Explore every episode of the podcast The Lyric Feature

Ireland has white tailed sea eagles as well as golden eagles, both having been recently reintroduced. In this episode Anja Murray and Brían Mac Gloinn travel to Garinish Island in west Cork and also hear from National Parks and Wildlife Service Ranger Clare Heardman about the nesting and breeding habits of these wonderful birds.

In this episode ecologist Anja Murray and musician Brían Mac Gloinn visit a busy nesting colony of little terns on the Wicklow coast and talk with ternprogramme conservation manager from BirdWatch Ireland, Brian Bourke, about the lives of these beautiful birds.

Skylark is a charismatic bird of open ground and the uplands, widely celebrated for their impressive singing ability. In this episode, ecologist Anja Murray and musician Brían Mac Gloinnbegin with the Skylarks’ fame in poetry, with poet Martin Dyar.

US-born composer Jane O'Leary, who has lived in Ireland since 1972 and has made an immeasurable contribution to contemporary Irish classical music, looks back on her career.

Mary Brophy goes behind the scenes at the 71st Wexford Festival Opera as Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi and her teams orchestrate their particular brand of alchemy.

The Lyric Feature returns for a new series opening with Building a Ballet one of the five Lyric Features shortlisted at the 2024 IMRO awards.

On this week’s Lyric Feature, we remember the poet, lecturer and regular contributor to our programmes Gerald Dawe who died last month.

Michael O’Shea was a musician from Carlingford, Co Louth who released one self-titled album in 1982 that is now regarded as a masterpiece of the Psychedelic Folk genre. Performed on oak door rescued from a skip in Munich.

‘Discovered’ by Guglielmo Marconi while singing at a fashionable soiree in London, the famous inventor subsequently brought Sheridan to Italy, to pursue her dream of becoming an opera singer.

As a child, Bairbre O'Hogan remembers her mother bringing an elderly friend to do her weekly shopping in Dún Laoghaire. Bairbre knew her as MrsVerschoyle, she only later appreciated just how successful and prolific an author she had been.

The sculptor Imogen Stuart and the poet Michael Coady died within a day of each
other on the 24 and 25th  of March this year.
Each is remembered with a programme from the RTÉ archive in this evening’s Lyric Feature. 

To mark the centenary of her birth, Liz Nolan explores the life and legacy of Maria Callas, the iconic Greek soprano, widely regarded as the most significant, inspiring and provocative opera star of the modern age.

Lapwings are any of various ground-nesting birds akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from 10 to 16 inches in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry.

Jays are colourful, vocal, and highly intelligent woodland birds. In this episode ecologist Anja Murray and musician Brían Mac Gloinn meet ornithologist Seán Ronayne in an autumn woodland to listen to stories these birds’ incredible capacity for mimicry.

Feather and Flock is a new six part series delving in to the ways of six iconic native Irish birds. Each episode combines ecology, folklore and history to uncover the incredible lives and journeys of these wild creatures. We begin with the Cuckoo.

Laoise O’Brien has spent the past twenty-five years championing an instrument often unfairly perceived as an instrument of torture, the recorder. Join Laoise as she embarks on a journey to tell the story of the recorder and its development during the ages.

An audio portrait of painter James Hanley, told through the eyes of his sitters, fellow artists, buyers, family and friends, a story of being creative, connecting and making a life in the uncertain world of the arts.

Micil Ned Quinn from Mullaghbawn in Co. Armagh was immersed in the folk arts from childhood and grew up to be a renowned traditional singer and songwriter. This programme celebrates and reflects upon the rural life and culture from which he came and that he himself embodied. (First tx 190323)

Ireland is on the verge of losing its population of breeding curlew, but could our songs, stories and art help us to save it?

An examination of the earliest notated music in Ireland: Medieval Monastic Chant.

We Only Want The Earth: Can music help us face the climate crisis?

We Only Want The Earth: Can music help us face the climate crisis?

The story of the women behind Dublin's forgotten National Ballet Company.

The story of Irishwoman Kate Meyrick who operated the most decadent London nightclubs of the Jazz Age

Traditional Irish musicians from Donegal reinterpret scores collected by Séamus Ennis in the 1940s.

