The Music Teacher Who Never Charged Families in Need
I first heard about Mr. Kavanagh from a notice taped to the window of a launderette in Phibsborough, the kind of handwritten notice you almost miss because it has curled at the…
The Couple Who Fostered Elderly Rescue Dogs
We never meant to become known as the couple with the old dogs. At the start, it was only meant to be one quiet foster, something gentle after the house had gone…
The Girl Who Wrote Letters to Residents in Care Homes
I started writing the letters because I could not bear the quiet in my own flat. It was a small place in Phibsborough, above a pharmacy, and during those long months when…
The Stranger Who Quietly Paid Someone’s Electricity Bill
I was in the post office near Phibsborough on a wet Tuesday morning, the kind of rain that seems to come at you sideways and make everyone look slightly defeated. I had…
The Old Bicycle That Connected Three Generations
The bicycle was older than me, older than my daughter, and, according to my father, “still younger than some of the grudges in Dublin.” It leaned for years against the back wall…
The Delivery Driver Who Always Carried Extra Blankets in Winter
I met Marek on the coldest Tuesday I can remember in Dublin. The kind of evening where the air seemed to come up through the soles of your shoes, and every bus…
The Woman Who Sat With Strangers at Funerals With No Family
I first noticed her in the back pew of a small chapel near Glasnevin Cemetery, wearing a navy coat with a missing button and holding a folded tissue like it was a…
The Teenager Who Started a Community Garden for Elderly Residents
I was seventeen when I first noticed how quiet the courtyard had become. I lived with my mam in a block of flats near Dublin city centre, the kind of place where…
The Boy Who Helped His Grandfather Learn to Read
I was eleven when I found out my grandfather couldn’t read. Until then, I thought he was the cleverest man in Dublin. He could fix a kettle with a butter knife, tell…
The Florist Who Delivered Flowers to Widows Every Mother’s Day
I run a small flower shop off the North Circular Road, not far from Phibsborough, the sort of place people pass without noticing unless they need carnations for a school play, lilies…