Claim Ownership“Growing Up Poor in Irish Boston” If you’re a Roman Catholic, funny and relatively conservative slant, then this is for you.
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© 2026 “Growing Up Poor in Irish Boston” If you’re a Roman Catholic, funny and relatively conservative slant, then this is for you.
Description
"Growing Up Poor in Irish Boston” is a podcast series, colored with humor, nostalgia and pathos. It’s about a Boston tenement kid, born in 1939, clawing his way out of poverty by being hard-working, creative, persistent, entrepreneurial and by taking risks often. There are also stories of my later life in Boston, Cambridge and New England. If you like old Boston stories or Irish-American stories or old Cambridge stories, this is your podcast. If you like Pull-Yourself-Up-By-The-Bootstrap type stories and/or down-to-earth philosophy with a Roman Catholic, funny and relatively conservative slant, then this is for you.
I am Roderick Patrick Murphy, born into a large, loving Irish family in Boston, widowed after 50+ happy years. So I am now doing some writing, volunteering and learning how to be a bachelor again.
158 Episodes
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Send a text Murphy's Comedy Club, Paddy & Nora Jokes, Episode 157 A few more Paddy Murphy and Nora Murphy jokes. Support the show
Send a text "Granny's in Trouble", The Unseen Crisis of Over 60 Women, Episode 154A This podcast relays my discovery after I became a widower that perhaps 50 % of over 60, Boston and American women are financially badly unprepared for old age. Health care housing, Social Security, are just some the problems those mature women face. Support the show
Send a text The Great Replacement Theory, Episode 152 This episode will discuss a theory that may be described as malevolent entities attempting to replace native born Americans with immigrants. It is called “The Great Replacement”. by some. Is this idea real? Support the show
Send a text Johnny Cash, "40 Shades of Green", Episode 153. Another of the Irish Song Series, this one by Irish Wannabe, Johnny Cash. He visited Ireland, thinking he was of Irish descent, and loved it so much he wrote this song. Later he discovered he was Scots but still loved Erin. Support the show
Send a text More Paddy Jokes & Murphy's Comedy Club, Episode 145. Paddy Murphy's relatives and friends become fodder for another bunch of Irish jokes. Support the show
Send a text What Happened to Ballroom Dancing? Episode 142. This episode wonders why ballroom dancing in Boston and beyond just about disappeared in the late 20th Century. Also some of my youthfull dancing and some of my widower dance experiences are covered. Cajun, jitterbug, foxtrot, Irish Step Dancing, and the new untrained standing and swaying kind of dancing is discussed and criticized. p.s. Towards the end of this episode, I mention that I have appended a short video of me and my lady f...
Send a text Finbar Furey & "I Remember You Singing This Song, MA", Episode 151. Dublin's Furey family, Finbar, Eddie, Paul and George were an Irish Music dynasty. They were also members of the Irish Travelers, a nomadic Irish clan. After 30 years, Finbar went solo and became very popular as a song writer, a singer and a instrument player. He played the Uillean Pipes, the guitar and sang. This song is emotional and memorable. Finbar Furey is a fovorite of mine. Support the show
Send a text Dublin City in the Rare Old Times & Irish Songs & The Rest of the Story, Episode 150. A great Irish nostaglia song about Dublin in the mid 20th Century. Urban renewal, redevelopment turns cities cold and impersonal. The native city dwellers find that they hate it. Support the show
Send a text Does Growing Up in Boston Raise Your !Q? Episode 141B This Episode examines IQ and can it be raised. Also it askes questions how IQ could be aided by growing up in Metropolitan Boston. Support the show
Send a text The West's Awake, Irish Songs Series, Episode 141. A song about the Connacht 1798 Irish Rebellion against British oppression. Support the show
Send a text Old Boston Irish Pubs, Episode 138. This Episode features Irish Pubs in the Boston area and beyond from early 1900s to today. Eire Pub, the Burren, J.J. Foleys, Paris IRA pubs, London's Auld Shillelagh. Mucho anecdotes aso. Support the show
Send a text Old Boston Restaurants, Episode 131. Historic old Boston restaurants episode including Lock Ober, Italian, Armenian, German, Kosher Delis and others. Lots of anecdotes, etc. Support the show
Send a text Episode 142 Irish Songs & "Scorn Not His Simplicity" & The Rest of the Story. "Scorn Not His Simplicity" is an Irish song about a Downs Syndrome boy born to an Irish songwriter and singer, Phil Coulter. Great compassion, love and controversy follows. Support the show
Send a text Episode 146 Murphy, the Foodie & Old Boston Greek Diners. In the early 20th Century most Greek restaurants were located in South Cove near Kneeland St. The area became known as "Greektown", not far from "Chinatown". Lots of foodie info in this one. We Hibernians should thank our Greek friends for educating our dull and unrefined palates. Support the show
Send a text Episode 139 WB Yeats & Should All Irish Folks Like Poetry? Yes or No? I am 100% Hibernian and therefore expected to love poetry but until recently I did not. Poetry seemed to me to be pompous and an "only us smart guys get it" type of contest. Yeats has changed my mind. Support the show
Send a text Episode 137 In the `1950s, What Was It Like to Live in a Tenement? All the nasty details about living, crammed into a Boston Three Decker with 8 other family members in the 1950s. 800 sq. feet, vermin, no hot water, no phone. no car, no space but a wonderful family. Support the show
Send a text Trailer for my Irish Songs Subseries This is an announcement of my Irish Songs Subseries featuring many Old Country songs, the history, who wrote them and other details plus a cappella singing. Support the show
Send a text Episode 136 Irish Songs & "Back Home in Derry" & The Rest of the Story This one is about the Long Kesh Prison in Northern Ireland and the Provisional IRA's hero & poet, Bobby Sands who died in a Brirish jail during a late 20th Century hunger strike. Support the show
Send a text Episode 127 "Is That All There Is" & Giving the Finger to the World. Today in 2026 we see every system; education, work, pensions and healthcare is calibrated for the 20th Century lifespan. But we are living in the 21st Century and with 30 extra years of possible life. It's absurd and I take it apart in this episode. Support the show
Send a text Episode 135 Irish Songs & "The Auld Triangle" & The Rest of the Story. A classic Irish Rebel song with Dublin and the IRA, Croke Park, Montjoy Jail and the Royal Canal as participants. Support the show
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