Tear Down These Walls

Lisa Byrne

Real stories of loss, love and resilience - told with honesty and heart. From Dublin's inner city to personal transformation, Lisa Byrne shares conversations that break silence and build hope.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Episode 22: An Interview with Dara Gray

    Episode 22 of Tear Down These Walls, Breaking Through Silence features Dara Gray. Dara speaks openly and honestly about growing up alongside his older brother Donal, who is autistic and has severe intellectual disabilities. Unlike his mother, who experienced life before Donal, Dara never knew anything different. From childhood, his world revolved around routines, unpredictability, care plans, emotional tension, and trying to keep the peace within the family home. In this deeply reflective conversation, Dara shares the impact this had on his mental health, relationships, outlook on life, and sense of self. He speaks candidly about depression, negativity, asking for help, going to counselling, and overcoming the belief that taking medication was somehow a defeat. He also reflects on the love he has for his family, particularly his parents, who despite the immense pressures they were under, still made space for him and his sister to feel loved and supported. Dara talks about how his experiences shaped his path, including initially wanting to become an occupational therapist because of Donal, before realising working in an environment so close to his upbringing was simply too triggering. What emerges throughout this episode is Dara’s honesty, self-awareness, resilience, and hope. This is a conversation about the unseen impact caring dynamics can have on siblings, about healing from chaos, and about learning that even in the darkest moments, life can change, people can heal, and peace is possible. A powerful and deeply human episode.

    1hr 16min

  2. 24 APR

    Episode 21: An Interview with Orla Gray

    Episode 21 of Tear Down These Walls is a deeply moving conversation with Orla — a mother whose story reminds us that pain, love, and resilience don’t belong to any one background. Orla reached out to me after listening to the podcast, sharing how she connected with stories from a completely different world to her own. She grew up in a stable home, with education, opportunity, and no addiction or crime — yet she recognised the same thread that runs through all of our lives: human suffering. In this episode, Orla speaks openly about her son Donal, now 31, who was diagnosed with autism after years of searching for answers. She shares the journey of raising a loving, engaged child whose behaviour changed dramatically in his teenage years — a shift that brought immense challenges to the entire family. Orla speaks with honesty and courage about the moment she had to make the heartbreaking decision to place Donal into residential care — a decision that broke her, and led to her own time in St. Pat’s. She reflects on the impact this had on her, her husband Tom, and their children Dara and Ash, and the reality of family life shaped by routine, uncertainty, and survival. This episode holds both pain and hope. It highlights the importance of support, specialised care, and understanding — not just for the individual, but for the whole family. There’s a moment in this conversation that will stay with you: Orla says, “I love my son… but I didn’t always like him.” A sentence filled with truth, courage, and the kind of honesty many parents will recognise but rarely say out loud. Daragh’s beautiful poem, written for Autism Awareness Day, is also shared in this episode — a powerful reflection of love between siblings. This is a story about motherhood, breaking points, and finding a way forward. And most of all, it’s a reminder that no matter where we come from — we all carry something.

    1hr 35min

  3. 27 FEB

    Episode 20: An Interview with Robert Farrell

    Trigger Warning: This episode contains open conversations about addiction, suicide ideation, and loss. Episode 20 welcomes Robert Farrell, a deeply thoughtful and unassuming man whose story is one of survival, honesty, and never giving up. Rob grew up in Trim, Co. Meath, in a loving family, but bullying in secondary school changed the course of his life. Feeling like an outsider, he searched for belonging, which eventually brought him into the rave scene of the 90s and into heroin addiction — a drug he describes as his “medicine” at a time when pain and not belonging felt overwhelming. In this powerful two-hour conversation, Rob speaks openly about: • addiction and recovery outside traditional programmes • living with clinical depression and suicide ideation • the devastating impact of suicide on families and communities • losing friends and loved ones, and continuing to choose life • fatherhood, love, and the grounding force of his daughter Mya and partner Tanya • running, nature, and how endurance sport became a pathway to healing Rob shares honestly about relapse, sobriety, and becoming his own higher power — and how today he sees himself simply as a good person who keeps moving forward, even when life is heavy. This episode is raw, compassionate, and deeply human. It reminds us that healing doesn’t always look perfect — but connection, honesty, and hope can keep us alive. If this conversation brings up anything for you, please know you don’t have to carry it alone. Pieta House: Freephone 1800 247 247 Text HELP to 51444 Talking really does help.

    1hr 59min

  4. 20 FEB

    Episode 19: An Interview with Michael Nolan

    In this deeply moving episode, Lisa Byrne sits down with Michael Nolan, known to many as Mikey — a recovering alcoholic and gambling addict from Arklow whose story is one of loss, resilience, and quiet strength. Mikey speaks openly about entering treatment in Bruree, Co. Limerick in 2014 and the journey that has kept him sober ever since. For the first time, he shares the depth of grief he has carried — losing his mother in his early twenties, followed by the devastating loss of his father just five years later, and most recently the heartbreaking loss of his sister last July. With honesty and humility, Mikey reflects on addiction and the reality of how self-centred life can become when we are unwell — the relationships lost, the business gone, the house, the money, and everything he once knew slipping away. He recalls a powerful turning point: a €20,000 win at the races that quickly disappeared in a blur of drinking and spending, leading him towards the treatment that would ultimately change his life. What stands out most is Mikey’s quiet wisdom. He speaks about writing a letter to his father, about staying sober through unimaginable grief, and about leaning on meetings, connection, and the tools of recovery rather than returning to old coping mechanisms. He also shares how his three nephews, his brother, and sister-in-law continue to anchor him in love and purpose. This episode is a reminder that healing does not remove pain — but it can change how we carry it. Through vulnerability, honesty, and lived experience, Mikey shows that peace and contentment are possible, even after profound loss. A conversation about grief, addiction, accountability, and the power of staying well — one day at a time.

