Sin Scéal Eile

I’m buzzing from my morning of cuddles with the two of the most giggliest babies ever. Today I got to meet Sharon, a single mum of six beautiful, smart, confident children (who are an absolute credit to her). If you asked AI to imagine an “Irish Mammy”, you’d probably get a photo of a dowdy, middle aged woman in an apron, surrounded by peeled spuds or something equally as old fashioned and offensi...

I met Mo Arekat in the Fumbally Cafe where he works as a chef and instantly I realise that he is a bit of a local celebrity. Everyone has a big hello and hugs for him as we wander through the busy cafe on his day off.  He is well loved in his new community and that feeling is truly reciprocated. Mo is bursting to tell me his story, but not the one you may think of when you meet a Palestinian/...

I don’t think you’ll ever find a more passionate person than Keith when he’s talking about wrestling. In a great big barn in the middle of nowhere you’ll find The School of Irish Wrestling. It may look like a cattle shed outside, but inside you’ll find two massive wrestling rings and huge posters of all the famous Irish wrestlers who’ve gone on to the WWE (the ultimate dream job according to Keith...

Claire is young, strong and extremely knowledgeable about endometriosis, a condition that has plagued her since she was 11 years old. She has had to fight with insurance companies, advocate for herself to be taken seriously by pharmacists and doctors, and persuade so many consultants to refer her so that she could get the treatment that she needed. She sits here today telling me her story so that...

Lee is the kind of guy that just by looking at him, you know he will have a good yarn to spin. We met for a pint one very rainy afternoon in Howth, the clanging of the masts on the boats rocking in the bay and the rain pelting off the window added the perfect soundtrack to our chat. Lee has come prepared. He tells me an adventurous tale from his past, one of Caribbean seas, cheap Colombian contrab...

Angie is modest and humble. I can tell she’s uncomfortable talking about the incredible work she has done for Helping Irish Hosts, the organisation she helped start in March 2022, just after the invasion in Ukraine.  Angie is much more relaxed when she’s talking about all of the other amazing people who work alongside her, making sure that the everyday people who signed up to host Ukrainian r...

The first thing I notice about Michael and Anne’s apartment in Dublin City Centre is the colour. The walls are an incredible shade of orange, there’s portraits of David Bowie and Bob Marley on the wall and a huge colourful teapot collection on the shelves.  It’s a fun, vibrant space, which seems perfect for the couple who live here.  Michael invited me over to talk about his situation as...

“Kia ora” is Māori for “welcome”, an unusual phrase to hear in the sunny South East of Ireland but perfectly fitting for this particular farm. I remember visiting the Kia Ora Mini Farm on a school tour when I was about 5 or 6 and having my little Dubliner mind blown, so to re-visit a good 30+ years on was such a treat. It’s a family run business in the truest sense and today I’m chatting with 23 y...

Morgan is cool, but not in a pretentious way, in a charming and intellectual way, the way that most good songwriters and musicians can be if they keep themselves grounded. He plays drums, which is arguably one of the most physical roles in a band and Morgan has cerebral palsy. I shamefully know very little (or even nothing) about cerebral palsy, which doesn’t surprise Morgan. It’s apparently rare...

The awful stormy weather of late broke long enough for me to photograph Caitriona down on the wooden bridge in Clontarf, which was quite fitting as we’d been chatting about the arrival of Spring. Caitriona emailed me through Irish with a smattering of béarla to tell me about her love of “Naomh Bríd agus mná na hÉireann”.  We chat a bit about Bríd as well as her sister in sainthood, St Gobnait...

I met Daria on a quiet afternoon in her local pub in Drogheda, she was easy to recognise thankfully. She came dressed in sequins, feathers and legs that went on for days.  Apparently there’s a bit of a burlesque scene burgeoning in Drogheda. Daria has been producing wildly entertaining evenings for the past few years, attracting folk from as far as Belfast and locals alike, with each show sel...

When Ciara wrote to me about being in this project, she didn’t say much at all. She just said that her story is one about “heartache and uncertainty at a time of life where others seem to have everything together”. This was enough for me to know I needed to listen to her story.  We sit outside on Drury street, it’s lashing rain and we’ve just begged the bar to turn on the patio heaters above...

