Gary & Paul O'Donovan: 'Mam sternly warned to never let a woman get in the way'

In an interview from 2021, rowers Gary and Paul O'Donovan talk rowing, life advice, and growing up in the Cork countryside

Gary and Paul O'Donovan's life training started on a West Cork farm, long before they hopped in a boat. Picture: Naoise Culhane. 

There are just the two of us brothers. We’re from a village called Aughadown, a few miles west of Skibbereen in the countryside of West Cork. It's a lovely scenic place surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and we had the beautiful Roaring Water Bay just a stone's throw away from our house.

Our parents still live down there and we love to spend time there but at the moment we live apart from each other around Cork City due to university commitments and training.