From Kilkenny, Daire (21) is one of few people my age in Ireland who would talk to me about having separated parents. When I eventually found Irish people who had divorced parents who seemed happy to share their experiences, a pattern emerged. It’s incredibly emotionally draining trying to meet everyone’s expectations — Mick PaternostroSome mentioned that their parents’ divorce was a sensitive topic for their grandparents. This idea of double of everything is often presented to children of separated parents as a huge positive, as if having separated parents automatically means that one gets two Christmases. For Lauren Halligan, who’s 38 and from Swords in Co Dublin, having separated parents at Christmas is all she has ever known.

Source: The Irish Times December 24, 2025 12:49 UTC