Episode 32:

Daragh Fleming is a poet, writer, and mental health advocate from Cork, Ireland. With a background in psychology and linguistics, his work explores themes of identity, vulnerability, and resilience. He has published multiple poetry collections—including Notes For A Mid-Youth Crisis and Enigmatic—alongside fiction and non-fiction titles such as Lonely Boy. His writing has appeared in journals like Southword, Crannóg, and Paris Lit Up, and he’s received several accolades, including the From The Well Short Story Prize. A passionate mental health advocate, Daragh is the founder of the blog Thoughts Too Big, works with charities like A Lust For Life and See Change, and is a powerful TEDx speaker.

Exploring different media, Daragh continues to use creativity as a tool for connection and change.

Find Daragh on instagram:

@daraghfleming

We talk about the loss and recall of our sense of home, our connection with our language, and Daragh’s journey from pain to purpose.

Go raibh míle maith agat, a chara

Thanks a million, friend

Brinsley takes us through whimsical, wild, weird stories and happenings around our island of Ireland. Thanks a million, Brinsley - it was an absolute pleasure to talk to you! Highly recommend Brinsley's book which you can find here linktr.ee/weirdireland or celebrate and support McNamara's work here buymeacoffee.com/weirdireland

Míle buíochas, a chara - A thousand gratitude, friend

Dane Buckley is the world’s only Irish, Indian, gay comedian… probably! An award-winning comedian and writer, he delivers his comedy effortlessly with cheeky charm and camp mischief.

Dane burst onto the comedy circuit in 2022, after a fulfilling career in charity work and social care, making a name for himself by winning Gong Shows and was a finalist in LGBTQ+ New Comedian of the Year (2022), British Comedian of the Year (2024) and BBC New Comedy Awards (2024).

Whether it’s stories of his early years – Irish mammies, Indian grannies, and rebel priests – or his career in social care – chasing pensioners through Paris or delivering a baby impromptu – audiences across the UK are enjoying Dane’s hilarious and heart-warming tales.

Dane has supported Deirdre Kane, My Therapist Ghosted Me, Tom Allen and Rosie Jones on Tour, has been featured on Comedy Central, BBC THREE and BBC ONE and is a regular on the club and festival circuit.

Dane co-hosts the podcast Welcome to Hell which debuted in the top 10 charts of both Apple and Spotify and has gained a loyal following. Together with Daniel Foxx, the Infernal Aunties judge outrageous confessions, celebrate the salacious and revel in a good old-fashioned gossip.

In this conversation, we touch on the pilgrimage it takes to get closer to the heart of Ireland, and what it means to be Irish, learn Irish and speak Irish. Go raibh míle maith agat, a chara! Thanks a million, friend! Ba phleisiúr ollmhór é! It was a huge pleasure :)

Find Dane's podcast and shows on instagram page:

@danecomedian

Aoife Lowden is a guide and facilitator of courses, ceremonies, and gatherings which aim to support in building relationship rooted in land-based ancestral wisdom.

Aoife works as a voice for the more-than-human world. Through story, song and healing ceremony, she weaves together ancestral wisdom and lived-mythology to bring forth an embodied experience of ancient druidic spirituality in the present moment today.

Weaving the old with the new - Aoife creates spaces rooted in wild & ancient wisdom, whilst allowing the space for our emerging culture to come through and evolve.

Aoife founded Leigheas Dé Danann where she weaves offerings inspired by the ancient lands of Éire and Alba, often in collaboration with her community.

Aoife's own journey began with being born into a sick society, born into a council estate on the foothills of the Dublin mountains - never too far from the land but also deeply disconnected and surrounded by depression, desolation, poverty, addiction - and as a result, and a very sick community. Through this environment like a flower through the crack in the concrete, she grew to become resilient and hyper-aware of the change needed in this world - being directly impacted by the very sick and traumatised culture we have all inherited.

Living in a Tír na nÓg dimension, on a pure mission, Aoife talks about repairing this world by being a guide, a catalyst for remembering who we are and how we all have this fire inside us.

Onóir ollmhór caint leat, a chara - Huge honour to talk to you, friend.

Go raibh míle maith agat - Thanks a million

Find Aoife on Instagram: @aoifededanann

and her website: www.leigheasdedanann.com

Míle buíochas, mo laoch! Many thanks, my hero.

