Mathair - Episode Guide

The story of Jane Wilde, or ‘Speranza'. Jane was well known in Ireland and further afield long before crowds flocked to her son Oscar's plays. She was a poet, a nationalist and a celebrity on the Dublin social scene. Yet when Oscar's reputation was ruined, Jane's reputation was also lost. She died in London while Oscar was imprisoned and was buried in a pauper's grave.

Historians and her relatives tell the story of Maud Gonne, recalling her time as a muse to the poet WB Yeats, and her work for the disenfranchised and for the rights of prisoners.

The story of Kathleen Kearney, the Dublin based socialist and republican who was admired for her broad knowledge of literature and history.

This programme tells the story of the 1981 Hunger Strike through the eyes of a mother, Alice McElwee, who had to suffer the death of her son.