Latest news with #Sorcha
Wales Online
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Inside £2.2m Welsh home for sale which has 'devastating' backstory
Inside £2.2m Welsh home for sale which has 'devastating' backstory In the latest episode of Britain's Most Expensive Houses, Channel 4 viewers saw agents Sorcha Rodbard-Hedderwick and Jemma Friday head down to the Vale of Glamorgan. Inside £2.2M Welsh home for sale which has 'devastating' backstory (Image: Channel 4 ) On Wednesday night, Channel 4 viewers got a sneak peek into some jaw-dropping houses across the country in Britain's Most Expensive Houses. One of which featured the stunning Llwynhelig House in the Vale of Glamorgan, which was on the market for offers over £2.2 million. Agent Jemma was instantly blown away by the 17th-century Grade II listed building as she commented: "Wow, it's beautiful!" While exploring the home, viewers learnt it featured five reception rooms, a heated outdoor pool and six bedrooms. There was also extra accommodation in the garden in the form of a log cabin and a shepherd's hut. A voiceover informed: "This is one of the priciest and most renowned houses in the area." However, while Sorcha showed Jemma around the home, she recalled its devastating backstory. Article continues below The home was on the market for offers over £2.2m (Image: Channel 4 ) Channel 4 viewers learnt that the owner had bought the home when she retired and spent £1m creating the dream forever home for herself and her husband. Sorcha said: "She did it up over about 10 years, unfortunately the husband passed away just after they completed the property." Jemma asked: "He didn't get to enjoy it? That's really sad." In a cutaway, the agent explained she gets 'emotionally invested' in her clients. She added: "That's devastating to go through all of that. This was made to be a forever home." Sorcha explained the woman is now downsizing and wants to sell the home to give the money to her granddaughters. Sorcha Rodbard-Hedderwick and Jemma Friday headed down to the Vale of Glamorgan (Image: Channel 4 ) Another impressive feature of the home included the wallpaper in one of the rooms, which had been completely hand painted. During the episode, the pair took videos of various places around the home to market on social media, including speaking with a horticulturist called Bob about the garden. When Bob had wrapped up giving potential buyers information about the grounds Jemma said: "We talk all the time about listed properties and the age of the house. "You actually forget that this garden is just as old as the property, if not older! Bob was great, the knowledge that he's brought with him today, that's so fantastic for myself and Sorcha. "Estate agents get a very bad name, so we really do try and go the extra mile." Article continues below Britain's Most Expensive Houses is available to watch on Channel 4.
Irish Times
01-07-2025
- General
- Irish Times
The loss of never becoming a grandparent: ‘You always assume it's going to happen to you'
The reward for parenthood is grandchildren, it's alleged. The chance to love and spoil your children's children, but without having to take on the same level of responsibility or sleep deprivation. For many parents, becoming a grandparent, one day, is presumed. But what about when it isn't likely to happen? Whether by choice or circumstance, recognising that you may never know the joy of having grandchildren can be a difficult thing for some people to accept. And an even harder thing for others to admit. Sorcha is deeply saddened by the knowledge she will never be a grandmother. 'I always assumed I'd have kids, and by extension grandkids. You always assume it's going to happen to you. READ MORE 'I have only one child and she is severely physically and intellectually disabled. She wouldn't understand pregnancy. I don't know how her body would cope with a pregnancy. And also she could never consent to sex.' Her husband was married before and has other children from his previous marriage, and she admits to finding it difficult that he now has grandchildren and she doesn't. 'It was really hard. The worst day was when his eldest [child] rang him to say, 'You're going to be a grandad.' While she and her husband always knew they would never have grandchildren together, it was an 'abstract' thing, she explains, until the day of that call. 'I was delighted for them, and I was thrilled for my husband. But at the same time I was absolutely heartbroken for myself ... In that minute I just thought, I'm never going to get that call telling me, 'You're going to be a granny.' I remember being very, very tearful and I know it took a while for my husband to twig.' Sorcha has a big interest in history, and family history, and knowing that her 'chain' stops with her daughter makes her feel sad. 