Anniversaries are something that Sasha & Venetia have spoken about on several episodes of the podcasts so far. They can spark a huge range of emotion, and often bring back a lot of sad and difficult memories. Some like to mark an occasion, while others are happy to see the back of these milestone dates. Often the way someone chooses to remember their loved one is dependant on their years or months grieving in between, and what form of relationship that is kept with the deceased. This week on...
Oct 22, 2019•29 min•Ep. 43
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month internationally, and for many people, the first name that springs to mind when thinking of the subject, is that of Marie Keating, who passed away from the illness in February 1998 . Since Marie’s death, her family have done unimaginable work in creating awareness for the disease, which devastated them 21 years ago. This week Sasha and Venetia are joined in the studio by Linda Keating, Marie’s daughter and Founder of The Marie Keating Foundation to tell us...
Oct 15, 2019•36 min•Ep. 42
Anniversaries are a bit of a theme for us this month on the podcast, and today, the 10th of October marks 10 years since the death of the brilliant and beautiful Steven Gately. On the morning of October 11th 2009 , Ireland woke to the devastating news that one of its brightest stars, had passed away in his sleep. In one of our first episodes, we had the absolute pleasure of speaking to one of his best friends and bandmates Mikey Graham about his love for Steven, then and now. He opens the interv...
Oct 10, 2019•32 min•Ep. 41
This week on the podcast Venetia sat down with the incredible Irish writer Éilís Ní Dhuibhne to speak about their shared experience of losing a partner, the person that they loved most. Éilís is the author of 12,000 Days: A Memoire Of Love And Loss, which is a truly beautiful account of her relationship with her husband Bo Almqvist, who passed away suddenly in November 2013. Éilís gave up on fictional writing in the months following his death, but began a diary where she took not of her thoughts...
Oct 08, 2019•31 min•Ep. 40
After losing his Dad to a heart attack in February 1998, Our guest this week has since described his “new” relationship with his father as “an irresistible detective story”, where he “keeps looking around for the essence of him”... Dermot Morgan is one of Ireland's greatest ever comedians and actors, most notable for his role of Craggy islands morally questionable Priest, Father Ted Crilly, in Channel 4’s Timeless classic - Father Ted. Don Morgan, Dermot’s son joins Sasha, to talk in detail abou...
Oct 03, 2019•29 min•Ep. 39
Caring for a loved can be an incredibly difficult job, regardless of what stage of the illness they are at. It can often take a huge amount of strength and perseverance, particularly if it is a form of dementia, because of its degenerative nature. In March we spoke to the incredible Kathy Ryan , who lives with Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, who’s doing incredible work to advocate around Alzheimer’s Awareness in Ireland. Since Kathy’s appearance on the podcast, further discussion on Dementia ...
Sep 24, 2019•26 min•Ep. 38
This week on Grief Encounters, Sasha was joined by the parents of Sean “Lil Red” Hughes, who was an aspiring rapper from Finglas in Dublin, and the type of kid to make a big impression on anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him. Joe and Karen are two incredibly proud parents who are doing exceptional work in raising awareness around Sepsis, which Sean passed away from in January 2018 at the age of 15. After complaining of flu-like symptoms, Sean suddenly lost consciousness while watching TV a...
Sep 17, 2019•25 min•Ep. 37
The immediate grief after a sudden loss is completely overwhelming, often making it impossible to process the present and the future. Our guest this week had the sad reality of experiencing this in March 2000, when hearing about his brothers death after a tragic accident at home. Abie Philbin Bowman’s brother Jonathan was a radio and television presenter, well known for his extraordinary wit, impulsive presenting style and humour, and without question his ability to often wind people up. Abie sp...
Sep 10, 2019•31 min
After a late summer break, Sasha and Venetia return with more weekly Grief Encounters chats, and this weeks guest was an incredibly special one. Stephen Sexton is on the cusp of being one of Ireland's great modern poets, and his debut book has been compared to that of Seamus Heaney in recent weeks. If All The World And Love Were Young, is a beautiful elegy to his mother, who passed away from cancer in 2012. Stephen explores her death and other themes of grief through the guise of the Super Mario...
Sep 03, 2019•37 min•Ep. 35
This week on the podcast Sasha and Venetia reflect on an incredible 8 months of conversation, looking back on the many things that they have learned from the incredible guests that have joined them so far. Grief Encounters will be taking a short summer break for the month of August but will be returning on Tuesday September 3rd with plenty more discussion on the subject of loss, and all that comes with it. If you're looking for a safe haven to express how you feel, Share articles, photos ,memori...
