A friendship forged under the Five Lamps can survive anything—pram‑shed raves, vigilante marches, a brief spin with pop fame, and the kind of silence that follows postnatal psychosis. We sit with Kathy, Beverly, and Olive to trace how a tight Dublin 1 community turned inner‑city chaos into structure and joy: Sister Veronica’s youth club, wild trips to Sherkin Island, open‑air discos with extension leads dangling across balconies, and swimming‑bath badges that sometimes owed more to laughter than laps. There’s the folklore too—bunking into Croke Park, a 12‑year‑old whisked to Elton John’s stage, a Christmas Eve “remove the boot” moment in Dunnes—and the craft that disciplined them: dance battles that led to European championships and, for one, Buffalo G tours, charts, and an eventual choice to come home.

The heart of the story lands later and hits harder. Beverly speaks frankly about postnatal psychosis, prenatal depression, panic, and the slow courage it took to ask for help. Kathy shares her own postnatal depression and the leaflet that changed everything. Olive, who didn’t face depression herself, describes learning how to show up without smothering: texts instead of calls, sea‑front walks, and kid‑centred meetups that kept the connection alive when nights out were too much. Together they give a working blueprint for supporting someone you love—notice early, ask twice, and make it easy to say yes to something small.

We talk parenting now versus then, shrinking safety zones, YouTube hopscotch, and how to keep wonder alive: half‑seven bedtimes in one house; memory‑making at any cost in another; the shared rule that kids carry only school and fun, while the adults shoulder the rest. There’s work and craft too—Olive’s creative direction and education in hair, Beverly’s The Unlikely Stylist turning insomnia into a vocation, Kathy’s care and grit while living with COPD—and a straight take on social media: use it to share, not to posture. It’s a warm, sharp, very Dublin conversation about loyalty, mental health, motherhood, and the stubborn choice to be kind.

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