He Married My Sister, But He Loved Me First
I met Ciarán before my sister did, on a wet Friday evening outside the Gaiety Theatre, when the rain was falling sideways and every taxi on South King Street already had a…
The Most Beautiful Goodbye Happened at Howth Harbour
I met Niamh on a wet Tuesday evening on the DART, somewhere between Tara Street and Howth. I was carrying a paper bag of lemons because I had decided, with the confidence…
The Woman Who Changed My Life in One Weekend
I met her on a Friday evening in the kind of rain that makes Dublin look like it has been painted in grey water. I was standing outside the Workman’s Club, pretending…
I Didn’t Believe in Soulmates Until I Lost Mine
I used to think soulmates were something people said when they wanted ordinary love to sound magical. I believed in kindness, timing, hard work, and the price of a decent pint in…
The Wedding Speech That Ended Two Relationships
I knew something was wrong before the best man stood up, because my sister kept looking at the top table as if she was waiting for a glass to fall. The wedding…
She Read My Diary and Left Forever
I kept the diary in the bottom drawer of a small desk I bought second-hand in Rathmines. It was nothing fancy, just a navy notebook with a cracked spine and tea stains…
I Loved Someone Who Never Even Knew My Name
I first saw him on a wet Tuesday morning outside Dublin Connolly, standing under the station clock with a paper cup of coffee and a book held open against the rain. Everyone…
The Night We Chose Each Other Instead of Our Partners
I met him on a wet Thursday in Dublin, the kind of evening where the city looks like it has been varnished. We were both at a leaving do in Whelan’s, standing…
He Never Stopped Loving His First Love
My father was not a sentimental man in public. He was the sort of Dublin man who would call an ambulance “a bit of fuss” and a birthday card “grand altogether” if…
The Secret Affair That Lasted Longer Than My Marriage
I met him on a wet Tuesday in Dublin, the kind of evening when the buses sigh at the kerb and everyone looks like they are carrying a small private defeat. I…