Never Have I Ever with Claire Byrne

Claire's guest is Former Professional Wrestler and Founder of Over The Top Wrestling, Joe Cabray.

For most of us, professional wrestling probably brings to mind the larger-than-life characters we watched on television.  

 The likes of Hulk Hogan, The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin, The WWE. 

There's the music, the costumes, the PAGEANTRY and, of course, the extraordinary things that happen inside the ring. 

 And because we know the results are decided in advance, it's easy to dismiss wrestling as something that isn't entirely real. 

But behind the spectacle is an...

Claire's guest is Choice Prize nominated rapper “Curtisy”.

Growing up in the 80’s in Laois Claire wasn’t exactly surrounded by rap or hiphop.  

 Sure, there was plenty of it in the charts. Acts like Run DMC, The Beastie Boys or Public Enemy were known but it all seemed a bit like a scene that was happening in a different galaxy to that in which she lived. 

 The Ireland of today is so different in so many ways and it’s certainly more outward looking and more open to different influences. 

 And Rap music is...

Claire's guest is former Garda forensic examiner and the host of the Lines of Enquiry Podcast - John Sweetman. 

If there was a body, a gun, fingerprints, blood... what could you do to find out what happened? 

There are people whose job it is to walk into those scenes and figure it out. 

And John Sweetman spent 25 years doing exactly that... 

Today Claire tries to find out what it’s actually like to walk into a crime scene when everyone else is looking at the chaos... and you’re looking for the tiny...

Aoife Dunne is a comedian, poet and storyteller who shot to fame with her hit show “Good Grief”, which blendied humour, heartbreak and insight with its exploration of the strange and hilarious ways we survive trauma.  

Aoife Dunne grew up in Galway, the second oldest of two girls and two boys. Her parents separated when she was 14 years old. By the age of 23 she was an aspiring actress having attended the same Galway drama school as Nicola Coughlan. Then the unthinkable happened while she was back packing through South America. Her mother died suddenly. 

Aoife’s life was...

Claire's guest is Mentalist, magician and hypnotist– Keith Barry.

For most of us our experience of hypnotism doesn’t go far beyond watching the likes of Paul McKenna on the TV back in the day or seeing your mate doing something mad on stage during Freshers Week. 

 Those are examples of stage hypnosis but hypnosis is also used for therapeutic purposes in what is known as hypnotherapy. 

 For the lay person the whole area is one that is shrouded in intrigue, suspicion and sometimes controversy. 

But it’s something Claire has always been...

Claire's guest is actor and comedian Pat Shortt. If you’ve ever seen Easy Rider or The Motocycle Diaries you will be familiar with the rebellious allure of getting your motor running and heading out on the highway.

At least in the movie world, taking a motorbike out on the open road is an expression of freedom, a journey of self discovery. 

People long to travel the likes of Route 66 in the US, or cross the Mongolian steppe or even just wind their way down our own Wild Atlantic Way.

But in order to...

Ulysses occupies a curious place on the bookshelf. It's a novel we're told we should read. A masterpiece we're expected to admire. And a book that many of us have never actually made it through. Claire Byrne is one of them. 

This week’s guest is Richard Boyd Barrett, the Dún Laoghaire TD whose love of James Joyce stretches far beyond politics. Together he and Claire explore why Ulysses has earned its fearsome reputation, whether it's really as inaccessible as people believe, and why a story about one ordinary day in Dublin captivates readers more than a cent...

For most of us, war is something we witness from a distance. For Sally Hayden, it's become her life's work. This week, Claire Byrne meets the award-winning Irish journalist whose reporting has taken her from refugee camps to conflict zones across almost 40 countries.  

Together they explore what it means to live in or return to places most people are desperate to escape, how ordinary people endure extraordinary circumstances, and why telling those stories still matters. 

Sally reflects on fear, resilience, the emotional toll of bearing witness, and the moments of humanity, humour and hope that surv...

Festival camping has never made sense to Claire Byrne. Sleepless nights in tents, mud, queues for the toilets... Why would anyone willingly swap the comforts of home for a damp field? 

