everymum

Welcome back to Season 20, Episode 1 where we welcome Holly Cairns - leader of the Social Democrats, a TD for Cork South-West, and one of the most recognisable voices in Irish politics. First elected to Dáil Éireann in 2020, she's built a reputation for speaking candidly about issues ranging from housing, healthcare and women's rights, to gender equality and childcare. But beyond the headlines and parliamentary debates, Holly is also someone who has spoken openly about the personal side of public life: the pressures of leadership, the expectations placed on women, and what it means to build a life while serving the country. As more people delay starting families, navigate changing ideas of parenthood, or try to balance demanding careers with their personal lives, those conversations have become increasingly relevant.Today, we're stepping away from party politics and into the person behind the politician. We'll be talking about ambition, identity, family, and the values that shape not just how Holly leads, but how she sees the world. Enjoy this episode, and I'll be back to you next week.

Welcome back to Everymum the podcast, I'm Aisling Keenan, your host. Today's episode surprised me. It's not often that happens, but when I first invited today's guest, Laura O'Connell, to join me, I wanted to talk to her about her genuinely hilarious and sometimes triggering midwife comedy sketches. I wanted to unpick with her the reactions and why she made them. Instead, we got into one of the most soul-baring and deep discussions about the realities of motherhood and its place (and struggle to find its place) in this patriarchal society we live in. We talk about how the major side effect of those brilliant reels was that Laura got angry – angry at the lack of support and lack of awareness around postnatal mental health. We get into the weeds about everything from guilt and the relentlessness of parenting (as laura puts it, there is no rip cord you can pull) and why conversations like the ones that come up in the comment sections of her viral reels are so important. This was a cathartic episode for me in all honesty, and you will be hearing from Laura again because I feel we have so much more to get through. Here's this week's episode, I'll be back to you next week with more.

Welcome back to everymum the podcast, with me Aisling Keenan. Today we are talking about one of the biggest identity shifts a person can go through and one we still don’t talk about nearly enough. Motherhood isn’t just a physical transition; it’s emotional, psychological, social. There’s a word for that transformation and that is matrescence. It's not something I was very familiar with until really recently, but my guest today studies it and is pretty much an expert now. Returning for more chats, Claire Moore is a mother of two, Irish but living in Hong Kong, and is a facilitator for an amazing organisation called Bump and Co. With Bump and Co, they know how unsupported, misunderstood, and invisible many women can feel during their post-partum period and beyond, and they bring a peer-to-peer support together to help new mothers through their experiences. In this conversation, we talk about the genuine gap in the care for new mothers, not just commercially, but emotionally. We also get into the bigger cultural conversation around motherhood: why society still struggles to acknowledge how destabilising and transformative it can be, the pressure to appear like you’re coping, and the tension between the beauty of becoming a mother and the grief of losing parts of your old self. We also discuss whether modern motherhood has become overly optimised and commercialised, and what support for mothers should actually look like in real life, beyond Instagram slogans and vague ideas about “self care.” And if you’re listening as someone currently in the thick of matrescence, feeling overwhelmed or unlike yourself, there’s a really important message in this episode for you too. Here’s my conversation with Claire, and I'll be back next week with more.

Welcome back to Everymum the podcast, I'm your host Aisling Keenan. Today’s guest is the brilliant Dr Laura Lenihan — GP, working parent of three girls and someone who speaks with rare honesty about the realities of modern motherhood. This conversation goes far beyond perfect parenting or tidy Instagram advice. We talked about Dr Laura’s own HRT journey and how hormonal changes can affect patience, relationships and the way we experience motherhood itself. We also got into the relentless balancing act of trying to build a career while raising children and the impossible standards many women feel they’re failing to meet every single day. We spoke honestly about maternal guilt, the mental load, and that feeling so many mothers carry that no matter how much they do, it somehow never feels enough. And we discussed the uncomfortable truth that the bar for fathers is often dramatically lower: how men are praised for participation while women are expected to carry the invisible management of family life almost by default. It’s a conversation about work, identity, exhaustion, resentment, love, ambition, and the emotional complexity of trying to be everything to everyone. But it’s also validating, and incredibly reassuring. Whether you’re a parent, thinking about parenthood, or simply trying to survive modern life without burning out, I think you’ll get a lot from this one. Here’s my conversation with Dr Laura Lenihan.

Hi there and welcome back to Everymum the podcast. I'm Aisling Keenan, your host. Today’s guest is the fabulous Jennifer Wrynne. Jennifer, many of you will know, is a milliner, online influencer and mum of four, who in the past year or so has been sharing a deeply personal and life-changing experience very publicly: her breast cancer diagnosis. In this episode, we talk about that moment: how she found out, what followed, and the reality of navigating treatment while life kept moving around her. Jennifer speaks with incredible honesty about the fear, the uncertainty, and also the resilience she found in herself during that time. We also talk about her decision to share so much of her journey online, why she chose to be open, what that gave her, and how it’s helped other women, particularly when it comes to awareness around checking your breasts and paying attention to your body. This isn’t a story wrapped up in neat positivity. It’s about the complicated middle: the days that are hard, the mindset shifts that don’t come easily, and the ways people find strength when they don’t really have another option. Jennifer’s perspective is generous, grounded and incredibly impactful and I'm so grateful to her for sharing it with me and you, the listeners. Here's the episode, and I'll be back next week with more.

Welcome back to Everymum the podcast, I'm Aisling Keenan your host, and today’s guest is someone whose story speaks to so many modern realities around motherhood, family, and the choices women are making when life doesn’t follow the 'typical' path. Siobhan O’Hagan who you might know from her life online which began years back when she became a fitness influencer, is now a mum of one, working with an online community of women who want to live healtheir, and she has recently made the deeply personal decision to become a single mother by choice. Not because she gave up on finding a partner, but because she knew she wanted to grow her family and didn’t want to put that dream on hold in the meantime. I LOVE following Siobhan online and particularly love how she's approached this whole journey with complete upfront honesty. In this episode, we talk about what led her to make her decision around expanding her family, the fears that came with it, and the practical realities of pursuing fertility treatment on her own. Siobhan opens up about the IVF process itself, and what it means to embrace the label SMBC, and if she feels she identifies with it. We also get into the assumptions people make about what a family is supposed to look like, the reactions she’s had from others, and how she talks to her daughter about the journey of bringing a sibling into the world this way. But what makes this conversation so powerful is that it isn’t just about fertility treatment or solo parenting. It’s about agency. It’s about making a brave decision for your life, even when it falls outside the traditional narrative. Whether this path is something you’ve considered yourself, or whether you’re simply interested in the many ways families are made today, Siobhan’s honesty, warmth, and clarity make this a fascinating and deeply moving conversation. Here’s my chat with Siobhan, I'll be back next week with more.