Westmeath man interviewed for ‘Vanishing Ireland’ podcast

An 81-year-old Athlone man is to be featured in this week’s episode of the podcast series, Vanishing Ireland.

Speaking on the podcast, Oliver Reid recalled his days as a waiter in Switzerland, where he rubbed shoulders with the King of Siam, as well as sharing his recollections about working as a bank porter in Westmeath and how he mastered taekwondo in his 60s.

The episode will be available from 3pm this Friday, August 27.

The Vanishing Ireland podcast series, supported by SuperValu, features 16 interviews with elders of Irish society by historian Turtle Bunbury.

The series is now approaching 10,000 downloads, has 10 interviews to date, and six more to go in this, its first season.

Vanishing Ireland documents the often extraordinary lives of our older population in a way that celebrates the past while informing younger generations in shaping the future.

“Introducing the voices of Vanishing Ireland to the podcast generation has been an entirely new departure for our elders but has been deeply exciting and very much in keeping with our aims,” said Mr Bunbury.

“I feel honoured to have had this time with Ireland’s elders and to chronicle their unique and fascinating stories.

“We hope everyone enjoys listening to the series as much as we have enjoyed creating it.”

Vanising Ireland is available on Spotify, Google and all podcast channels. The Spotify link to the series is here.