Chalk Talk Special: Friends forever at St Oliver's... From Blackcastle to Brisbane

Aoife and I first met at primary school in 1983 and have been inseparable ever since, sharing classrooms, handball courts and more than four decades of memories.

From our days as part of the Olympic Handball U10 All Ireland Champions in 1988 to navigating secondary school together in Meath, ours is a friendship that has stood every test of time and distance.

What drew us both to Australia was the same thing that bound us as children — a love of the outdoors, adventure and the freedom of exploring the world around us. As kids we spent our days on bikes, discovering nature and making memories that we still talk about today. Aoife's two boys (Cormac and Lorcan) love hearing those stories, a reminder that the best adventures are the ones worth passing down.

Aoife came to Australia first in 2000, fell in love with the lifestyle and after a short stint back in Ireland, settled in Brisbane in 2006. I followed a different path, landing in Perth in 2011 after the global financial crisis hit. Perth and Brisbane are five hours apart by flight, worlds away from each other in many ways, but my work regularly took me to Brisbane and whenever it did, I stayed with Aoife. Her home was the only place that felt like home.

So when the opportunity came to move to Brisbane in 2020, it was an easy decision. Aoife being there was the foundation for it. And then Covid hit almost immediately, making travel back to Ireland impossible. Having her close wasn't just a comfort — it was a lifeline. There is something irreplaceable about a friend who not only shares your culture and your background but truly knows you. More than 37 years after those first school days together, we had ended up in the same place again, on the other side of the world.

That shared sense of home has carried through into the next generation too. Aoife has kept alive so many of the traditions that shaped our own childhoods, from giving her boys a Catholic education to marking the occasions we always celebrated growing up.

Halloween was a ritual we never missed! Every year Aoife would come to my house to trick or treat, and now she carries that same tradition on with her own family. I have had the privilege of being woven into those milestones too, standing as sponsor to both of her boys for their confirmations and being present for their communions. Those are moments I hold very close to my heart.

Some friendships are simply meant to be. Across oceans, decades and everything life has thrown at us, I think Aoife and I are proof of that.