Ready To Be Real by Síle Seoige

Topics covered : Sexual abuse, grooming, domestic violence, rape, incest, sexual assault, coercive control, manipulation, gaslighting, guilt, shame, recovery. Charlene Masterson was subjected to horrific sexual abuse at the hands of her father, David, for over 7.5 years. The abuse started at 18 and the details of which are truly shocking, but her ability to talk about what she went through, is rem...

Topics covered : Military training, vulnerability, self-belief, resilience, family life. Ray Goggins served in the Irish Army for 26 years, including 17 years in the Army Ranger Wing and now he spends a lot of his time working with corporate teams in his role as director of training and leadership company  ‘Coreskills’ . Originally from Cork, he lives in Kildare with his wife Sinéad...

Topics covered : Miscarriage, guilt, twin pregnancy, the power of letting go. This month marks 2 years of the podcast and my second conversation with the wonderful Rosanna Davison. Rosie lives in Dublin with her husband Wes and their three kids, daughter Sophia and identical twin boys Hugo and Oscar. And this episode is a natural follow on from our first conversation as she shares some of the reve...

Topics covered : Self-worth, empowerment, burn out, anxiety, fear, impact of the pandemic, mindset, career change, finding purpose. In this conversation, life coach Mark Fennell explains what life coaching is all about and he shares his back story which led him to pursue a career in coaching. He talks about the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset, managing anxiety, changing c...

Topics covered : Grief, regrets, health issues, fear of rejection, self-worth, religion, love, vulnerability, loneliness, self-sabotage, finding purpose. This week I speak to Rugby pundit, entrepreneur, mental health advocate and author Brent Pope. Brent has had a difficult few years, from the death of his father in 2019 and now his recent health issues he feels were brought about by a drug he was...

Topics covered : The physical, mental and emotional impact of childbirth, hormones, baby blues, post-natal depression, intrusive thoughts, pelvic floor, anxiety/shame/guilt, some hospital bag essentials, body changes, hair loss, placenta encapsulation, sleep, breastfeeding/ bottle feeding/ combination feeding, new-born baby tips, SIDS. This is the fourth and final episode in my pregnancy miniserie...

This episode is all about labour and childbirth and my guest is midwife and childbirth educator, Avril Flynn. She lives in Dublin with her husband Garret, their 3 year old son Felix and their dog Finn!  And in this conversation she takes us from that first contraction right through to that glorious cup of tea and slice toast after you give birth! We also share our own positive birth experienc...

Topics covered : Pregnancy after loss, symptoms, journaling, nesting, affirmations, birth preparation, benefits of water during labour, stepping away from fear. In this episode we explore the third trimester of pregnancy as I speak to pregnancy and birth educator, Kitty Hackel who goes by the Instagram handle ‘Birth, Baby, Beyond’.  In this conversation she offers practical, empowering advice...

For the next 4 episodes I’ll be talking all things pregnancy with a different guest each week and today we’ll focus on the 1st and 2nd trimesters. In this episode I speak to Lucianne Hughes, also known as ‘The Sunshine Doula’. She’s married to Chris and they have 2 girls, Daisy who’s 4 and Poppy who’s 2. She takes us from the moment you find out you’re pregnant up to the end of the secon...

Topics covered : Miscarriage, pregnancy after loss, Covid positive during pregnancy, medically induced coma, hallucinations, drug withdrawals, dramatic birth experience, post-partum.  Originally from Donaghmede in Dublin, Laura Curtis lives in Baldoyle with her boyfriend Robbie and their new-born daughter Demi. But the past year has been one she’ll never forget. Having been through a miscarri...

Topics covered : Painful sex, sex toys and products, libido, menopause and sex, shame. This is   second part of the conversation I had with Ireland’s only clinical sexologist, Emily Power Smith. In this episode, she answers a selection of your questions that were sent in on Instagram and it starts with advice on how best to speak to our kids and teenagers about their bodies and sex....

Topics covered : The damage of shame, body confidence, libido, porn, sexual trauma. This week I speak to Ireland’s only clinical sexologist, Emily Power Smith. We spoke about so much that I’ve decided to split the chat in two as it’s such a huge topic to cover. In this episode, we discuss our relationship with sexuality here in Ireland, we talk about body confidence, sex drive, porn and we’ll also...

Topics covered : Tragic accident, trauma, grief. This week I speak to mother, wife and nurse Geraldine Mullan. Originally from Galway, Geraldine met John Mullan from Moville, Donegal in 2010. 2 years later they were married and lived a very happy life together with their two children Tomás and Amelia, until a devastating accident changed everything. On the 20th of August last year, a family d...

