The Discovery Series: The Bog Bodies
In this podcast series, we set out on an immersive exploration of some of Ireland’s most enduring mysteries – unfolding the clues by journeying to the places around the country that hold the answers.
Each season, we will focus on a single mystery - exploring what’s hidden in plain sight, waiting to be found by those curious enough to look. Through in-depth investigation, local storytelling and expert insight, we uncover the truth behind these mysteries, one location at a time.
But these aren’t just stories to be heard – they're destinations to be explored. Every episode invites you to step into the landscape yourself and see where mystery, history and the contemporary world still meet.
The Discovery Series: The Bog Bodies
Episode 1: Murder Most Foul
Two bodies emerge from the bog – their skin preserved, their secrets intact.
In this first episode, travel journalist Fionn Davenport retraces the extraordinary discoveries at Croghan Hill in Offaly and Ballivor in Meath, where two Iron Age men were pulled from the peat after 2,500 years. With experts Amanda Pedlow and Noel French, he pieces together those first startling details – the manicured nails, the carefully styled hair, the brutal wounds – that revealed these were no ordinary burials.
Each clue brings us closer to understanding who these men were, and why they were chosen for sacrifice.
Explore more of Ireland’s ancient past, from the Neolithic to the early Christian era, at discoverireland.ie