Though her career has thrust her into the public eye, Sarah McInerney and her husband, Thomas, lead an exceptionally private life together.
The Galway woman juggles her career at RTÉ with her family life at home with Thomas, an actuary, and their two young sons, Ben and Caelan.
The couple first met 15 years ago on a night out, and tied the knot in 2017. Here’s everything we know about their life together.
How they met
Sarah McInerney. Pic: Sarah McInerney/Instagram
Sarah and Thomas hit it off immediately when they met on a night out at the Baggot Inn some 15 years ago.
Speaking to RSVP magazine, the RTÉ star recalled: ‘We just bumped into each other. Thomas came up to me and said he recognised me from TV. At the time I wasn’t doing a lot of TV; I was doing Vincent Browne panels every now and then, but that was it.
‘I thought Thomas was just chancing his arm; I didn’t believe it. But actually, he has a great eye for faces – I’m the opposite; I have complete face blindness. So he actually recognised me from TV, and that was his “in” line, and we got chatting.’
After chatting face to face, Thomas slid into Sarah’s DMs on Facebook, and she found herself responding because of his humour.
‘We were chatting back and forth, and then he asked to meet up for an actual date, and we did,’ she said. ‘It moved really fast then. I think we got engaged within a year and three months.’
Their first date
Sarah McInerney. Pic: Sarah McInerney/Instagram
Sarah and Thomas enjoyed their first date at the Port House in Dublin. They were among the first in the venue, and they were pretty much the last ones to leave.
‘That was a really good sign,’ she recalled. ‘We just chatted and chatted and chatted, and we had so much in common, we just clicked.’
Making time for each other
Sarah McInerney with her son. Pic: Sarah McInerney/Instagram
After moving from Drivetime to Morning Ireland, Sarah found herself having more time to spend with her children, Ben and Caelan, but less to spend with her hubby.
‘Time with my husband is becoming more of a challenge,’ she said. ‘Before this, I would have seen a fair amount of him in the evenings when the kids went to bed, whereas now I see loads of the kids.
‘That was what I wanted, because they’re seven and 11 and they’re not going to be kids that much longer. I can see it with my older guy; he has started to cut the thread a little bit and get his own independence, which is amazing, but you can see how quickly that’s going to happen.
‘It’s only a couple of years that I get to have them to myself. So that was the whole idea really, to spend more time with them.’
Sarah McInerney. Pic: RTÉ
‘But now with my evenings, if I have Morning Ireland the next morning, I’m in bed very early, and I’m gone when everyone gets up, and with Prime Time I’m home very late,’ Sarah explained.
‘Thomas and I are seeing much less of each other, so we’re having to make a really conscious effort to put dates in the diary to get out and spend time together.
‘If you don’t get dates in the diary, it’s not happening, because it gets to the weekend and one person has to go here, one person has to go there, the housework has to be done, and there’s no time!’
Seeing the world together
Speaking previously to RSVP magazine, Sarah said: ‘We used to plan big trips every year, before our son was born. Now, we just sneak away for a night whenever we can.
‘We both love diving and skiing, and we are hoping to get away for a few days to Morzine in the French Alps this year.’
Happiest days of her life
Sarah McInerney at the Irish premiere screening of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Pic: Andres Poveda
In the past, Sarah has said that her wedding day and the birth of her two children were among the happiest days in her life.
She told the Irish Times: ‘Can’t choose one. My wedding day; when my children were born; when tests ruled out a serious illness for one of my children. But increasingly, I aim for contentment over happiness.’
She’ll never be the stay-at-home mum-type
Sarah McInerney pictured at the Style Awards 2026 at the InterContinental Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy
Sarah’s professional life gets her out of bed in the morning just as much as her personal life does. The RTÉ star has tried her hand at being a stay-at-home mum in the past, and even Thomas agrees she’s ‘not at her best’ when she isn’t working.
Speaking previously to the Irish Independent, Sarah described herself as being ‘restless’ during those times, explaining: ‘I love my children, and they’re my favourite people to spend time with, and that’s my ultimate number-one priority, but I do need something else as well.
‘Like, I can’t get over people who stay at home full-time, in a good way. This is not a judgement, obviously – I think they’re amazing and I obviously look at them and feel, “Oh, maybe that’s what I should have sort of plumped for in life.” And then my husband says: “We tried that, and you’re not at your best self.” It is trying to get balance, like everyone else; what fits for you.’