The Shape I'm In: A family affair for Mary O'Rouke

Westmeath mammy of the nation Mary O’Rourke reads a lot of historical biography.

Most recently, she read Claire Tomalin’s book on Charles Dickens, as well as Mary Kenny’s The Crown and the Shamrock.

She started writing her own memoir, Just Mary as soon as she lost her Dáil seat in 2011. “I did it through my tape-recorder. I spoke into it. The book is very much me talking. I found that whole rediscovery and re-examination very challenging and very interesting,” says the 75-year-old, who wouldn’t be drawn on what specifically she learned about herself in the process of remembering her life.