We Shared Dreams but Not a Future
We met on a wet Thursday outside Whelan’s, both of us pretending we were grand with the rain while standing under the same useless awning. I had come from a late shift…
The Last Hug Before Forever Changed
The last hug I remember as a man without a child happened in a corridor of the Rotunda Hospital, under lights too bright for three in the morning. My wife, Niamh, was…
I Never Meant to Break His Heart
I met Conor on a wet Tuesday in Smithfield, the kind of evening where Dublin looks like it has been rubbed with silver. I was standing outside the Luas stop with a…
The Holiday We Never Spoke About Again
I met Aoife on a wet Tuesday outside Dublin Castle, both of us pretending we hadn’t just been stood up by the same walking tour. She laughed first, which saved me from…
The Train Journey That Changed My Heart
I used to believe love announced itself loudly, with certainty, like a song starting in a pub when everyone already knew the words. By the winter I turned thirty-four, I had stopped…
She Read My Journal After I Left
I left the journal on the windowsill of her flat in Portobello, beside a dying basil plant and a mug with a crack through the handle. I did not leave it there…
I Left Because I Loved Her
I met Aoife on a wet Tuesday outside Whelan’s, both of us pretending we weren’t waiting for the same taxi. She had a paper bag of chips under one arm and was…
Our Best Memories Were Never Photographed
I met Aoife on a wet Tuesday evening outside the George’s Street Arcade, both of us pretending we weren’t waiting for the rain to soften. I was holding a paper bag with…
The Anniversary We Pretended to Celebrate
We broke up at half three on a wet Tuesday, sitting in my parked car near St Stephen’s Green, with the wipers moving like they were trying to keep time with our…
He Fell in Love After Losing Hope
I was thirty-eight when I decided, very quietly, that love was no longer something meant for me. There was no dramatic announcement, no pint slammed down in a pub, no tearful speech…