This two-part series presented by J.J. O'Shea brings us the fruits of a project initiated by folklorist Ríonach Uí Ógáin and supported by the Irish Traditional Music Archive. The project revisits The Irish Folklore Commission's collection of tunes and songs which were transcribed and notated by Séamus Ennis in Connemara and Donegal.

Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan presents six poets from four continents who are making their mark on the world of Irish poetry.

In A Place of Pointed Stones, Jessica Traynor explores the history and folklore of Banagher with local historian James Scully, and we hear new poems and a new song inspired by her research

Writing Yourself Home is presented by the Irish born but Manchester based poet Vona Groarke. Through a series of conversations with four fellow Irish poets, Vona muses on the complex relationship between national identity and writing.

Gerald Dawe explores the social and cultural history of Dun Laoghaire, where he has lived for over 30 years, in poetry and conversation.

Poet Eleanor Hooker reflects on Lough Derg and its place in the lives of those who live near it and on it

Poet Seán Lysaght explores the Wild Nephin area of north Mayo. For more episodes of The Lyric Feature go to the RTÉ lyric fm Podcasts.

The portrait painter James Hanley is the subject as sitter in this audio portrait of his life and work.

The story behind Patrick Kavanagh's On Raglan Road

Laoise O'Brien explores a millennium of music through her own experiences as a recorder player.

Leontia Flynn, explores Sylvia Plath's lifelong admiration of WB Yeats. The programme also contains rare archive of Sylvia Plath speaking about Yeats and reading some of her work in a 1958 Library of Congress recording.

To mark the centenary of her birth, Liz Nolan explores the life and legacy of Maria Callas, the iconic Greek soprano, widely regarded as the most significant, inspiring and provocative opera star of the modern age.

Olivia O'Leary and poet Paddy Bushe follow the route of a long lost walk in Kerry, as described in a poem by Ellen Fitz-Simon, daughter of Daniel

Dorothea Herbet writer, poet, artist and proud spinster from Carrick On Suir. Ireland's Jane Austin. Unhoped for, unprecedented, discover the unique 'Dorothea The Doozy'.

Eoin ‘Stan’ O’Sullivan, Sliabh Luachra musician in residence, assists in the search for six old vinyl records. A story looking back at a musical tradition’s past and an effort to safeguard its future

When Sinéad O'Connor died in July this year the world was deprived of one of its most distinctive and significant voices. In 2015 Sinéad explored that voice with Iarla Ó Lionáird as part of his series Vocal Chords which was made for the Lyric Feature.

The literature and storytelling traditions associated with The Great Blasket have long been acclaimed both internationally and at home. It is surprising therefore that the music traditions of The Blaskets remain little heard. In The Western Island, J.J. O’Shea seeks to address this imbalance and explores this rich but lesser-known aspect of Blasket

Mary Brophy goes behind the scenes at the 71st Wexford Festival Opera as Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi and her team orchestrate their particular brand of alchemy. Featuring live excerpts from RTÉ lyric fm's recordings of the 2022 opening opera La Tempesta, location recordings and input from the talented cast of performers and crew.

In A Place of Pointed Stones, Jessica Traynor explores the history and folklore of Banagher with local historian James Scully, and we hear new poems and a new song inspired by her research

The opening episode Writing Yourself Home is presented by the Irish born but Manchester based poet Vona Groarke. Through a series of conversations with four fellow Irish poets, Vona muses on the complex relationship between national identity and writing.

Irish composer and sound artist Robert Coleman brings us on a soundwalk of the River Dodder in South Dublin exploring the many facets of its wonderful, varied, rich history and its diverse wildlife. (Part 3 of 3)

Returning for a new three-part series Regan Hutchins joins old friends and makes new ones as he hears how we're spending our mornings, noons and nights. Episode 3 - Night

Irish composer and sound artist Robert Coleman brings us on a soundwalk of the River Dodder in South Dublin exploring the many facets of its wonderful, varied, rich history and its diverse wildlife. (Part 2 of 3)

Returning for a new three-part series Regan Hutchins joins old friends and makes new ones as he hears how we're spending our mornings, noons and nights. Episode 2 - Noon

An audio tour of Joyce's Dublin by father and son Gerry and Daragh Dukes.