The Nosey Fox

The Nosey Fox is a podcast about people and storytelling, hosted by Natasha Murtagh. Each episode is an interview with a seemingly ordinary person, telling a rather extraordinary story.

The Nosey Fox is a podcast about people and storytelling. Each episode is an interview with a different person, telling a different story from a chapter of their life. In this episode, I talk to international Irish field hockey player and member of the Irish hockey team that's representing Ireland in the Olympics 2021, Chloe Watkins. Chloe talks about growing up in a house of hockey players, trying to balance school and training and the disappointment of being told they were no longer going to the olympics due to Covid19.

On this week's episode of The Nosey Fox podcast I talk to trail blazing Irish climber Claire Sheridan.Claire is one of the pioneers in women's rock climbing in Ireland and author of her newly published memoir Uncoiling The Ropes. Claire talks to me about what it was like growing up in the 70's as a young woman who wanted to make her mark on a world that was predominantly ruled by men. This is an episode about breaking moulds and pushing boundaries. This is the story of a determined little girl who became a strong woman and changed the world of rock climbing in Ireland.

My guest on episode 4 of The Nosey Fox Podcast is 29 year old professional MotoGP photographer Cormac Ryan-Meenan.Cormac finished school in 2010 and went straight into working for his Dad. In 2012, Cormac went to his first MotoGP pre-season test in Jerez, Spain and became fascinated with the speed and skill of the sport. In 2013 he bought his first second hand camera and started teaching himself how to take and edit photos.Through trial and error, determination, hundreds of races and countless flights (91 in 2019), Cormac is now one of the top photographers in MotoGP and the second youngest.His story is inspiring and a real insight into a world many of us (me) know nothing about. 

I’m not sure if I believe in soul mates. If there was only one soul mate for each of us on this planet, the chances of finding them would be pretty small. But I do believe that there are certain people in life that we are meant to meet and that when we do, they will have a lasting effect on you for the rest of your life.  These people will make you feel something that you have never felt before, whether it’s an amazing love, a friendship like no other, someone you see as a role model or perhaps a mentor. Or maybe it’s somebody that just had a really strong impact on you and that you think of every now and then.  In 2016, while living in Guatemala in Central America, I met a girl from Canada called Nuria. Nuria was working for a non-profit organisation that helped children. We hit it off instantly and despite living thousands of miles apart, we have since been to 4 different countries and hiked two different mountain ranges together.  I have never in my life, had a friend like Nuria, nor have I ever admired a woman like I do her. She has taught me what true friendship is. She has taught me about boundaries and self-worth. She has taught me about the world, politics, different cultures and different history. She has taught me about people and emotions, words and feelings.  I read a poem by Rupi Kaur called ‘I want to apologise,’ and it’s always made me think of Nuria. I want to apologise to all the women I have called beautiful before I’ve called them intelligent or brave. I am sorry I made it sound as though something as simple as what you’re born with is all you have to be proud of- when you have broken mountains with your wit. From now on, I will say things like you are resilient, or you are extraordinary. Not because I don’t think you’re beautiful but because I need you to know you are more than that.Last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, while Nuria was living alone in Brussels, Belgium, her 26-year-old younger brother Adam suddenly died and she couldn’t fly home to Canada to say goodbye. Instead she had to watch him being buried over zoom, alone in her apartment.  My guest on this week's episode of The Nosey Fox podcast is the amazing Nuria Elkout but this is not an episode solely on friendship, this is an episode about grief and heartbreak and how the strongest woman I know, came through the other side.  

Life seems to be moving faster than ever. We live in a cashless, tap only, face recognition world. More robots, more machines, more online and more click and collect. Spoilt with technology, we now want everything on demand. Dating, food, bookings, shopping…it’s all at the end of our fingertips or should I say our screens. However, there are pockets of this country where you can feel like you have gone back in time, where things haven’t changed. There are towns and villages nestled into fjords, valleys and mountain ranges, where small shops have remained within the family that first opened them. There are islands off the west coast where children still have to commute to the mainland each week to go to school. And then there are farmers that work on the same land that they grew up on, taking over from their fathers to keep the farm going. Some of the farmers in the west of ireland, have never left. Nor have they ever changed the way in which they work the land.The rural farmers of the west of ireland are unique and they truly are the last of their likes. Future generations won’t have men and women like them. In 2019, I interviewed 10 different farmers, asking them all about their life growing up and why they never left. We spoke about family, the farms, the things that made them happy and friends loved and lost. This week's episode of The Nosey Fox Podcast, will tell the story of five different farmers from co. Mayo, in the west of Ireland. The stories you will hear in this episode are written by me based on interviews I held with each of the farmers. The first story in this episode, is about John Tiernan of Doughmakeon in County Mayo. 

I have lived beside the sea for most of my life. I grew up in Greystones, co Wicklow with a bedroom window that faces the Irish sea, and I would often fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves. Most of my childhood memories are of my brother and I playing in rock pools and running around sand dunes in Mayo in the west of Ireland, where my parents have a cottage. We would go there every summer when we were younger.The sea has always had a special place in my heart but specifically the water around Ireland…….this episode is all about water…. My guest this week on The Nosey Fox Podcast is voice coach, singing coach, puppeteer, free diver and all round incredible woman; Claire Walsh. In 2015 while travelling in Belize off the eastern coast of Central America, Claire saw some young boys free diving and it sparked something in her. She wanted to know what they were doing. After completing a number of courses in free diving in Utila, Hondouras, Claire added free diving to her extensive CV. Just four years after taking up the sport, Claire went on to represent Ireland in the Free Diving Championships, which had never been done before. Claire is effervescent and the way she talks about life, the water and the importance of breathing will make you feel alive. 

The final episode of the first season of The Nosey Fox Podcast is with 78-year-old Eugene O’Leary. Originally from Cork but living in Howth Co. Dublin, Eugene worked as a lighthouse keeper for 11 years during which he attained the rank of captain. His seagoing career sadly ended in 1980 after the cot-death of his three-month-old daughter, Claire.  Eugene then went on to work in Dublin Port Radio, controlling the movement of shipping in and out of Dublin Port and in Dublin Bay.  Eugene and his wife lost two more of their children, the most recent being 18-year-old Helen in 2002.  Since then, Eugene has devoted his life to raising money for Our Lady’s Children Hospital Crumlin in Dublin. He hasn’t held charity events or done raffles like many would to raise money. Every penny Eugene has raised has been through cycles, walks and marathons he has done.  In the past 20 years, Eugene has raised over €150,000 for Crumlin children's hospital.  This episode is about loss and grief, perseverance and achievement, using your time doing good things for other people, and truly using your life to its best potential. This episode is about hope, love and the kindness we find in other people. This episode is about one man and his extraordinary life.