I help people discover the coast — properly.

I fell in love with the Irish coast during my geography degree at UCC. Not the postcards version — the real one. The tidal patterns, the fishing communities, the way the landscape changes with the seasons. But that was academic interest.

The actual work began in 2010, when I joined the Irish Wildlife Trust. I spent five years documenting coastal ecosystems and working with local communities. That's when I noticed something: there were excellent walking guides for young, able-bodied people, but almost nothing for older adults who still wanted to explore. I'd talk to retirees who'd spent their whole lives near the coast but felt locked out — either because routes weren't accessible, or because guides didn't account for pacing, rest points, or the particular challenges of aging bodies.

In 2016, I published my first comprehensive guide to accessible Wexford coastal routes. It won recognition from the National Disability Authority, which validated something I'd suspected: there was real demand for this work. More importantly, it showed me that accessibility isn't a constraint on good writing — it's actually the thing that makes it better. When you have to think about how someone moves through a landscape, you notice details others miss.

Over the past eight years at axialpipeline Ltd, I've walked Kilmore Quay's harbour more times than I can count. I've been to the Saltee Islands viewpoint path across different seasons — winter storms, summer heat, spring tides, autumn mist. Not to see it, but to understand it. To know where someone with a walking stick might struggle. Where the light's best for photographs. When the wind makes standing difficult. Which views are actually worth the walk.

That's what drives the work now. Not tourism marketing. Real, honest guidance from someone who's actually spent time in these places, with people who live there, thinking about what makes a walk genuinely good — not just possible.