The Laughs Of Your Life with Doireann Garrihy

Dermot Bannon showed up to the studio exactly as you’d expect - giddy and ready for divilment. Yes, he did steam in and congratulated the show on its third season (ten, Dermot, keep up), but predictably enough that didn’t set him back at all, and he entertained us with stories about wild times with his Waterford cousins, the Room To Improve guest one of his kids pranked, as well as telling us about the recent illness that left his body struggling to stay alive. Dermot Bannon’s Super Spaces is available to watch on the RTÉ Player now. 

My guest this week is Brother Richard Hendrick, a Capuchin Franciscan priest-friar from Dublin. You may have seen him on The Tommy Tiernan Show in recent months. If I had known he was open to interviews I would have asked him years ago, as we happen to go way back. I first met Brother Richard 20 years ago when he facilitated retreats in my secondary school. He had a profound effect on me, my sisters and many of our friends. What an extraordinary man. We spoke about his pathway into a life as a monk, the important of self reflection and the commonalities between preachers and comedians. By the time this episode is released, Brother Richard will have married Mark and I (have I mentioned I'm engaged on the podcast?). I hope you enjoy our chat. Brother Richard's book 'Calming the Storms: Meditation as a Path to Inner Peace and Happiness' is published by Hachette Books Ireland in Hardback and is out now.

The Talking Bollox lads. What can I say? Two absolute gems. Calvin and Terence talked to me about growing up in the flats in Dublin's inner city and how they entertained themselves as kids. They were both extremely vulnerable (content warning) and opened up about their experiences with suicide and addiction. They also expanded on their infamous run in with Coolio which I know will make for some seriously funny listening. I belly laughed hard while recording this episode. I hope you enjoy it!Content Warning: This conversation includes the topics of suicide and addiciton. 

Chatting to Roddy Doyle felt like sitting down with an uncle you have known your whole life, but never properly gotten to know. He talked to me about his Christian Brother school days, how easy it is to dodge the public eye and gave his (very lovely) answer to “if laughter wasn’t the best medicine, what would be?”. His latest novel ‘The Women Behind The Door’, which is published by Hachette, is available in all good book shops.CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains conversation on the theme of corporal punishment.

I say it on the podcast and I'll say it here. These girls keep me young. I adore following Charleen and Ellie's journeys on instagram and so simply had to have them on the podcast. The girls host Hold My Drink podcast and are two of Ireland's most successful social media personalities. They are bright, bubbly and beautiful...the triple threat! But most of all, they are both so refreshingly relatable. I think you will love them. 

My guest this week is the one and only, Laura Whitmore. I got to sit down with Laura in The Olympia Theatre during her run of '2.22 A Ghost Story' during the Summer. She is as bubbly and beautiful in person as you might expect. I had never met Laura but it felt like I had. She's that kind of girl. She talked to me about growing up in Bray, how "the show must go on" even in the toughest of times and her the surprising place she first shifted her husband, Iain Stirling. I hope you enjoy!