allihies to the silent ridgelines of the Caha Mountains, and into the deep lore carved into every stone and valley. Along the way, we talk ancient geology, Gaelic resilience, ambushes in the mist, and the echoing legacy of a people who would rather disappear into the mountains than surrender.

So lace up, listeners. History gets muddy — and this one will stick with you.

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