Jul 30, 2019•10 min•Ep. 34
The relationship between language and loss is something that we have we have covered in the past, and it’s also something that has proven to be divisive. How direct and frank should someone be, when the conversation is about an impending death? This week’s guest is the Journal.ie’s Orla Ryan, who sadly lost her father to esophageal cancer in 2012. It wasn’t until a nurse told Orla “A week in your dad’s life is a long time” did she realise just how little time she had left with him. In the interv...
Jul 23, 2019•31 min•Ep. 33
A chronic illness can bring with it many devastating lows, but also moments of hope and relief. Anyone who has spent periods of time caring for someone who was ill, will know these range of emotions far too well. This week on Grief Encounters, Sasha and Venetia catch up with fellow podcast and founder of The Shift Andy Gaffney, who is here to speak about his brother Raymond who had to face all of this while battling a rare form of Leukaemia, that sadly took his life in the summer of 2014. Raymon...
Jul 16, 2019•46 min•Ep. 32
This week’s Sasha meets the award winning UK writer Louisa young, who’s book You Left Early accounts her relationship with Robert Lockhart, an extremely talented and prolific composer from Wigan, who battled with alcohol addiction throughout his life. Loving an addict can be incredibly difficult thing to do. It's a relationship that is often rampant with deceit & disappointment, and sadly more often that not, the addiction comes out on top. Louisa is a hugely empathetic person, and this is e...
Jul 09, 2019•27 min•Ep. 31
This week’s guest on Grief Encounters has been an extremely familiar face on Irish television for nearly 2 decades. Nuala Carey joined Sasha and Venetia in studio to speak about her incredibly beautiful relationship with her father Maurice who passed away in November 2018. With a huge amount of bravery and compassion, Nuala has been using her platform as a way to exercise the conversation around grief, undoubtedly helping a huge amount of people up and down the length of the country. Nuala’s fat...
Jul 02, 2019•50 min•Ep. 30
To celebrate Pride week and Ireland’s rich LGBTQ history, we wanted to dedicate this weeks podcast into looking at a particular moment of time that sadly took the lives of so many of the country’s queer citizens. Ireland’s first AIDS case was diagnosed in 1982, and the mass hysteria and misinformation that was spread during this period ,caused damage that is still prevalent within the community to this day. Tonie Walsh otherwise known as The Godfather Of Gay, lived through 80’s and 90’s in Irela...
Jun 25, 2019•34 min•Ep. 29
In this week’s episode of the podcast Sasha and Venetia meet the incredibly talented writer, radio presenter and podcaster Emily Dean who speaks about “starting again” after a series of painful losses, all accounted beautifully in her new memoir Everybody Died, So I Got a Dog. The books jarring title is completely indicative to the tone of the conversation, as Emily refuses to speak gently about the painful realities of grief. Now, she is the only survivor of her immediate family and in her inte...
Jun 18, 2019•43 min•Ep. 28
At 7.15am on Thursday, December 22, 2016, John Fitzsimons had to do the most difficult thing he has ever done, tell his beautiful two children Jack and Ella that their mum Grainne had died the night before, having battled Cancer for a long time. “I sat down with her, and her brother came in and I just basically told them that their mum had passed away the day before. I was expecting all sorts of tears and tantrums but they were fine, and they were fine because I had kept them in the loop. I was ...
Jun 11, 2019•32 min•Ep. 27
Sickness and death brings with it a broad range of emotions, and one that is often overlooked is humour. Gearoid Farrelly is an Irish comic who has toured with the likes of Joan Rivers, Sarah Millican and a host more of stand-up legends, since breaking on to the Irish scene over 10 years ago. Today he shared his own story about his beautiful friendship with Anne Marie Buckley, who passed away on the 1st of March 2018. Gearoid moved into an apartment 10 years ago, and after a series of unschedule...
Jun 04, 2019•42 min•Ep. 26
This week’s guest is the founder of an incredible charity and resource for the bereaved, called The Good Grief Trust, which is pioneering the way that The UK approach grief support and resources. Lind Magistris first met her partner Graham when she played Susi in the BBC Series, Grange Hill. Graham was one of the series directors and 30 years later, purely by accident, Linda crossed paths with him once again. The pair enjoyed a loving and romantic relationship that lasted 8 years, but sadly Grah...
May 28, 2019•28 min•Ep. 25
Whether a death is anticipated, or happens all of a sudden, the amount of preparation involved in organising the subsequent funeral can be shocking and overwhelming to someone close to the deceased. Having been in that position themselves, Sasha and Venetia have wanted to dedicate at least One episode of Grief Encounters towards looking into many of the practical ways that people can prepare for this. A Beginners Guide To Funerals , and as completely morbid as that sounds, every single person in...
