Sin Scéal Eile

Éanna is mad about emo music. It’s something he came to later in life after leading what he describes as a “sheltered” life. He has found his passion and his tribe and now runs emo clubs around the country where he plays an awful lot of My Chemical Romance! Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy...

Here is a woman who has found her passion. Johanne lives by Samba, it’s her be all and end all. It’s her community and her joy. What’s most amazing is the connection she feels to her sadly departed Dad whenever she’s playing with her bloco. We found Johanne buzzing around the festival, in her self described smurf outfit, banging her drum, having the time of her life.  Rx Sin Scéal Eile - That...

Sinead exudes art in everything she does. In her professional capacity she endeavors to create spaces that people can be in awe of. This weekend at the festival she’s inviting people to her loveball, where she’ll hand out love letters and spread a little joy while DJ-ing under the very fitting moniker of minikimono. Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with...

We’re down at Beyond the Pale this weekend doing the day job (photography) and so we thought we’d interview some of the lovely folk around us, like Michal.  Michal is the brains behind the amazing queer collective, Rathaus, who take to the stage tonight. They’re an inclusive queer collective of DJs, performers and all round incredible people. xR Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hoste...

Val makes us a cuppa in her lovely home and we fall instantly into the rhythm of a very quick Irish conversation. Val has lived in more counties than I’ve traveled to, but now resides in Dublin (although Cork seems to be vying for her attention too). Together we talk a mile a minute and cover topics like why Lesbos is called Lesbos, the importance of community and if we had another hour, we’d be a...

Jill is a trailblazer, even though she would probably never describe herself as one. Jill has been swimming in Sandycove for nearly 50 years. In 1974, she was one of the first women to ever swim in the 40 foot. Fed up with having little space or depth to swim in Sandycove at the time, she defied the gender ban and swam with the men.  Jill worked for RTE, but when she got married had to give u...

Barry left Dublin for Cavan, and is living a lot of people’s dream. During the pandemic things got a little noisy in their apartment in Portobello. Yvonne, Barry’s wife, lost her mum, and she felt the need to live a little closer to where she came from, Cavan.  They now have all the space in the world, not to mention peace and quiet. Ever keen to keep busy and integrate into his new community...

Stevie is a new Dad and is taking stock on all that means and how his life and perspective has changed. While also taking us on an emotional rollercoaster of a journey with a story about his own Dad. What we leave with is a story of hope…and Star Wars.  Rx Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Re...

I’ve never met a woman like Doris before. She’s full of the chats and leads quite the adventurous life. She whipped around Mondello in a Ferrari in her 80s, and plans to abseil down Ireland’s tallest building to celebrate her 90th. She ran a B&B, a pub and worked as a nurse in England for the longest time (getting up to all sorts of antics).  Her creativity comes through in her glamour, h...

Naomhán is a dapper gent, sporting a brand new hat for this occasion. When I go to meet him down in Sandycove, he’s surrounded by friends of every generation, all having a great aul chat. He comes here every day for a swim. He’s been swimming all of his life, taking after his Mam who also swam every day right up until her 80s.  Naomhán has led a full life, with children and grandchildren, mov...

Daragh was lucky enough to have a relationship with all of his four grandparents growing up and I think that could be the reason why he’s got such a mature head on his shoulders. At just 31, he seems to have life sussed. He’s grounded, rooted and sound.  His poetry and writing is centred around the need for connection, representation and the human experience.  Daragh is also the current...

Conor describes himself as “ordinary and normal”, and he is, and it’s so lovely. He has 3 kids which he dotes on. He has all the usual anxieties that I imagine most parents have. He works hard during the week so that he can provide nice things for his family.  He keeps an allotment down the road which he tends to with his kids, harvesting pumpkins at Halloween and brussel sprouts at Christmas...

Ruth has been through the wars and out the other side. Just over 2 years ago she developed a neurological disorder which left her paralysed. A fatigue and pins and needles feeling that she put down to covid, rapidly turned into her worst nightmare. It took away her ability to walk, to use her arms and feed herself. She was completely reliant on help from her family and friends. She found herself i...