'Quite a number of my friends now have grandchildren of varying ages. This is something my husband doesn't experience and can't really share with me. While he listens to me, ad nauseam at times, he doesn't have that experience because they are his grandbabies.' [ Regretting working outside the home: 'We're told to parent like we don't work. And work like we don't parent' Opens in new window ] Sorcha says she's very conscious that her husband's grandchildren already have a grandmother: 'What am I, a step-grandmother? That's not really something that rolls off the tongue. Every time a friend announces, 'Well there's now a grandbaby coming,' and I'm like, 'That's fabulous, that's wonderful' – but I have to take those few minutes to just go, 'That's not going to be my reality. That's never going to happen to me.'' Sorcha remembers seeing a plaque for sale in a shop that really upset her. It read, ''Only the best mums get promoted to grannies,' and I actually burst into tears,' she says. 'One of the things that hit me was, do they think that being a mum wasn't fun, or being a parent isn't nice?' Lisa says sadly of one adult child who has already stated that she doesn't want any children. Her other adult child, she explains, is likely to encounter fertility problems due to a health condition. 'A lot of my friends are becoming grandparents for the first time. My cousins are already grandparents. And I'm the oldest,' she says. Knowing she is unlikely to become a grandmother has left her feeling stunned. It's a feeling 'I never thought I'd be feeling', she continues. Motherhood 'is the best thing I ever did. So I couldn't imagine someone skipping it'. Part of a series about issues related to parenting that are not generally discussed. Lisa fears she'll miss out on 'the family and togetherness' that she believes having grandchildren would bring. 'My kids' relationships with their grandparents has been good,' she says, explaining how, even though they're adults now, they continue to stay in regular contact. She worries too about impending loneliness as her friends become busy and more involved with their grandchildren. A loneliness that she says is reminiscent of when children finish at school and many of the 'mum friends' friendships fall away. Emily says she is certain her daughter will never have children as she lives with the trauma of a sexual assault. 'She doesn't go into crowds. She doesn't go out at night on her own. You will never see her wear a skirt above her knee,' she says, explaining some of the lingering effects the assault has had on her daughter. 'She's had a few relationships ... they don't normally last.' Although her daughter has a partner at the moment, Emily reiterates that she doesn't see her ever having kids. 'She wouldn't even go for a smear test. She won't have anybody touch her that she doesn't know and trust.' Some years have passed since the assault, Emily says, explaining the passing of time makes her more certain she won't become a grandmother. It makes her sad because her daughter 'absolutely loves kids. And I know she'd love having small kids'. Emily says she would have loved to be a grandmother. She has another child who is unlikely to become a parent, either, because of additional needs. Emily has become acutely aware recently of the role she probably won't ever experience. 'I've noticed me spotting lovely cute [little] clothes in Dunnes or Penneys and thinking, 'I've nobody to buy them for.'' She struggles with the fact that the person who assaulted her daughter has 'forgotten he ever did it, and she's left with it. That's the hard thing and I'm quite bitter about the fact that [the person] got away with it'. Being a grandparent allows for a different source of connection and bond than we have with our own children — Cara Byrne, psychotherapist Kathleen is a bereaved mother. Her living child recently told her that he didn't want to have any children. He's still young, but the announcement floored Kathleen, who is very distressed at the thought she may never become a grandmother. 'I've been crying all day and all night,' she says, since she heard, and feels 'devastated'. 'He's it,' she says, describing how her son is her only chance to have a grandchild. 'I lay in bed last night thinking, 'When I die ... nobody is going to come to see our grave, to tell our story, to pass it down to the generations, like I have done when my mum died.'' She's sad at the idea of having no further family to pass heirlooms and family photos to. 'The connectedness of family and ancestors and ... the importance of the generations' matters hugely to her, she explains. She worries her son may not change his mind about having children, as his girlfriend is equally adamant that she doesn't want children either. Kathleen says she was looking forward to 'everything' about having grandchildren. 