    1hr 21min

  5. 13 FEB

    Episode 18: Lets Talk About Burnout

    Episode 18 – Burnout, The Berlin Paradox & The Quiet Whispers We Ignore In this solo episode of Tear Down These Walls – Breaking Through Silence, Lisa Byrne reflects on burnout through the lens of healing, addiction, and self-discovery. Inspired by behavioural psychologist Lena Hoffman’s idea of the “Berlin Paradox,” this conversation explores how sometimes the very act of constantly “doing the work” can keep us running from ourselves — and how real change often lives in the stillness we avoid. Lisa speaks honestly about the difference between burnout in addiction and burnout in recovery, the ways adrenaline and chaos can quietly shape our identity, and how we can unknowingly swap one compulsion for another while trying to get well. She shares personal reflections on her own burnout at the end of the college year, learning to listen to the body’s whispers before they become a roar, and what it means to step back from constant movement — even when movement once felt like survival. This episode also holds space for those rebuilding their lives from scratch — single parents, students, people walking long roads of change — and asks an important question: when life demands so much effort just to stay afloat, how do we recognise the difference between necessary growth and emotional exhaustion? A reflective, honest conversation about slowing down, listening inward, and learning that healing isn’t always about doing more — sometimes it’s about allowing ourselves to simply be.

    53 min

  6. 6 FEB

    Episode 17: An Interview with Mark Burke

    n Episode 17 of Tear Down These Walls, I sit down with Mark Burke from Summerhill — just a stone’s throw from Sheriff Street — for one of the most insightful and honest conversations we’ve had about gambling addiction. Mark speaks openly about growing up with a mother who lived with depression, and how that environment became his “normal.” It wasn’t until he entered therapy years later that he began to understand the deep impact this had on him. A gambling addict in recovery, Mark explains why gambling was never about money. He describes it as a mental illness — a constant mental chase that could begin days before a bet was even placed: checking the weather, who the referee is, what country it’s in, the horses. A life lived in anticipation, obsession, and exhaustion. Sleepless nights. Lying awake in bed. A life he describes as “one big spoof.” Mark speaks with remarkable self-awareness and accountability. There is no blame — only responsibility, reflection, and deep gratitude. His recovery journey is both confronting and hopeful. When gambling no longer numbed the pain, Mark turned to drink and drugs, reaching a point where he no longer wanted to be here. He shares his experience of entering treatment in Cuan Mhuire, Athy, not wanting to go, having to talk himself into it — and how it became the best decision of his life. Today, Mark speaks about the small joys of life — walking, the outdoors, freedom, presence. He talks lovingly about his five children, the strong relationship he has with them, and his determination to break generational trauma so that his grandchildren will never have to carry what he and his children carried. This episode is about recovery, accountability, community, and hope. Mark is deeply committed to helping others and encourages anyone struggling to reach out. His story is living proof that change is possible — and that a new life can be built from the smallest, simplest joys.

    1hr 44min

  7. 30 JAN

    Episode 16: A Journey Through Grief

    Grief has been a constant companion in my life. In this solo episode, I speak openly about what it means to grow up with loss and how grief has shaped my identity, my relationships, my choices, my breakdowns, and my rebuilding. Although grief was familiar to me, losing my husband brought me to my knees. He had become my safety, my repair, my home. In losing him, I didn’t just lose one person — I lost everyone all over again. This episode is not about having answers. It’s about telling the truth of grief — how it lives in the body, how it repeats itself, how it can quietly direct a life without us realising. I speak about complicated grief, cumulative loss, and what it’s like to carry grief from birth into adulthood. If grief has touched your life — early, suddenly, repeatedly, or quietly — this episode is for you.

    57 min

  8. 23 JAN

    Episode 15: An Interview with Michelle Martin Boylan

    In this episode, I sit down with Michelle Martin Boylan, a woman originally from Sheriff Street whose journey looks very different to many of the stories we’re used to hearing — and yet carries its own depth, pain, and healing. Michelle describes herself as a shy, quiet child who loved her own company and books. She wasn’t a street kid and didn’t get caught up in much of the activity that surrounded many of us growing up, yet like so many from our generation, she was not untouched by trauma. Michelle speaks honestly about her struggles with prescription drug dependency, depression, and the physical toll medication began to take on her body. When the medication stopped working for her, she made the brave decision to come off it — and that choice led her down a deeply spiritual and healing path. Today, Michelle is opening her own centre, The Feeling of Healing, based in the Be Centre in Balbriggan, North County Dublin. She is qualified in advanced clinical hypnotherapy, Reiki healing, advanced Theta healing, spiritual personal growth and development, and creative mindfulness for children. As the eldest of eight siblings, Michelle carried responsibility from a very young age — a theme that echoes throughout her story. She also speaks gently and respectfully about experiences of sexual abuse, without going into detail, and how these experiences shaped her inner world. Although Michelle and I had very different childhood experiences, we found ourselves deeply connected through the similarities of our later-life struggles. What became clear in this conversation is that growing up in the 1980s — especially in communities like ours — left many of us carrying trauma in ways we didn’t always recognise at the time. This is a calm, insightful, and hopeful conversation about recovery, healing without medication, and the power of discovering a new way forward.

    1hr 47min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Real stories of loss, love and resilience - told with honesty and heart. From Dublin's inner city to personal transformation, Lisa Byrne shares conversations that break silence and build hope.

Information

  • Creator
    Lisa Byrne
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lisa Byrne
  • Show Website
    Tear Down These Walls

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