Cork Podcast Festival to feature diverse range of podcasters from across Ireland 

Cork is getting ready to welcome some of the country’s biggest podcast stars next month as preparations begin for a festival like no other.

Julie Haynes from Left on Read and Cornelius O’Sullivan from Conversations with Cornelius were among the many well-known faces at the Cork Podcast Festival launch which took place at Cork Opera House on Tuesday. 

Now in its second year, the event will run from Tuesday, August 22 to Sunday, August 27. 

This year’s offering promises a diverse range of podcasters from across Ireland. 

In addition to the previously announced shows at Cork Opera House, organisers have also unveiled a selection of new venues across the city.

James Leonard and Timmy Long from The Two Norries will open the festival on Tuesday, August, 22 at 8pm. 

Keelin Moncrieff and Eimear O’Reilly from the Same But Different podcast will also take to the stage, on Saturday, August, 26 at 4pm.

Those featuring in the event expressed their excitement about being involved including Cornelius O’Sullivan from North Cork who is behind the podcast Conversations with Cornelius.

He described how the podcast helped him and his wife Noelle through a difficult time.

“We have two little boys named Harvey and Hunter. 

“During the podcast, we were having Harvey assessed. He ended up having autism which rocked myself and Noelle’s life. 

“Our vibe is to put everything out - good bad and ugly. The amount of supportive messages we got definitely helped. 

“I can’t speak for Noelle even though I know it did help her. It definitely helped me.

“I couldn’t believe the number of men who got in touch with me that were going through the same thing with their own families. 

“Men are slow to talk about anything, especially when it comes to their feelings. 

“Autism is more prevalent in society now in terms of knowledge of it. 

“However, there is still a stigma attached so it’s great hearing of people going through the same thing who want to talk about it.”

The Cork man said he was initially hesitant about including details of his son’s diagnosis.

“I normally do an episode a week. 

“It was during the pandemic that we found out Harvey had autism so everything was done via Zoom bar his diagnosis which was done face to face.

“While preparing for one particular episode I had forgotten that we were getting the diagnosis. 

“Then Thursday came along and we got a diagnosis that morning. 

“There are features you can’t point to that indicate a child has autism, but I never believed that Harvey did. 

“When we got the diagnosis, I was broken and said to Noelle ‘let’s scrap this episode’.

“I didn’t want to put it out there, but she said that this is our life now and maybe we should say how we’re feeling because it’s raw. 

“I’ve never looked back from that episode when we made the decision that we were going to be honest."

Meanwhile, Julie Haynes, who co-hosts Left on Read with fellow Cork woman Brenda Dennehy, opened up about what she is most looking forward to about the show.

“We have thousands of people tuning in so just seeing some of their faces in front of me is something I’m really looking forward to,” she said. 

“At the same time, I am quite nervous. Podcasts can be cut and edited but whatever I say on stage is going to be out there forever. 

“I’ll probably spill the beans on a lot of things.”

She hopes the positive feedback from the festival will reflect their experience to date.

“A lot of single women or women going through breakups tell us that we’re making them feel normal and helped them realise it’s okay to be single in your thirties”.

Tickets for the Cork Podcast Festival, as well as details of the line up, can be found online at the corkpodcastfestival.ie.