Beaming from ear to ear, Síomha Ní Ruairc greets the team at The Leinster Hotel, Dublin, for this exciting shoot, as a chorus of congratulations echoes around the room. At sixteen weeks, with her tiny bump beginning to blossom, the Ireland AM presenter exclusively reveals she’s expecting her first baby with husband Cathal Pendred.
“A true blessing at this time,” she tells us. And that, it most certainly is. It’s been a year of exuberating highs for the presenter, but also devastating lows, as Síomha sadly, and very unexpectedly, lost her sister Úna just a few short months ago. “I take it all one day at a time, that’s all anyone can do, but this [she rubs her tummy], is special, a real gift,” she says.
Of course nothing in this world makes such a devastating loss any easier, but distractions in any capacity have been welcomed by the Gaeilgeoir, and throwing herself into work has been one of those. “I have found applying myself and feeling useful has been a good thing for me,” she said. “It’s been healthy for me.” And so, Síomha has been busy continuing to wake the nation up every weekend as she takes to the couch on Ireland AM with Elaine Crowley and Martin King.
Plus, she’s been yapping with best pals Doireann Ní Ghlacáin and Louise Cantillon on their hit bilingual podcast, How to Gael.
“Sometimes I think I’ve won the working lottery, because come on, how lucky am I do to a job I love, with the most incredible people? It’s honestly a dream.”
Here, we catch up with Síomha about the resurgence of the Irish language, early mornings, busy lives and preparing for parenthood!
Síomha, massive congratulations on the baby!
I am thrilled, I’m over the moon! It’s been a complete blessing at this point of the year for me. Thankfully, I’ve been feeling really good. Everyone talks about that first trimester exhaustion and I absolutely felt that, but I wasn’t sick. Now, I’m full of energy and really enjoying being pregnant, which is a joy.
Have you always been very family orientated?
My mam tells this story about how when I was younger, they’d ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I’d always say ‘a mammy’. Me in my twenties would have been horrified to hear eight-year-old me say that [laughs]. I’m very ambitious, very career driven, but it’s always been on the cards for me. I’m very excited. And I’m excited to see what I’m like as a mam. I expect I’ll be very much like my own mother, but sure aren’t we all? It’ll be a good thing if I am!
Were you bursting to share the news when you found out?
I found out at about six weeks which is usually the norm, and that was when I was most bursting to tell people because it’s brand new information and you’re so excited. Obviously people share at different times, but I had decided not to tell others until we hit the 12-week mark. Now I’m 16 weeks. It’s not the most pressing information in my brain any more, so while at six weeks I was bursting to say it, now I’m like ‘…oh, and I’m pregnant!’ I’ve just become so used to it, I’ve wrapped my head around it.
And how does Cathal feel about it all, delighted?
Oh, absolutely thrilled! He’s over the moon. It’s what we’ve wanted so we’re both absolutely delighted.
You both only recently celebrated your first wedding anniversary together. Going back to Lough Eske where it happened, was that magical?
It was gorgeous! We got to see a side of Lough Eske that we didn’t really get to experience the weekend of our wedding. We didn’t make it to breakfast either of the mornings because we had such late nights the evening before. It was nice to get brekkie, go to the spa and unwind. I love Donegal and going back there, it just holds such a special place in my heart. It was nice to be there just the two of us. Obviously having all of our family and friends there was amazing for the wedding, but it was so nice just to be there as a couple this time.
With a wedding, it all goes by in such a blur on the day, so was it nice, a year on, to be able to sit and reflect?
Totally! We were able to remember certain, special parts. The first anniversary is also a nice time to go through all the photos and videos again, which we hadn’t done in a long time. It’s only been a year but I had forgotten small things that happened on the day.
It is only a year but in some ways, it must also feel like a lifetime ago now too, as so much has happened…
Yeah, it’s funny, I haven’t really noticed the last year going by. It’s a tough one. But at the same time, it doesn’t feel like it’s been longer than a year either, if that makes sense? We were both onto the next thing immediately with the house and work stuff. It was nice, for the most part.
And we’re so sorry that one of the harder parts you experienced, was the loss of your sister. How are you doing, Síomha?
It’s only been three months so I’m very much still processing it. I speak to other people who have lost loved ones and they’re years ahead of me in the process, and they say they’re still processing it. It depends on the day, the hour, and what I’m doing. The slightest thing can bring up memories and upset me. I’m trying to embrace life at the same time, while always remembering my sister.
Loss almost forces us to reflect, makes us think about life and appreciate what we have, to cherish every moment…
100 per cent. I’m definitely holding my other sister closer than ever now. I’m trying not to take for granted any of the relationships in my life because you never know when that relationship could end abruptly, you’re never expecting it to. I can be a divil when it comes to racing through life, moving onto the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, but that doesn’t leave you a lot of space to realise what you’re very lucky to have. I’m trying to slow down a little bit and be a bit more contemplative of how fortunate I am for the things I do have in my life.
Have you enjoyed the distraction of being busy the last few weeks with Ireland AM and the podcast?
