In this episode of Talking History on Newstalk, we're looking at the history of the Leaving Certificate - 100 years old this year - and debating its impact on Irish education .

Featuring: Dr Orla McCormack, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Limerick; Deirdre Mac Mathuna, Past President and now Public Relations Officer for the History Teachers’ Association of Ireland and a lecturer at Trinity College Dublin in History Pedagogy; Dr Hazel Murray, cybersecurity lecturer at Munster Technological University; and Dr Colm Mac Gearailt, postdoctoral researcher on the ‘Cartlann’ archive at University of Galway.

In this D-Day special, Talking History explores the D-Day landings on the 80th anniversary of the Longest Day, and how they changed the course of the Second World War.

Joining host Patrick Geoghegan is: Prof Richard Overy, professor of history at the University of Exeter, and author of ‘World War II: The Definitive Visual History Volume I: From the Munich Crisis to the Battle of Kursk 1938-43'; Dr Mark Jones, Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Global History at University College Dublin; Professor Jonathan Fennell, Professor of the History of War and Society at King’s College London and co-founder of the Second World War Research Group; and Dr Rachel Lance, author of 'Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever'.

Patrick Geoghegan and his panel explore the life, times and legacy of William The Conqueror. Was he a hero who instituted great changes, brought in legal and administrative innovations, and unified England, or a villain and invader who conquered it in a dramatic overthrow?

Featuring Prof George Garnett, Professor of Medieval History at St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford; Prof Virginia Davis, Professor of Medieval History, Queen Mary University of London; Prof Seán Duffy, Professor of Medieval Irish and Insular History, Trinity College Dublin; Dr Marc Morris, a historian who specializes in the Middle Ages; and Prof Hugh M. Thomas, author of The Norman Conquest: England after William the Conqueror.