This weekend, of course, marked Pride; a time not only to reflect on society now but also on how far we’ve come.

And in the history of the criminalisation of homosexuality, one Irish name leaps forward - that of Oscar Wilde.

But even before Wilde, an Irish MP was embroiled in a deep scandal that shocked Westminster, even fleeing the country to escape the charges of Gross Indecency against him.

Edward de Cobain was an Irish Conservative MP, and one-time Grandmaster of Belfast’s Orange Lodge, who became the center of a homosexual scandal that shook Victorian politics and society.

Donal Fallon joined Gavan Reilly for another episode of Hidden Histories to discuss.

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