As I approach my 40th birthday, I find my mind beginning to focus on my health and mobility a lot more. When I see an email from Dr. John McGuire in my inbox, a 77 year old yoga teacher, wishing to share his story, I jumped at the chance to chat to him. John found yoga in the 90s from a recommendation by his doctor, advising him to seek methods of core strengthening. What he ended up gaining was s...

Kim is one of many Americans who have applied to be in this project, but what made her stand out to me was that she mentioned having absolutely no ancestral roots that tie her to Ireland.  She chose to come to Ireland in a very level headed, logistical way. She followed her work here, but she stayed because she loved it. She found a home, a community, a street full of neighbours who are gas c...

I met Emma in her hometown of Dunboyne, in a cute cafe that she has recently started to frequent a lot more often. Emma has had some epic life changes of late. She’s done what a lot of people her age are doing and boomeranged back home to her parents house.  But not only has she moved back home, she’s also left a marriage and sold the home she worked so hard to afford. On top of that upheaval...

I met MJ O’Brien in her home in the middle of Dublin City Centre, her back garden is the canal dock, which makes for a wonderful vista.  She’s funny, charming and flirting with my sound engineer/partner who is recording our podcast today.  MJ leads with “I got into some trouble” with a little smirk on her face, the kind that tells me there was a man involved. She starts telling me about...

I met Niamh in her home on the banks of the canal. It's secluded, remote, peaceful. Her Mum answers the door and welcomes us into the kitchen, country style (through the back door). The house smells divine thanks to the plant-based cookies Niamh has been baking so considerately.  Niamh is back living in her parents home, like so many other 29 year olds. She’s done quite a bit of travelling, d...

The sun was splitting the rocks down in Vico Baths when we met screenwriter and director, Nessa. She picked the location and I’m so glad she did. I’m not used to being this far south of the Liffey, I don’t know the area and I was a little bit nervous that she’d chosen somewhere so open to the elements to chat on a January day.  I feel like I was meant to meet this kindred soul and we were ble...

As we edge our way into this year and I hear stories from many different people across all demographics, there’s one topic that comes up time and time again, the housing crisis. So many people are living in fear. They fear that their landlord will decide to sell up, or that their rent will increase beyond their means. They fear that they won’t be able to find any suitable accommodation and that th...

Mai has a really interesting job as a theatre maker and translator, working on incredible productions like Waiting for Godot in Japan, but it’s not this that fascinates me today on our walk.  Mai has a truly gentle and beautifully curious character. She introduces me to the birds in the gardens that she has named. They’re her friends and confidants, visiting almost daily, a ritual that began...

Rebecca is a new Mum to Dara (and a dog Mum to Lola). We meet her in the afternoon in her suburban home and it’s just like every family home with a 1 year old. The floor is covered in toys within 4 seconds of Dara waking from her nap. Rebecca makes me laugh, she’s witty, warm, and just casually hilarious. She describes motherhood to me with such honesty and humour, not denying how hard it is, but...

Eric and I did a podcast swap. He invited me onto his hilarious Joe.ie podcast “You Must Be Joking” which I was terrified about (I’m not funny) and in turn, I invited him into this project. I’ve left a certain amount of room in the 365 spaces to include interesting folk I meet along the way.  I’ve known Eric for a good few years but as acquaintances mainly, I don’t think I’ve ever just sat do...

It’s a freezing cold January morning when I knock on Gill’s door in South Dublin. I can already see flashes of neon through the front room window and I get an inkling this is going to be an interesting shoot.  Gill wrote to me, asking if I could photograph her for this project “I'm a big smiler so I'd like people to remember me for being happy, rather than for being the girl who died of cance...

I don‘t even know how to start trying to describe the charmer that is Brian Bell. I met this distinguished and accomplished gent in his new digs in Raheny and completely lost myself in his stories.  Condensing his fascinating life into one tiny podcast would be impossible. From meeting the love of his life, Imelda (through Divine intervention no less) to breaking the Irish 3-mile running reco...

I met the wonderfully chatty Lucy Hayes on a sunny morning in Dublin’s city centre. We sat outside Difontaines pizza and chatted for what felt like two minutes but was actually an hour. Lucy is currently in a position that a lot of people would covet, one that could bring change to our beautiful city, change that I suspect we all want. She tells me that Dublin City Council (where she’s the Cycling...