Dian weaves together her experience and research from an illustrious career in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) & Transformative Coaching, an academic vocation focused on Classical Rhetoric, Applied Linguistics and Critical/Narrative Theory, and a lifelong passion for Irish Studies. Dian's Master of Philosophy degree at Trinity College, Dublin was in Anglo-Irish Literature in Cultural-Historical Contexts. Her PhD culminated in research on The Nation’s Other: The Construction of Irish National Identity in the Context of British Colonialism and Emigration. Dian has been an NVC trainer for 20 years, working with organisations such as Americorp, Cornell University, and the U.N. Development program. She co/wrote two popular NVC books, including Connecting across Differences and Urban Empathy: True Life Adventures of Compassion on the Streets of New York. She is also an award-winning writer, musician, and singer-songwriter who loves visual art and has a great talent for photography, drawing and print-making.The Irish language continues to surprise, inspire and delight Dian. Join Dian and her growing, visionary community at The Gaelic Effect where she explores

• Language and how it impacts how we see and relate to the world

• Beauty and draíocht (magic, wonder and awe)

• Solace, inspiration and companionship) in these liminal, uncertain times

• Hope for what’s possible: what we are truly capable of as human beings—at our best

  Find The Gaelic Effect: How the Irish language can save the world, and the GaelStack here: https://diankillian.substack.com/

Enjoy the conversation! Beir bua! (Grab victory)

Breandán is an inspirational, rising TikTok star in the Gaeltok, who is ensuring that Gaeilge has its place on the global app. My favourite creator on Tiktok by far! He believes that the accessibility of TikTok and its high usage among our youth is key to the revitalisation of our beautiful language. He brings us right back to his school days in Athenry where he was immersed in the language in his youth and how that has had such a positive effect on his love for the language today. Breandán's energy is refreshing as he avidly believes that Irish should be spoken as a living, thriving language as opposed to getting caught up on "cruinneas" or rigid accuracy. This bilingual conversation includes acúpla focal (a couple of words) as they naturally weave through our conversation. This effortless shift between the languages is representative of Breandán's relaxed, innate approach to Irish. He speaks to me about his complicated relationship with An Caighdeán (The Standard) and how it was something he had to learn to navigate during his time in DCU studying Irish at university level. Breandán is a fun, practical advocate for Irish language but he is adamant that he is not a Garda na Gaeilge (language guard) and rather, a person who is speaking and living our language by choice. Breandán warmly reminds us, "remember - it doesn't have to be cruinn, it just has to be Irish!" Absolutely loved chatting to you, a chara! Míle buíochas! Many thanks! I encourage you all to check out Breandán on Tiktok @gaelscoilis

Aislinn and I talk about the genre of horror and its social purpose, cultural trauma that is hard to articulate, her work, her interests and the future of filmmaking in Irish. We explore the fun-loving outward face of the Irish and the inward heart which is thwarted with pain.

“A good story will always carry anyway - regardless of the language. It wasn’t a barrier to me that people would have to read subtitles”

Aislinn has just been nominated as an IFTA Rising Star! Comhghairdeas agus tuillte go maith agat! Congratulations and well-deserved.

Go raibh míle maith agat as an gcomhrá! Thanks a million for the conversation!

Find Aislinn on instagram: @thewirelessgirl

Go raibh míle, a Sheáin - Thanks a million, Seán. It was brilliant to explore these themes with you. We touch on the enlightening and awakening Gaeilge Revival in all things music, language, culture, and dúchas - a deep sense of respect and honour for heritage.

Seán Mulrooney’s shift into solo artistry represents a deeply personal evolution, blending his Irish psychedelic folk roots with universal themes of justice, empathy, and healing. Known as the frontman of Tau & the Drones of Praise, he now steps forward with his debut solo album, This Is My Prayer.  Mulrooney’s artistic achievements include winning the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Lustrum Award with his sister, Dee Mulrooney (another podcast guest I was privileged to host), for their acclaimed performance of Growler.

This new chapter began with the release of "No Two Sides" in December 2023, a haunting track addressing the Palestinian genocide. The song resonated widely, reaching No. 7 on the iTunes charts and sparking a shift in Mulrooney’s creative direction. Alongside this, he founded Ómós Records in 2023, based in Ireland, with the label’s first release being This Is My Prayer, due out February 2025.

The album emerged from a transformative period of solitude in early 2024 when Mulrooney, following a breakup, retreated to a cabin in Wicklow and wrote six songs in February. Exploring themes of love, heartache, and personal power, the album blends dense Irish folk elements with worldly and otherworldly influences, including a whimsical track about dolphins getting high on pufferfish tetrodotoxin. Recorded with longtime collaborator Earl Harvin of Tindersticks, This Is My Prayer is a spiritually charged, raw, and heartfelt embodiment of Mulrooney’s artistic growth. As he puts it, “If not now, when?”

Find Seán on instagram:

@seanmulrooneymusic

@tauandthedronesofpraise

https://www.omosrecords.com/

Tau & the Drones of Praisehttps://linktr.ee/tauandthedronesofpraise

Episode 24: Meet Ross - tour guide, culture and history content creator, podcaster

Go raibh míle maith agat, a chara! Thanks a million, friend! Bhain mé an-taitneamh as ár gcomhrá - I really enjoyed our conversation.

Episode 23: David Keoghan - Stone Lifter

Go raibh míle maith agat, a chara! Thanks a million, friend! Bhain mé an-taitneamh as ár gcomhrá - I really enjoyed our conversation. Is laoch thú - You're a legend.