'The sense of ... him experiencing the love of being a father, being a parent, that I was blessed to experience.' Kathleen explains she had multiple miscarriages and had to have 'fertility treatments' to have her two children. 'Then I lost one. And one doesn't want to supposedly at this stage have kids. I want to be able to tell my grandkids stories about my parents, my great grandparents, where they came from, their heritage. Teach them things. Show them things. Nurture them. 'Love them,' she adds, sadly. 'Being a grandparent allows for a different source of connection and bond than we have with our own children, because when our kids are young we're so busy, especially if both parents are working, that we miss out on a huge amount of quality time,' says psychotherapist Cara Byrne. Byrne says it's normal for people to feel disappointed in the knowledge that they won't become grandparents. 'For the majority of people, when you have children you expect them to do the same. It's a life stage that if you don't get to experience you may feel a sense of loss. 'It's also very difficult if all your peers are grandparents because it's such a distinct identity and you may feel very disconnected in that, especially when it's the time of year that everyone's going to Communions or Confirmations and you're not going to these things because you don't have grandchildren to celebrate.' Continuing your 'genetic legacy' and wanting your name to be carried forward can be a 'huge factor', she says. 'So you would expect a sense of disappointment or loss associated with that also. 'Some people may take it as an indication that their children don't wish to repeat the life they experienced,' or, 'that them not having kids of their own represents their discontentment with their own childhood'. [ We used to vilify unwed mothers. Now we criticise women who don't want to be mothers Opens in new window ] In trying to deal with the upset that people may experience, Byrne recommends trying to 'understand where that deep disappointment is coming from' and 'what your unmet expectations are from this decision that your child has made, or has been forced to make'. Understanding the sense of loss means 'we can give ourselves the compassion to get over it', she says. It's important to recognise that 'you raise your children to make decisions for themselves, and that this is their decision and it isn't about you. It's about what's right for them in their life and that their ability to make those hard choices is because of the lessons you taught them. And that if you want them to be happy, it's important to respect their decisions even when you don't agree with them. 'If you're really struggling with it, then talk to a therapist about it. However you feel is absolutely fine and valid, but if you're going to get stuck on this idea of disappointment or it's going to change into a bitterness towards your child for feeling robbed of this experience, then it's really important to work through that.' Parenting taboos Gender disappointment Favourite child Regretting parenthood Stay-at-home parent Working outside the home
Irish Times
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
I'm always telling Sorcha to tone down the southside when we come out to Bray but she never listens
I'm like, 'Bray?' And Sorcha's there, 'Yes, Ross – Bray!' I'm like, 'But why do we have to go to Bray?' sounding like a spoiled child – in other words, one of ours. She slows down as we're approaching the Loughlinstown roundabout. For a second or two, I consider opening the front passenger door and throwing myself out on to the road. But, at the vital moment, I make the fatal mistake of hesitating and suddenly we're through the thing and heading south at one hundred K's per hour. READ MORE Sorcha's like, 'We're going to see my friend, Claire–' I'm there, 'Claire from Bray of all places?' 'Yes, Ross, Claire from Bray of all places.' 'And will he be there?' – he being her husband, Garret, who I despise more than anyone else in the world and not just because he has zero interest in rugby. Sorcha goes, 'I've been promising for – oh my God – ages to pop out to see this new coffee shop of theirs.' I'm like, 'Another one? So what's the gimmick this time?' She goes, 'All the staff are ex-offenders.' I'm there, 'Did you just say all the staff are sex offenders?' ' Ex -offenders, Ross. All the staff are ex -offenders. And it's not a gimmick.' 'It's a definite gimmick.' 'Ross, they're offering an opportunity to people who – yeah, no – made mistakes in their lives and want to get back on the right road.' 'I'd say they're dirt cheap to hire as well.' 'That's a horrible thing to say. And can I just remind you that your actual father is an ex-offender?' 