How agreeable are you?<\/p>\n
I think I am agreeable on a case-by-case basis and have a general sense of agreeableness. I think very much of where [agreeableness] comes from and why. Especially women being brought up to be agreeable as a baseline hides a lot of authenticity and truth. <\/p>\n
What is your middle name and what do you think of it? <\/p>\n
Mary and Margaret. They\u2019re there for a very particular reason. When my mother had me, she was in hospital in Cork and hadn\u2019t named me yet. And this nun came in; there were nuns running the hospital at the time. [The nun] said that \u201cyou really have to name this child,\u201d and gave her a book of saints and martyrs. [The book] just opened on Victoria. I had a few religious members in my family, two nuns and a priest, and they were horrified that I was going to be called Victoria \u2013 colonial connotations. Just in case, my mother added Mary and both my grandmothers were Margaret. It is a lovely alliterative centre of my spiky sandwich of Victoria Kennefick. It\u2019s quite creamy in the middle. <\/p>\n
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?<\/p>\n
There are loads of chambers in my heart that have different parts of our beautiful country. But probably Ballinwilling Beach, very near Shanagarry [Co Cork]. It is a beautiful, long sandy beach. It feels like a local beach for local people. It was a very special place as a child going there and having sandy sandwiches and going swimming in the rain. I feel rejuvenated and at peace by the sea. <\/p>\n
Describe yourself in three words<\/p>\n
Passionate, curious and goofy. Passionate really encapsulates sensitivity and intensity, both of which I\u2019ve been accused of being. It\u2019s probably that intensity and that passion that drives a lot of my work because it\u2019s a lot to carry in one\u2019s body. In the strange line of work I\u2019m in, I\u2019m writing about the nature of being human. What it means to experience all the things we do and how we channel or transform them into something meaningful and make them into something we can share with others \u2013 one can tend to take oneself too seriously. I feel very lucky I grew up in a family where there was a very high expectation of silliness and playfulness. I feel very connected to my kid self. I think that\u2019s integral to being a happy person. <\/p>\n