So, at the height of festival season, Claire sets out to discover what she's been missing. Her guide is Philip Meagher – solicitor by day, music obsessive by nature, and the founder of Forest Fest in Emo, Co. Laois. Philip took a remarkable gamble, investing his own money to build a festival designed for people who still love live music but don't necessarily want to rough it. 

...

Consultant paediatric surgeon Jennifer Billington takes Claire Byrne behind the operating theatre doors, sharing what it's really like to operate on babies and children, where every millimetre matters and every decision carries enormous responsibility.  

From fighting for her place in medical school after missing the points twice, to operating on some of the smallest and sickest children, Jenny reveals the pressure, privilege, and humanity behind the surgical mask. 

Can Claire overcome her squeamishness? Jenny offers a gentler first step – watching real surgical procedures on video. Could this be one "Never Have I Ever" that's about to beco...

What does it take to walk onto a stage with nothing but a microphone... and make strangers laugh? Claire Byrne has never done stand-up comedy. Al Porter has spent much of his life doing exactly that. 

From becoming one of Ireland's biggest comedy stars while still in his twenties to experiencing a spectacular public fall from grace, Al joins Claire for a candid conversation about confidence, shame, addiction, failure, forgiveness, and the strange power of humour. 

Why are comedians often at their funniest when talking about the worst things that have ever happened to them? Ca...

Poker is about far more than cards. It's about psychology, pressure, risk, and knowing when to trust your instincts. In this week’s episode, Claire meets one of Ireland's greatest poker players, Andy Black. From multimillion-dollar tournaments in Las Vegas to years spent living in a Buddhist community, Andy's life has been anything but conventional. 

With the World Series of Poker reaching its climax, Claire explores what it takes to make decisions when the stakes are high, why fear can be both a warning and a weakness, and whether taking a chance is ever really a gamble. 

What would happen if somebody put you under constant surveillance, deprived you of sleep, encouraged you to distrust everyone around you, and then broadcast the results to the nation? For most of us, it sounds like a nightmare. For Vanessa Ogbonna, it was a winning strategy. 

This week, Claire sits down with one of the stars of The Traitors Ireland to talk about what reality TV is really like once the cameras start rolling. Vanessa lifts the lid on the strange psychological experiment at the heart of one of Ireland’s biggest TV hits. 

Born in N...

Never Have I Ever is the podcast where Claire Byrne explores things she's never done by talking to people who have. This week, she steps up to the front of the room. 

Claire's been to plenty of weddings and funerals, but she's never been the person leading the ceremony. So, in episode three, she meets Karen Dempsey, one of Ireland's best-known celebrants and the founder of Entheos Ireland. 

They explore what it means to be invited into people's most intimate moments. From weddings filled with hope to deathbed ceremonies and the funerals of babies and ch...

Never Have I Ever is the podcast where Claire Byrne explores things she's never done by talking to people who have. This week, she enters the world of wigs, make-up, high heels, and larger-than-life characters. 

What does it feel like to transform yourself completely? To step into someone else's clothes, adopt a different persona and perform it in front of thousands of people? 

In episode two, Claire meets actor and drama teacher Rob Murphy, who every Christmas becomes one of Ireland's best-known panto dames – Buffy. 

Together, they explore the magic of performance, the freed...

Never Have I Ever is the new podcast where Claire Byrne explores things she's never done by talking to people who have. And where better to begin than with a book? 

Everybody says they have a book in them. But what would happen if you actually sat down and wrote it? 

In episode one, Claire meets bestselling author and psychologist Katriona O'Sullivan, whose books Poor and Hungry have made her one of Ireland's most distinctive voices. 

Together, they explore what it really means to tell your story. How honest can you be about the p...

Claire Byrne steps outside her own experience — and into other people’s lives — one “I’ve never…” at a time. Because it turns out that the things we’ve never done can say quite a lot about who we are.

Her first guest is author and psychologist Katriona O'Sullivan.

New episodes available every Wednesday morning.

Claire Byrne steps outside her own experience — and into other people’s lives — one “I’ve never…” at a time. Because it turns out that the things we’ve never done can say quite a lot about who we are.