Tadhg Hickey: 'I wake up every day with alcoholism and I have to treat it every day'

Tadhg Hickey. Picture: Cathal Noonan.
I grew up in McCurtain’s Villas in Cork City which was perfect for a class-obsessed, Wiki-Marxist like myself. We were perched between lah di dah Sunday’s Well and Mardyke Walk (cricket clubs and everything) and Barrack Street, which although quite bougie these days, was the wild west in the early 90s, with more pubs than sense.
It was mostly myself, Mam, Dad and my sister at home (older brothers were married and/or living elsewhere).
My earliest memory is when I was about five years old. I’m standing on Cork’s famous Shandon Street. It was a baking hot summer’s day and my eyes were bouncing between a delicious 99 ice-cream, which was dripping chaotically over my fat little hand, and my dad, who was standing looking out over the city, demolishing his own 99 without so much as an errant drip. He looked like an aquiline gladiator. I was just standing there, looking at my dad looking at Cork. I assumed he owned the place. He was bald and proud, playful and formidable, and he was my dad. I was very happy to be knocking around with him.
I think we’re all born clueless. We go down a series of cul-de-sacs, hitting our heads over and over again until we finally have enough of the head-hitting. After enough pain, we eventually go down the right road for us. That’s my experience anyway.
The greatest challenge I’ve faced so far in my life is alcoholism. The challenge is ongoing but I’m currently in a very good place. I’ve been sober for over eight years but I still remember keenly the carnage of active addiction. One of the worst aspects of substance abuse, for me at least, is the loss of your own integrity, the feeling that your ‘word’ is worthless. I’m glad to say I’ve had the opportunity to make amends to most of my loved ones for the many broken promises.

- Tadhg Hickey’s memoir, corkoperahouse.ie , is out now. His show, , comes to Cork Opera House on September 28. Tickets €25 from