Imagine the sight of a City Hall engulfed by flames, amidst widespread looting, as firefighters are fired upon and even have their hoses cut to shreds. This is not a modern day war crime, but the events in Cork City a century ago this week - the Burning of Cork took place on Dec 11/12, 1920.

In what one historian has termed “the arson capital of Europe” in 1920, an escalating series of outrages culminated in the destruction of much of Munster’s largest city. But did the world care, or had the Irish crisis spiralled so much as to lose any shock value?

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

Listen and subscribe to On The Record with Gavan Reilly on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.

You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.