Updated March 6

Here is the podcast An Irishman Abroad. It is only available if you purchase access to premium content, however. Sorry about that.

Reaction to Gabriel Byrne’s An Irishman Abroad interview has been very positive!

Gabriel Byrne, by Kim Haughton

Gabriel’s interview is quoted in two print sources as well.

The Irish Sun interview excerpt is about Gabriel’s experience in London when he paid the price for having an Irish accent:

Recalling the incident that left him in hospital, he said: “I was at the Royal Court theatre in London, we were performing there and I came out, we were standing in the taxi rank waiting for a cab.

“There were a group of guys behind us who were a little bit inebriated and I said, ‘Why don’t you go ahead and take the next taxi?’

“They were making me uneasy. One of the guys just tipped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Where are you from?’ I said, ‘I’m from Dublin’. He said, “You’re Irish then,’ and I said ‘yeah’, and with that he headbutted me.

“The other three came around and started to kick and punch. I went down obviously.”

He was taken by ambulance to hospital, where police asked him if he wanted to prosecute the culprits. He explained: “I said no I didn’t because they had told me that the four guys were soldiers who had just come back from Northern Ireland that day.”

The 66-year-old, who worked as a teacher before turning to acting and moving to London, said at times, the anti-Irish bias was so strong that he was often told to disguise his accent. But this made him feel like he was losing some of his identity. Speaking to Jarlath Regan on his Irishman Abroad podcast series, he said: “There’s a sense of ‘we’re not going to give big roles to Irish actors’, so breaking through that was really tough.”

The Irish Independent

Actor Gabriel Byrne has likened the mood in New York City the day after Donald Trump was elected US president as similar to the mood after 9/11. The movie star said people were walking around in “disbelief and fear” after the Republican candidate defeated frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Mr Byrne, who lives in Manhattan, admitted he was worried about what would happen to undocumented immigrants under the Trump administration.

“The last thing I remember like that in this city was after 9/11 when people were wandering around in shock and disbelief and fear.

“When you see families being torn apart, you realise that not being awake politically results in this kind of situation. People in New York were in an echo chamber and they were almost smug that she would win. There’s a fear and an awareness that we could be entering a totalitarian dictatorship,” he told Jarlath Regan’s ‘An Irish Man Abroad’ podcast.


Updated March 5

The podcast interview is live now! You must subscribe to premium content to access it, however.

Here is Jarlath Regan’s description of his interview with Gabriel:

It’s a huge week for An Irishman Abroad as, Gabriel Byrne, one of Ireland’s most successful acting and directing exports joins Jarlath for a very rare and honest long-form interview. In this insightful and frank chat, Gabriel explains why he feels the Irish government never gave a crap about it’s emigrants or culture (44:00), how he learned that the Catholic education system failed to teach self-esteem (22:00) while also discussing the factory of Hollywood and how it uses stars as promotional brands rather than artists (27:00).

Gabriel also reveals to Jarlath why bloopers were not cut out of The Usual Suspects (37:00), how he doesn’t think he ever got it right as a father (53:00) and why he envies confident people (21:00). From the story of the time he was beaten up in London for simply being Irish (10:00) to the impact the right wing coup of the Donald Trump presidency is having on undocumented Irish in America (4:00) to his early memories of a risk-taking U2 (57:00), this episode is truly a highlight of the series to date.

Jarlath also provided this very nice graphic on Twitter:

Enjoy listening to Gabriel and be sure to let everyone know what you think in the comments!

Many thanks to Jarlath for making this wonderful treat available to everyone. heart


March 4

Gabriel will be the featured guest on Jarlath Regan’s well-regarded podcast, An Irishman Abroad, on Sunday, March 5. This interview will be “long-form,” meaning one hour or longer, so we can expect the conversation to be wide-ranging, illuminating, and perhaps even a tad controversial!

The podcast has been running for several years now and has won many awards. The description at iTunes tells us:

In each episode, comedian Jarlath Regan is joined by a well known Irish writer, actor, performer, sports person or public figure to discuss their life and shared experiences of Ireland and abroad.

Here’s the official Tweet announcement:

So, head over to the iTunes home of An Irishman Abroad, download iTunes, and listen in, or wait until later and I’ll have the link here for you. mrgreen <—this is the only green smiley I can find. Wish there were a shamrock available!

4 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing all this information about this interview with Gabriel Byrne.
    He always has something important to say about life and being a human in our world.
    It has never been easy.

  2. I loved Jarlath Regan’s last words about Gabriel:
    “He is an incredible man!”

    I agree so much with that.
    Gabriel Byrne is so talented, intelligent and honest.
    That is a really great combination!

    Gabriel Byrne tries to make the world a better place.
    We must do the same where we are.
    To reflect, to care and to be honest would be a good start
    I think.

  3. You are so right Nora. The world needs more honest, outspoken and sage people like Gabriel Byrne.

    He’s not afraid to speak truth to power.

    Angelle from Canada

  4. DORA BARALIA

    I THINK THAT MR GABRIEL IS VERY DIRECT, HONEST, HE SAYS HIS TRUE, HIS WORDS ARE VERY STRONG, WHEN HE DEFENDS HIS COUNTRY, HE FIGHTS WITH HIS WORDS BY THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND THE INTEGRATION, OF IRELAND IN THE WORLD THROUGH HIS ART, LITERATURE, AND ALL HIS CULTURE. ALL MY ADMIRATION TO THIS FIGHTER MAN.

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