'It still sounds like you're saying sex offender. I think it must be your invisible braces.' You're not only serving coffee, you're serving hope — Sorcha Anyway, 10 minutes later, we're walking through the front door of what was, until very recently, Wheat Bray Love, but is now called Second Shot Roasters. Garret is wearing a bow-tie and one of those hipster moustaches with the ends twisted upwards that seems to say, 'Please punch me very hord in the face', and I end up having to put my hands in my pockets just to keep the porty polite. He goes, 'Sorcha, how the hell are you?' because he's such a wannabe. Greystones. I rest my case. He says fock-all to me, but he makes a big point of looking at the crest on my Leinster training tee and sort of, like, smirking to himself. I'm there, 'Have you got a problem, Dude?' And he goes, 'One of us has. Claire's over there, Sorcha. She's training in our new barista.' So we tip over to where Claire – yeah, no – is showing some random woman how to use the coffee machine. The woman – I'm just going to come out and say it – looks rougher than a sandpaper condom and she just, like, glowers at Sorcha while her and Claire do the whole, like, air-kissing thing. Sorcha goes, 'Oh my God, this place is amazing!' Claire's like, 'Thank you.' 'I mean, you're not only serving coffee,' Sorcha goes, 'you're serving hope,' and I'm thinking that's definitely a line she came up with in the cor. While this conversation is taking place, the woman making the coffee is just, like, glowering at Sorcha. I'm always telling her to maybe tone down the southside when we come out here but she never listens. At the top of her voice, she's like, 'So how's Scout getting on in Vancouver?' and you can see not only the staff but the customers looking over as if to say, 'Who the hell does this one think she is?' She goes, 'Claire's niece is working in Canada for the summer, Ross.' Claire's there, 'Yeah, no one's going to the States this year because of the whole, like, Trump thing? She's absolutely loving Canada.' Sorcha's like, 'Is it safe over there? I always say to Honor, if you ever find yourself in a strange place and you feel unsafe, just remember: FTL.' Claire goes, 'What's FTL?' And I'm like, 'Sorcha, maybe this isn't the right place for this conversation,' because the woman making the coffee is looking at her like she wants to take that milk thermometer she's holding and stick it up her focking nose. 'FTL,' Sorcha goes, 'stands for Find the Lululemon. Because their location people – oh my God – really, like, do their homework ? I always remind my daughter, no matter what city you're in, the Lululemon will always be on the best street. Nothing bad ever happens near a Lululemon.' Your daughter got 200 hours of community service. I got six months in prison – for stealing three pairs of yoga pants — Nicola, barista and ex-offender That's when she suddenly storts patting the top of her head, going, 'My sunglasses! Oh my God, where are my sunglasses?' And the woman making the coffees is like, 'Why did you look at me when you said that?' Sorcha's there, 'I didn't look at you.' She actually did look at her, but it was – and this is possibly a made-up word – an unconscience thing? 'I remember you,' the woman goes, then she turns and looks at me. 'And I remember you as well.' Jesus, I'm thinking – has she had the pleasure of my –. 'I was in court,' she goes, 'the same day as your daughter.' Yeah, no, I keep forgetting that Honor – in her own way – is sort of, like, an ex-offender herself ? Sorcha looks around her – again, it's unconscience – to see who might be listening. 'She caused criminal damage to 200 SUVs,' the woman goes. I'm there, 'It was actually only 150?' because I've always been my daughter's biggest defender. Sorcha goes, 'Also, her crimes were sort of, like, an environmental protest ?' 'Sort of, like, an environmental protest ?' the woman goes, doing a pretty good impression – it has to be said – of my wife. Claire's there, 'Nicola, can I remind you that you're only, like, two days into your six-month probation here?' 'And what sentence did she get?' this – like she said – Nicola one goes. I'm like, '200 hours of community service,' ever the proud dad, 'which she completed.' Nicola's there, 'Well, I got six months in prison – for stealing three pairs of yoga pants.' Sorcha looks away. She doesn't want to hear what's coming next. 'Yes,' the woman goes, 'from a Lululemon.' Sorcha's there, 'Like I said, my daughter was actually attempting to save the planet. Claire, it was lovely to catch up with you. We're going to head off.' I'm there, 'Are we not even getting coffees?' Nicola goes, 'You sanctimonious southside–' Claire's like, 'Okay, that's a verbal warning.' But Nicola there, '–cow! And, by the way, your sunglasses are in your shirt pocket.'
