Miriam O’Callaghan gets why having eight children is a source of fascination for people.
In the past it may have bothered her to be referred to as a ‘mum of eight’ when the parental status of her male peers was never mentioned.
But today (and to use a notorious ‘girlboss’ era phrase) she now leans in to the descriptor.
“The older I’ve got I think so, what? It is unusual.”
The RTÉ broadcaster has recently released her memoir titled “Miriam: Life, Work, Everything”, all of which we delve into in the latest episode of Conversations with Parents.
O’Callaghan is at pains to tell host Jen Hogan that she understands how lucky she is to have a large family.
After having her first daughter she suffered secondary infertility, undergoing fertility treatment to eventually conceive six years later.
“I tell that story... because I’m conscious, Jen, that so many people can’t have children and I don’t want to look like it was always easy, because it wasn’t.”
O’Callaghan also reveals she had a number of miscarriages, including a later pregnancy loss, and a frightening complication on her last birth.
Perhaps one of the most traumatic and formative events in her life was the loss of her sister Anne, who died of stomach cancer at the age of 32.
She and O’Callaghan had babies close in age, and spent their early years of mothering together “as a unit.”
“[Her death] had a devastating impact on me. I call it, and have always called it, my BC and my AD.”
Anne’s passing jolted O’Callaghan into realising life can be deeply unfair, impressing on her the need to live every day knowing nothing is guaranteed.
She decided to leave her marriage, later marrying a colleague and going on to have four children together.
O’Callaghan insists she never had a life plan, including one that involved a large family, and refuses to worry about anything unless it’s a serious or terminal illness.
[ RTE’s Miriam O’Callaghan on family, feminism and fame in her candid new memoirOpens in new window ]
“Nothing else is an issue, I believe.”
In this episode we also discuss her aversion to conflict with her children, building up their confidence in advance of the teenage years and how instilling good manners was an important value she wanted to inculcate.
You can listen on the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.
Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk.
