Dr Colman Noctor: If your children are safe and loved, anything after that’s a bonus

As child psychotherapist Dr Colman Noctor starts a new column in Irish Examiner Feelgood next week, we catch up with him to find out what his childhood was like — and about his own experience of parenting and of being parented

Dr Coleman Noctor pictured with his children from left Odhran, Harry and Layla at their home in Carlow. Picture: Dylan Vaughan

Growing up near the Sally Gap in 1980s Ireland, Colman’s BMX bike was his lifeline. “It wasn’t unusual, aged 11, to cycle 2km to see my friends,” says the 43-year-old, who recalls his childhood as “a nice mix of going to school in Dublin and still having that rural experience”.

Living in an area served only by the number 65 bus that went the 20km to Dublin City, Colman says the bus became an important part of life. “Coming home, you’d get off, go into the phone box, let the phone ring three times before hanging up and Mum knew you were there.”