As we approached Imelda’s driveway, we ran into a bit of an issue. There was no way we were getting our very tall campervan under her very gorgeous, but very low hanging trees. I thought it to be a completely fitting entrance to a woodturner's home.  Imelda isn’t just any woodturner, she is the Chair of The Irish Woodturners' Guild (which is the oldest woodturning association in the world). I...

Sinéad didn’t always know what she wanted to do in life. She studied and moved and kept her mind wide open to opportunities. Eventually she found something that really suited her, something her father also used to do. Sinéad is a tour guide with a twist. She brings tourists and locals around to sample the culinary delights of Waterford, and yes, that of course includes the famous blaa! Rx Sin Scéa...

I’m going to preface this by saying I love trains and I love miniature models of anything. Meeting Eugene in his garage was a dream. He has converted the whole space into both a workshop and a miniature version of Waterford train station as it appeared in the 80s.  The whole thing is a wonder to behold. He has handmade so many little models, including the train carriages and engines, the buil...

We hit the road to Kilkenny this week to meet Mick, the mechanic. Out the back of his “home home” is where he works away, he only just started this business in January and the phone hasn’t stopped since. He has an engineering brain and a romantic heart. He tells me that his wife, whom he married just in October gone, persuaded him to come out of his comfort zone and do this project.  He credi...

What’s amazing about Sophia is her honesty but also her incredibly sharp sense of humour. She’s intelligent and strong, you need to be when you’re a female comedian. Together we eat snacks and talk about her upcoming show at the Edinburgh Fringe and setting a great example for her daughter.  Rx Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan L...

I stumbled upon a really interesting cafe in the woods a while back and approached the woman behind the wooden till to find out more. When I say stumbled, I really do mean it. You wouldn’t notice it was there, it blends so wonderfully into its environment in the Moore Abbey woods in Monasterevin. Woodstack cafe is the result of an amazing amount of effort by Dee Ryan, her husband Dave and their te...

It was Johno’s daughter who nominated him to be in this project. She describes her dad with great affection and admires his passion for life.  Johno is many things, he owns the Laois Angling Club, he’s an avid hunter and farmer (though he says his 200 sheep is nothing to the thousands he used to keep when the industry was in a better place). Faced with the decline in farming, Johno and his wi...

Kasandra wants to remind us just how common bowel cancer is, but also how disruptive to your life it can be. Guided by a gut instinct, she knew the doctor was going to give her that particular diagnosis. It’s been her gut that has guided her throughout her entire life.  She’s in the middle of an amazing career as an archivist (dream job!) and was head of the Irish Film Archive in Temple Bar u...

When Debbie answers the door of her studio she’s flustered, wearing a paint encrusted apron and brandishing a painting tool around. She says “I just need to finish one more bit” and scurries back upstairs to layer on more paint. Debbie is a very successful and well established painter. We could talk about anything, but what she wants to chat most about is her Mother, Ruby. It’s Ruby’s tools and pa...

Suad is a dote. She’s welcoming, warm and so so friendly. She’s originally from Syria but has been living in Ireland for many years, and if you’ve read her multi-award winning book “I Don't Want To Talk About Home” you’ll know her life story.  You’ll know the arduous path she took to leave Syria, and if you follow her online, you’ll know the joy she felt when she could finally return home too...

Naomi had a high-powered career in finance at a young age. She felt it was destined for her, since it was the path that most educated Indian people took. She worked across the globe, from London to Hong Kong, but the lifestyle wasn’t to last. She burnt out in a big way but took the opportunity to completely reset her career.  She now practices, studies and lives by Ayurveda, a 5000 year old I...

This project is amazing for lots of reasons, my favourite being human connection. We’re all hearing little snapshots of other people’s lives and it brings us all closer. I love nothing more when people reach out to me, asking if I can put them in touch with a podcast guest after being moved by their story.  Imagine my delight when a name I hadn’t heard in 25 years popped up in my inbox. Colum...