In Ireland, toxic masculinity has been a part of the culture for many, many years.  “Be a man,” “Grow a pair,” “Real men don’t cry,” are all thoughts that have been ingrained in society since the country became fully independent in 1949. 

In this episode, former radio DJ and media personality Keith Walsh opens up about the historical traumas the people of Ireland have had to go through and how he has learned from those traumas, and has challenged those stereotypes through his own mental health journey.

 

“And we go back to talking about toxic masculinity, this is how households are run, by men who have trauma who were triggered by things, took it out on everybody in the house, were completely unreasonable, and expected everybody to just turn up for mass on a Sunday morning smiling.” - Keith Walsh (35:36)

 

After being a host of one of the most successful morning shows in Ireland, Keith was let go from his dream job, which he thought he never deserved in the first place.  In turn, triggered imposter syndrome, which had been something he struggled with his whole life.

 

“I had mistakenly attached my success as a person to the job I was doing.  So, my success as a human being, was not how my kids were doing, how happy my wife was, how happy I was, ya know do I love myself?  It was, what job I say to people, when they ask me, when they meet me at a party.  How successful I was was how big the show was.  Me and that job…that was me.  So when it was taken off me, I was like who the f*ck am I?  What’s left?” - Keith Walsh (23:14)

 

In This Episode

• (3:15)  The history of Ireland and how the country has changed
• (9:09) Toxic masculinity in Ireland.
• (16:21) The pressures of being a performer 
• (20:53) Keith’s feelings about therapy
• (23:44) How Keith coped before finally going to therapy.
• (24:55)  How Keith’s mental health spiraled after he was let go from his job
• (26:12) Imposter syndrome
• (31:56) The patriarchal pressure put on men and toxic masculinity.
• (36:53) How and why Keith created his play Pure Mental
• (44:05)  How Keith met his wife
• (51:18) What it was like for Keith becoming a dad and learning his new responsibilities

 

Our Guest

A radio veteran of 20 years, Keith Walsh co-hosted RTÉ 2fm’s breakfast show for five years. He now has his own podcast and wrote, produced, and starred in his own play about mental health called Pure Mental.

 

Resources & Links

Off The Cuff

• https://www.offthecuff.fm/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/OffTheCuffwithDannyLoPriore
• https://www.instagram.com/1and1otc/
• https://www.instagram.com/dannylopriore/

Keith Walsh

• https://www.instagram.com/keithwalsh_walsh/
• https://twitter.com/KeithyWalsh?
• https://www.nearlysisters.ie