Irish Times
07-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘I'm not even a bit stressed,' Honor goes, ‘I haven't done a focking tap for these exams'
Sorcha thinks we should maybe check on Honor and there's an air of definite excitement in her voice when she says it? Yeah, no, it's the night before the stort of the Leaving Cert and my wife is absolutely determined that this should be one of those mother-daughter moments. She goes, 'The Leaving Cert puts – oh my God – so much pressure on young people. But it's not the be-all and end-all. I read an orticle online about all the famous people who failed the Leaving Cert.' I'm there, ' I failed the Leaving Cert – in fairness to me.' She's like, 'I'm talking about people who went on to actually achieve things?' READ MORE And I'm there, 'Yeah, no, thanks for that, Sorcha.' 'I just remember that – oh my God – my Mom had this amazing, amazing talk with me the night before I storted mine ? She just said, you know, the importance of exams is, like, totally overblown and that the Leaving Cert shouldn't define you for the rest of your life.' 'That's easy for you to say. Didn't you get, like, maximum points?' 'Well, not quite maximum points? I got, like, a B in Honours English, remember?' How could I forget? Her old man spent years appealing it. I think the case was still trundling through the courts when she was pregnant with Honor. 'Come on,' she goes, 'let's go and talk to her,' and I follow her up the stairs to Honor's room. Sorcha knocks and she's like, 'Honor, dorling?' then she pushes the door and looks around it like she's sticking her head in a lion's mouth. Honor isn't studying. That's the first thing I notice. She's sorting through her wardrobe and taking photographs of herself in various outfits with one hand on her hip and her cheeks sucked in. Sorcha goes, 'We're sorry to bother you, Honor. We were just wondering how the study was going?' I don't know where she's getting this we from? Honor's like, 'It's going great – as you can probably see.' 'Well,' Sorcha goes, 'we just wanted to say that, even though it may seem like it now, the Leaving Certificate is not the be-all and end-all.' I'm there, 'I'm living proof of that, Honor.' But Sorcha's like, 'Why don't you leave the talking to me, Ross? What we're trying to say, Honor – and I'm echoing my own mother's words here – is that it doesn't define you as, like, a person ?' Honor's there, 'Why do I buy so many clothes in taupe? It looks so focking meh on me.' Sorcha goes, 'The important thing – as my mom famously said – is that you turn out a happy, well-adjusted girl with a fully functioning moral compass.' Honor's like, 'Does this top make my face look washed out? You can tell me.' [ Honor goes, 'I'm editing the school yearbook photographs of anyone who pissed me off' Opens in new window ] 'What I'm saying,' Sorcha goes, 'is that our results-focused secondary education system sometimes forgets that schools have a role to play in preparing young people for life and not just exams.' 'I hate all my focking clothes.' 'I was just thinking back to my own Leaving Cert – wasn't I, Ross? At the time, I thought it was the most important thing in the world. But if you were to ask me what did I get in, say, Maths or History now, I'd have to actually rack my brains.' 'Didn't you get As in everything?' Honor goes. I'm like, 'Except English – and her old man spent eight years in the courts trying get her B upgraded.' Honor gives her one of her crocodile smiles and goes, 'So much for results not being important. Anyway, for your information, I'm not even a bit stressed?' I'm like, 'Oh, that's good – isn't it, Sorcha?' And Sorcha's there, 'Er, yeah – I suppose it is.' 'As a matter of fact,' Honor goes, 'I haven't done a focking tap for these exams.' And I'm like, 'I'm going to say fair focks to you, Honor. I think I speak for both of us when I say you've put our minds at ease. Come on, Sorcha, let's leave her to it.' But Sorcha's mind isn't at ease? Outside on the landing, she goes, 'What do you think she meant when she said she hasn't done a tap?' I'm there, 'Excuse me?' 'Like, did she mean it in the same way that I used to say it? Look, I'm not saying I was a secret studier – which is what all the girls used to say about me – but I was, like, naturally bright and I had an amazing, amazing memory.' 'Again, fair focks.' [ Honor is staring at Brett like he's an ATM and she's sitting in a JCB, trying to work the levers Opens in new window ] 'Or was she saying that she hasn't done a tap in the same way that – no offence, Ross – you didn't do a tap, as in, like, literally?' 'What does it matter? The important thing is that she's a happy girl with a fully functioning whatever-you-said.' 'Yes, Ross – but within reason.' 'Within reason?' 'I mean, it's also important that she gets into a good college. And into a degree course that's, like, high points.' 