The Florist Who Delivered Flowers to Widows Every Mother’s Day
I used to think Mother’s Day was the happiest day in a florist’s calendar. That was before I owned a little flower shop near Rathmines and learned how many different kinds of…
The Police Officer Who Returned Every Year to Check on One Family
I was twelve the first time Garda Declan Byrne came to our flat in Stoneybatter. It was the winter after my father died, the kind of Dublin winter that got into the…
The Boy in the Bed by the Window
When my daughter was seven, she spent five nights in CHI at Temple Street with a chest infection that frightened the life out of me. I remember the small sounds more than…
The Restaurant That Never Let Anyone Eat Alone at Christmas
The first Christmas after my mother died, I planned to spend the day with the curtains closed in my flat near Phibsborough, eating toast and pretending the phone had broken. My sister…
The Volunteer Who Remembered Every Shelter Dog’s Name
I first went to the shelter in Rathfarnham on a wet Tuesday, the kind of Dublin day that makes even the trees look tired. I had no plan to adopt. I told…
A Farmer Who Opened His Land for Community Walks
I used to think a field was only a field if it was working for you. Grass for cattle, hay for winter, a ditch to keep the wind off, a gate to…
The Barber Who Gave Haircuts to People Sleeping Rough
I used to think a haircut was a small thing. A tidy-up, a skin fade, a bit off the top before a wedding or a job interview. I had a chair in…
The Young Couple Who Chose Charity Instead of Wedding Gifts
Three months before our wedding, myself and Ciarán were standing in Arnotts arguing quietly over a toaster. Not a dramatic argument, just that tired kind couples have when they are pretending to…
The Librarian Who Helped a Homeless Teen Finish School
I was seventeen the winter I learned that a library could feel warmer than a bedroom. I had no bedroom then, only a rucksack, a school jumper I washed in sinks, and…
The Carpenter Who Built Wheelchair Ramps for Free
When my mother came home from the Mater after her stroke, the first thing we learned was that a house can love you for forty years and still become a stranger overnight.…