Cast your mind back...

It was a long way from podcasts that 97 year old Cork man Philip Lecane was born, but that hasn’t stopped him from sharing his stories in a new series.

Setting out to preserve an ever-dwindling world of precious memories, new podcast series ‘Vanishing Ireland’ has been busy collecting the stories of Ireland’s elders.

In the latest episode, an energetic, inquisitive and eternally youthful Philip Lecane of Cork city says he stopped his ageing clock at 21.

During the interview, Philip talks of how his forebears arrived in Cork from Jersey and took command of the city's fire brigade and how he’d run the family’s newsagent’s shop in a time when newspapers were the only real source of public news.

Philip also recalls learning to make sandcastles in his classroom with Sister Benedict and a local priest who counselled mourning widows to wear “rejoicing” red instead of sombre black.

Created by award-winning author and historian Turtle Bunbury, ‘Vanishing Ireland’ is a podcast series of interviews with Ireland’s over 70s, celebrating their life stories, challenges, courage, kindness and humour.

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

Mr Bunbury said: “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.

“I feel very 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.”

Supported by SuperValu, ‘Vanishing Ireland’ is available on Spotify, Google and all podcast channels.