Oh yeah, I needed it. I went back to work three weeks after my sister passed away and I was very grateful to have that. I needed to be busy, I needed to get back to it. I was happy to have things to return to, absolutely. It has really helped me. Everyone’s been great saying I can take however long I need but I have found applying myself and feeling useful has been a good thing for me, it’s been healthy for me.
Talk to us about Ireland AM, because you’ve been gracing our screens every weekend but at the moment you’re covering for Muireann O’Connell midweek. How is all in Ballymount?
Do you know what, it’s such a fun job! I really do enjoy it. You’re meeting different people every day you’re in, you’re covering a range of topics and the teams are amazing. The presenters are great and I get along with all of them, and the team behind the camera too. What I’ve been really enjoying most recently is dealing with more current affairs. I would have started out with entertainment and now doing more current affairs, it’s a bit of a challenge as I’ve never done it in a broadcasting sense before, but I love that I can try new things. You’re doing a different topic every seven to ten minutes so it’s quite fast paced and it keeps me on my toes.
How did it come about, working on the show?
I did Grá ar an Trá with Virgin Media, my first time working with the station. Following on from that, they thought it’d be a good idea for me to start filling in on Ireland AM, that I was a good fit. I began that in September 2023 so two years ago. I feel very fortunate to be there. The broadcasting and telly industry is very tricky to get in to so I’m glad to have a regular job in that field because they’re so
rare in Ireland. I’m still pinching myself that I get to be on tv every week.
Tell us, was it a shock to the system getting used to the early mornings?
It actually wasn’t too bad, I’m quite a good sleeper! As long as I get six or seven hours, I’m good. Friday’s are the worst for me because I’ve to get up at 4.45am, so I try to be in bed for 9pm. Realistically, I’m only up that early one day a week. I can’t train myself to go to bed at 7.30/8pm for one day, it’ll never happen – especially when it’s still bright outside [laughs]. I’m a bit of an early bird for the most part anyway. Now, I’m not a 4am-er, but I can do it once in a while.
At least it’s good prep for when the baby comes!
Exactly! [laughs]
Your relationship with Martin and Elaine, from an outsiders perspective anyway, looks like the best fun. Are you good pals?
I really, really, really love working with those two. I learn a lot from Elaine. I think she’s a brilliant presenter, and she does a lot of current affairs stuff. I admire how she does that, so I watch her closely. Martin King is probably one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. He’s so nice he makes the rest of us look bad! He’ll never let anyone get him a cup of coffee, but I’ve just asked for one so now I feel bad. That’s the sort of person Martin is, he’s so kind. The three of us get on so well. It’s been lovely working with them.
You’re pretty lucky in that you also get to work with two other best friends, Doireann and Louise for How to Gael, your other love!
Aw, that’s our passion project! Myself, Doireann and Louise all worked with TG4, that’s how we met. Louise moved up to Dublin and the three of us went out for a meal and started yapping about making a bilinigual podcast. There was space for it, an appetite for it. The response has been absolutely amazing. There’s an audience for Irish language content.
Have you always had such a grá for the Irish language? When growing up, did you speak Irish in the house?
Yeah, I grew up speaking it. My mam is fluent in Irish so we spoke it at home it was the language of our house. It’s been my first language since I was born. I did all my schooling through Irish, went to college and studied it, then began working through Irish too. It’s so incredibly important because I couldn’t imagine my life without it. I think language connects us to who we are as people, to our ancestors and to our roots in this country. Whenever I get a chance to work through it, I do. My dream would be to always speak in Irish, so when I get the chance to work through Gaeilge, that’s incredible.
The language itself creates such a sense of community, doesn’t it?
Massively! I was in a small secondary school and when I left and went to university, I didn’t like it, it felt too big. I felt a bit lost, but when I started working in the Irish language sector, I found it again, I knew what I was missing was community. The Irish language community has always provided me with a comfort, it’s like-minded people, who understand me and understand the language I speak. It’s an amazing group of people.
It’s brilliant to see such a resurgence in it now, somewhat down to yourselves and of course Kneecap, too. You must be proud of that impact?
Absolutely! If music or the podcast gave a few people somewhere, a place where they felt they could connect or start a new relationship with the language, that’s amazing. As a language, she’s always there and you can create a relationship with her at any time.
For people who might like to get back into it and reimmerse themselves in the language, how would you suggest they do it?
There’s a few things they could do to get used to hearing Irish in their ears, so podcasts and music, but really, to learn a language properly, you have to go to lessons because you won’t pick it up by pure osmosis. Yes, we all have a good base from school, but if people want to really reconnect, I’d encourage them to find lessons. You won’t get that from How to Gael, you need a teacher [laughs].
So no chance of you being that teacher then?
Oh, I can have a very stern teacher voice when I need to [laughs]. But no, I’m winding down at the moment because I’ll be taking some time off in early 2026. I’m looking forward to that – I hear it’s not much of a break, but I’m looking forward to it regardless!
The best of luck with it all Síomha!
Thanks so much!