'But I thought you said–' 'Never mind what I said. What the fock is she doing in there?' 'I think she was questioning some of her 2024 wardrobe choices.' She goes, 'Did she even have a book open?' and before I can answer no, she bursts into Honor's room again, with no knock this time, and she's like, 'Why aren't you studying?' Honor goes, 'Excuse me?' Sorcha's there, 'You have an exam tomorrow! Where are your books? Where are your cog notes?' [ 'That picture The Last Supper is weird. They're all sitting on the same side of the table' Opens in new window ] Honor's like, 'I thought you said the Leaving Cert doesn't matter.' Sorcha goes, 'I didn't mean it literally doesn't matter. Oh my God, what happens in the next fortnight is going to shape the rest of your life, Honor! What are you going to do if you don't get into college? Stort an OnlyFans account? Live on the streets? Become a ketamine addict?' Honor looks her in the eye and goes, 'I have to leave the exam an hour early tomorrow. I have, like, a nails appointment?' Sorcha ends up totally flipping out and I have to put my orm around her shoulder and escort her out of there like my old dear being helped out of the prosecco tent at Bloom. She's like, 'You might be fine with having a daughter who fails her Leaving Cert, Ross, but I am not.'
Belfast Telegraph
03-06-2025
- General
- Belfast Telegraph
New facility to detect millions of new solar system objects, say NI-led astronomers
The brand new facility at NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will revolutionise the world's knowledge of the solar system's 'small bodies': asteroids, comets and other minor planets. At the heart of the Rubin Observatory is the fastest moving telescope equipped with the world's largest digital camera. A single image from the telescope covers a patch of sky roughly 45 times the area of the full moon. This 'wide-fast-deep' system will spend the next ten years observing the night sky to produce the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Astronomers say the system will provide unprecedented time-lapse footage of the cosmos and a powerful dataset with which to map the solar system. New open-source software has also been created to predict what discoveries are likely to be made, with a series of papers describing the software soon to be published by The Astronomical Journal. The group of astronomers has been led by Dr Meg Schwamb of Queen's University Belfast's School of Mathematics and Physics. Dr Schwamb said the world's knowledge of what objects fill the Earth's solar system 'is about to expand exponentially and rapidly'. QUB PhD student Joe Murtagh is one of the lead authors of the prediction studies and among those whose papers have been submitted to the Astronomical Journal. He said: 'It's very exciting – we expect that millions of new solar system objects will be detected and most of these will be picked up in the first few years of sky survey.' "With the LSST catalogue of solar system objects, our work shows that it will be like going from black-and-white television to brilliant colour.' Beyond just finding these new small bodies, Rubin Observatory will observe them multiple times in different optical filters, revealing their surface colours. Past solar system surveys, typically observed only in a single filter. To forecast which small bodies will be discovered, the team built Sorcha, the first end-to-end simulator that ingests Rubin's planned observing schedule. It applies assumptions on how Rubin Observatory observes and detects astronomical sources in its images with the best model of what the solar system and its small body reservoirs look like today. The team's simulations show that Rubin will map 127,000 near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets whose orbits cross or approach the planet. It will also study over five million main-belt asteroids and 109,000 Jupiter Trojans, bodies which share Jupiter's orbit at stable 'Lagrange' points. Some 37,000 trans-Neptunian objects, which are residents of the distant Kuiper Belt, will also be mapped, along with around 1,500 to 2,000 Centaurs. The Sorcha code is open-source and freely available with the simulated catalogues, animations, and pre-prints of the papers publicly available at News Catch Up - Tuesday 3 June By making these resources available, the Sorcha team has enabled researchers worldwide to refine their tools and be ready for the flood of LSST data that Rubin will generate, advancing the understanding of the small bodies that illuminate the solar system like never before. Rubin Observatory is scheduled to unveil its first spectacular imagery at its 'First Look' event on June 23, offering the world an early glimpse of the survey's power. Full science operations are slated to begin later this year.