May 21, 2019•44 min•Ep. 24
The ever changing landscape of how we grieve, is something that has been continuously discussed on the podcast. The internet and social media have had a huge role in creating new ways to remember someone who has passed away over the past 15 years. These relatively new avenues of expression have many benefits, but like all things online - there are still a huge amount of pitfalls that come with using Facebook or Twitter as a place to cherish the memory of a parent, friend, sibling or child. This ...
May 14, 2019•37 min•Ep. 23
On this week’s podcast Sasha (Venetia will be back next week) got the opportunity to speak to the psychotherapist, writer, and grief advocate Megan Devine. Megan’s career as a therapist was mainly based around working with people with substance addiction. It wasn’t until a summer day in 2009 that grief would become a firm fixture in her life, as her partner Matt drowned in a devastating accident, just three months from his fortieth birthday. In Megan’s own words “It was random, unexpected, and i...
May 07, 2019•28 min•Ep. 22
This week’s guest has lived most of her life with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), a serious mental disorder marked by a pattern of on-going instability in mood, behaviour, self-image and functioning. BPD is also associated with severe functional impairment and high rates of suicide. Nikki Hayes should have been diagnosed aged fifteen the first time she came in contact with the mental health services with anorexia, or aged nineteen, after an attempted suicide; or aged twenty-eight followin...
Apr 30, 2019•29 min•Ep. 21
The relationship between art and loss is something that has featured in many of the first 20 episodes of Grief Encounters that have now been published. Whether it is through music, poetry or literature, there is something particular about the theme of grief, that translates so fluently into these creative forms. This week's guest is broadcaster turned author Sinead Gleeson, who’s new book Constellations - Reflections From Life looks at many things including parenthood, friendship, sickness and g...
Apr 23, 2019•33 min•Ep. 20
In this week’s episode Sasha and Venetia speak to mother and campaigner Lauren LaFave, who’s son Breck was murdered in a vicious attack after being targeted by online predator Lewis Danes for over a year. Lorin has spent much of the five years since Breck’s death campaigning and spreading awareness around the prevalence of online grooming, and ways for parents and kids to notice any potential warning signs, launching The Breck Foundation in his name. Breck had a huge interest in gaming, having s...
Apr 16, 2019•45 min•Ep. 19
Jess O’Neill is a writer and mother from Carlow, who has been documenting her family's life on her blog My Moo And Roo since 2017. In an incredibly brave an open interview, she chatted with Sasha and Venetia about miscarraige, and what can be done to open the conversation around a virtually unspoken subject. Jess became pregnant just before Christmas, and her and her partner Matt were delighted with the incredible news. They had planned to have 3 kids under 5, when starting off their family, and...
Apr 09, 2019•23 min•Ep. 18
Our guest this week is a journalist and podcaster who has been campaigning to break the stigma around drug addiction in Ireland, since the death of her brother Matthew in 2016. Niamh O’Donoghue joins Sasha and Venetia to speak about how complex the grief can be when it is as a result of addiction troubles. Niamh’s honest account of her family's troubles in dealing with his addiction both before and after Matthews loss are incredibly powerful to hear. In the interview she speaks about Matthews of...
Apr 02, 2019•29 min•Ep. 17
On this week’s episode of Grief Encounters, Sasha and Venetia speak to DJ and Radio Presenter Andy Preston. His voice will be familiar to many, as it accompanies Dublin offices and homes throughout the workday, but Andy’s backstory is one that is largely untold. Sadly death and grief has played a large role in Andy’s life from an early age, and is something that has accompanied him closely, for many years. Andy is the sole remaining member of his birth family, and has also suffered the loss of a...
Mar 26, 2019•30 min•Ep. 16
Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people, both in Ireland and worldwide. When hearing figures such as that, it is not surprising that we have received a huge amount of interest and requests to cover this topic in detail. It really is something that affects most people around the country in some shape or form. Our guest this week is Karen Docherty from Dublin. Her two boys Stephen, 30, and 22-year-old Graham Murray took their own lives within three years of each other, something she...
Mar 19, 2019•27 min•Ep. 15
Stephen Teap’s life changed forever in July 2017, as he lost his wife Irene to cervical cancer. Their story - which is known to many across Ireland, is made more difficult to digest because it could, and should have been prevented. After two false negative smear tests in 2010 and 2013, Irene was diagnosed with stage two cancer in 2015 and died two years later at the age of 35, leaving behind their boys Oscar and Noah. In the wake of Irene's death, Stephen has been catapulted into the public eye ...
Mar 12, 2019•51 min•Ep. 14
