Learner Dad: I can still feel the thrill of heading up the road as the sun rose over Cork

One of the biggest landmarks of my life was the first night I stayed up all night

Blackrock Castle reflected in the stillness of the River Lee as the sun begins to rise. Picture: David Creedon 

We call my mother The Hawk because she doesn’t miss a thing. Even now, at the age of 90, she can remember events that are starting to blur for me. The other night she reminded me of the time that my twin sister and I decided we were too old to go on holidays with our parents, leaving them and my younger sister to head off to Ibiza by themselves. 

I always thought my sister and I stayed at home by ourselves, but The Hawk reminded me that we were still a bit young for that at 16 and we stayed with her mother, our grandmother, while they were away.