Lots of chatter about Dee's podcast

With eight podcasts under her belt, Cavan Institute lecturer Deirdre Donnelly plans to continue to share the more personal stories of those living in Cavan and beyond.

The Chats with Dee Podcast began on September 19 with the aim of sharing mental health journeys and helping those within our county town.

One of the main reasons she began her podcast was to share the importance of talking.

“It does initiate from working with students who do not want to talk and I think, by picking up the phone, they might listen in and there could be some help there and, if there is, it’s a success for me,” she says.

“No matter what way our mental health is going, it has to be talked through, I want to drive it home to the listeners.”

With a listenership of over 1.7k and the number “going up and up”, the podcast takes a similar format during each episode, it begins with a quick exert of ‘Take my Hand’ by Picture This before a brief guest introduction who then delves into the dark alleyways, byroads and highways of their mental health journey. The podcast somehow always comes back to the importance of talking and sharing your worries with others, with an outro of ‘Take my Hand’.

“That’s my mantra,” describes Deirdre.

“Take my hand, I’m going to listen, it’s kind of my mantra in the song. I absolutely love it.”

While each episode takes a similar structure, it’s not to say that the content of the podcast remains the same. Deirdre has knocked on the doors of a range of local celebrities across Cavan to come and speak on her podcast, opening topics on grief, health and fitness, suicide, transitioning gender, anorexia and more. With some topics possibly distressing for some, Deirdre is keen to emphasise that “we have fantastic services in Cavan”.

“It’s not just people coming in and telling their stories, I wanted Brian Coleman of BC Fitness to tell us about diet and nutrition because that adds to our mental health, then Fiona was in from Darkness Into Light and tells her personal story,” Deirdre says, outlining some of the guests on her podcast to date.

While the mental health advocate clearly loves each podcast she records, doing it in her own time after work hours, her chat with Sarah Smith was admittedly a special one; Deirdre was the first person with whom Sarah shared her transgender journey.

“I was charmed because it was her first interview in 15 years, she never divulged to anyone.

“I was really proud that she wanted to go [on the podcast].”

Sarah speaks about transitioning gender 15 years ago at a time when transgenderism was barely a concept in Cavan. Relaying her experience in great depth, she speaks about her initial thoughts of changing gender to making the trip over to Thailand alone during Christmas time to receive surgery. Upon her return, Sarah was concerned about how she would be perceived, and shared a memory of a delivery person coming to make a delivery, then asking to take a photo of her, to which she replied no. The account is open, honest and deeply personal, and Deirdre was thrilled to be the person to listen.

“It absolutely blew up,” says Deridre, speaking on the reaction to this episode.

“She really enjoyed the interview, she was relaxed.”

For the Crossdoney podcaster, this is only the start. In the future, Deirdre hopes to continue growing her pool of guests and branch out to those a little bit more outside of the county. Next on the agenda is a visit to Shelton Abbey Prison in Wicklow, where she previously did dog therapy, to host a podcast there.

“I’m really really excited for that, the prison is very open to me coming down.”

Meanwhile back in the Breffni county, she plans to hold a live podcast later this year. John Magee, who undertook a challenge to raise funds for St Christopher’s Hospice, was her first podcast guest of 2025, an episode that dropped last Thursday (January 16). In the coming weeks, she has guests lined up to speak on topics such as drug and alcohol addiction, while two-time Olympic boxer Aiden Walsh is also on the list.

While feedback shows that others are gaining from the ‘Chats with Dee’, what does the podcaster herself gain?

“I have a pep in my step when I’m going to do a podcast, I’m always thinking who could I get next?”

“I have a massive interest in people, I have a massive interest in their stories and helping people.

“I’m not a qualified counsellor, I’m not anything like that but I just want to reinforce that we can still help people.”

“To me everyone within the county is a celebrity within their own right and everybody has a story to share.”

As a way to give back, Deirdre decided to give the people of Cavan a Christmas surprise and, with the help of local sponsors, gave out vouchers for various shops and cafes throughout the county. As some were paying for their shopping on December 21, she had the honour of walking up with a voucher to cover the cost.

“The month of November got me thinking, a lot of people [experience] pressures with Christmas coming up.”

“I just thought, if I could step in there and help, wouldn’t it be brilliant?”

“It made my Christmas completely, I had my kids out with me that day as well and, if I drilled anything into them, it’s that it’s much more fun giving than taking.”

To listen to Deirdre’s podcast, search deirdredonnelly41.podbean.com