Topics covered : Adoption, mental illness, self-worth. This week I speak to comedian and radio presenter, PJ Gallagher. PJ lives in Clontarf in Dublin with his two dogs, Wendy and Stella. He was born in the now infamous Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork, in the 70’s and went on to be adopted and grew up with his mother, father and sister in Raheny in Dublin. When he was 27 he met his b...

Topics covered : Tragic accident, trauma, child loss, grief. Eileen Loughlin is a wonderful person and someone I’ve wanted to speak to for a long time. She lives in Delvin in County Westmeath with her husband Enda and their two sons, Senan who’s 16 and TJ who’s almost 9. And over 2.5 years ago her life changed forever when their 3.5 year old daughter Annabel, died in a freak accident in their home...

Topics covered : Long Covid, breathwork, freediving, mental illness, therapy, self-limiting beliefs, reinvention and overcoming. This week I speak to champion freediver Claire Walsh. Originally from Leixlip, she currently lives in Bray with her partner Boudy and she’s been freediving for 6 years now. She’s competitive and driven, but there’s also a beautiful gentleness about her that allows her to...

Topics covered : Pregnancy, wedding during Covid restrictions, meningitis, Pride celebrations. This week I speak to brother and sister, James Patrice and Vanessa Butler. James is a TV presenter, performer and social media sensation and Vanessa is a classically trained singer, music teacher and has grown her own following on Instagram in recent times too. Proudly from Malahide, they have alway...

Topics covered : Suicide, grief. This week I speak to counsellor and psychotherapist Peter Mahony who gives us a deeper insight into therapy; what it is and how we can benefit from it. We talk about the impact the pandemic has had on us and how important it is to mind ourselves and others, as we recover from the past year. There’s a particular focus on teens and those in their early twen...

Trigger warning : Fertility, miscarriage, cancer, hysterectomy, IVF, surrogacy. This week I speak to Dublin woman Audrey O’Hagan who’s married to Dave and their son Hugh is almost a year and a half. She’s in her thirties and works as a communications officer with Dublin Airport, a job she loves and in this episode, she lets us in on the past four years of her life that have had their fair share of...

Trigger warning : Disordered eating. This week I speak to Aoife O’Brien about life with and after an eating disorder. Originally from County Clare, Aoife now lives in Mayo with her fiancé Damian and their son Liam, who’s nearly 2. She works with the GAA/ Croke Park co-ordinating the Healthy Clubs project which promotes health and wellbeing within clubs. But for years she was controlled by an eatin...

Trigger warning : Disordered eating, depression. This week I speak to former model and media personality, Holly Carpenter. She lives in Stoneybatter in Dublin with her dog Max, and has been in a relationship since October, but over the past 14 months she has had many ups and downs and she’s been very honest about her struggles with her mental health and the impact the pandemic had on her overall w...

Trigger warning : Infant loss, grief, depression, disordered eating, weight loss. This week I speak to father and ultra marathon runner, Ian Lawton. He lives in Navan in County Meath, is married to Jennifer, and is the father of two sons, Ike who’s 12 and Hank who passed away 10 years ago, the day after he was born. In this conversation he gives us a profound insight into infant loss, and the...

Trigger warning : Tragic death, complex grief, severe injuries, PTSD. This is my conversation with the incredible Zoe Holohan. On the 23rd of July 2018, Zoe and her husband Brian were on their honeymoon when disaster struck. Wildfires swept through the seaside town of Mati in Greece where they were staying and claimed the lives of 102 people. She miraculously survived despite her extensive in...

Trigger warning : Postnatal depression, anxiety, sudden death, grief. This week I speak to entrepreneur and mother, Sharon Keegan. She lives in Dublin with her partner Seán and their two boys, Liam who’s 5 and Bob who’s 2. As the founder of female empowerment clothing brand ‘Peachylean’, Shar’s USP is ‘being real’   so obviously she was the dream guest for this podcast. Last December we sat d...

Trigger warning : Multiple rounds of IVF, miscarriage. Denise Phillips lives in Newbridge, Co. Kildare with her husband Mark, their 6 year old daughter Beth and she’s also step mother to 16 year old Ellie. She’s hugely successful in her career as the owner of Pelo hairdressing and the co-owner of Irish hair brand Voduz and last week she got the surprise of her life when she found out she was...