Lisburn Museum Podcast

You’ve heard of Salem, but what about Islandmagee? We chat with Dr Sneddon about one of the last witch trials in Ireland which were held on a peninsula in southeast County Antrim in the early 18th century.

Priest, Olympian, socialist, Franco-fighter! The fascinating life of Robert Hilliard, told by his granddaughter Lin Rose Clark, and author of a new biography, Swift Blaze of Fire.Lin spoke at the museum in February 2026: ‘The fascinating Robert Hilliard’, by Lin Rose Clark – Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum

Archaeologist Ruairí Ó'Baoill joins us to discuss his career, findings from digs at Moira Demesne in 2019 and 2025, and Lisburn's Castle Gardens! Ruairí is an archaeologist at the Centre for Community Archaeology at Queen's University Belfast. They run the Community Archaeology Programme Northern Ireland (CAPNI), supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Researcher and author, Mark Scott, returns to the podcast to chat about his latest book. It focuses on the family of the late Charlie Warmington, whose mother escaped the Holocaust. How did the book come about? What happened to Charlie's relatives who were left behind in Austria?

Scott Edgar of WartimeNI returns to the podcast. This time,he sits down with our Research Officer, Dr James Frazer, to discuss one of thelesser-known groups that were stationed in Northern Ireland during the SecondWorld War – Belgian soldiers.

What is a townland? What was their purpose? Why do theymatter? Find out as our Research Officer, Dr James Frazer, talks to Andrew Kane. A research consultant for the Ulster Historical Foundation, Andrew is an expert on Ulster’s townlands, having mapped all 16,000 in his book, ‘Thetownland atlas of Ulster’.

Our Research Officer, Dr James Frazer, chats to Andrew Bannister and Raymond McCullough. From different sides of Northern Ireland’s religious divide, they were brought together by a mission to honour the memory of their fathers and other crew of HMS Amethyst. This is the gripping story of two young men from Belfast that inspired the 1957 British war film, ‘Yangtse Incident’.

Dr Simon Topping is Associate Professor of United States History at the University of Plymouth, and in this chat he discusses Northern Ireland's role as the first part of the UK to welcome American soldiers in January 1942. By the end of the conflict, more than 300,000 had passed through the province. Among the Americans were thousands of black soldiers who were broadly welcomed by the people of Northern Ireland, contrasting with the segregation and racism they faced at home.

Noel Russell is a journalist and TV producer, and author of a compelling new book , The Saved and the Spurned (2024). For months before the Second World War, hundreds of persecuted Jews, mainly from Nazi-occupied Vienna, tried to escape to Northern Ireland. They had learned of a scheme to tackle the region’s unemployment by financially supporting skilled professionals to create local jobs. Almost all applicants were rejected, and more than 125 of these men, women and children were murdered in the Holocaust. Noel tells us what happened to those families who came to Northern Ireland – and to those who did not – and how local activists saved several refugees.

Dr Alice Johnson is Head of History at Belfast Metropolitan College and Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University Belfast. Her book, Middle-class life in Victorian Belfast (2020) explores the fascinating history of Belfast, the city once known as Linenopolis! Alice is in conversation with Dr James Frazer and Dr Ciaran Toal.