"My husband is so excited I’m going to be in the Irish Farmers Journal,” announces Mairead Ronan. We haven’t even turned on the tape recorder but already we are straight into animated chats. Top of the list is Mairead’s beautiful wedding earlier this summer at her husband Louis’ family home in Ballyclerihan, near Clonmel in Co Tipperary.

“He is a proud Tipp man through and through, and when it came to deciding on a venue for the wedding, he was determined we’d have it in Ballyclerihan.”

Mairead wasn’t quite as convinced in the beginning: “I remember it was just after Christmas and we were standing in his family home looking out on the land. The trees were bare, it was a freezing cold day and I just couldn’t see how it would all work. Louis on the other hand had this vision of a marquee that would wrap around two enormous trees. ‘It’s a field,’ I protested. But he kept saying: ‘No Mairead, it’s a garden.’ In the end, it couldn’t have been more picturesque and everybody in Ballyclerihan was amazing. All the locals were wishing us well, putting out the Child of Prague for us. There was such a sense of community, it felt great.”

Guest of Honour

Mairead and Louis’ wedding was a star-studded event but it was their best man who was the real guest of honour.

“My eight-year-old son Darragh walked me up the aisle with my dad, it was so special. But he also had a dual role to play as he was Louis’ best man.”

Excitedly, Mairead whips out her phone to give Irish Country Living a sneak peak of his speech and, after a fit of giggles, he brought the house to its feet with an enormous cheer.

That wasn’t the only element of her marriage that got a big reaction. Changing her name from Mairead Farrell to Mairead Ronan resulted in a huge amount of attention, not all positive.

“It feels really nice to share my last name with Louis. He never asked me to do it. I just decided myself, and when I told him he was delighted. I really didn’t think it was a big deal and wasn’t expecting some of the comments, which were anything but nice. I just feel that today we’re lucky to have the choice. I have some friends that didn’t change their name, I, on the other hand, was happy to do it. None of my family minded so I didn’t know why anybody else cared so much.”

The Big Move

It’s certainly been a year of changes for Mairead. For over 10 years she was part of a radio team that had a friendship on air that touched the hearts of listeners across the country. Ray D’Arcy with Mairead, Jenny Kelly and Will Hanafin had such a dynamic on their morning show, you wished you could meet them all in a pub later that evening for the craic. However, in 2014 Mairead made the move to the Ian Dempsey Show while the rest of the team have headed over to Donnybrook for Ray’s new show on RTÉ.

“I do miss it, we really did have so much fun. However, I needed a change. I used to leave the house at 6.45am and not get home until 6pm most evenings. I didn’t see Darragh in the mornings or in the evenings and I felt like I was in work-to-bed-to-work mode.

“Now I start earlier (although it’s probably normal waking hours for farmers) but I can collect Darragh from school, do his homework with him and just enjoy our time together, instead of constantly rushing. Before I felt like a boiling pot that was likely to spill over any second. Now I feel like I’m just simmering away gently.”

Fit Families

That’s not to say that the beautiful brunette isn’t busy. As well as presenting the Seven O’Clock Show on TV3, she is back on our screens in October with Ireland’s Fittest Family. Last year’s winners were the Kingstons, dairy farmers from Cork. Mairead says she could definitely see how farming contributed to their success.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think at the start that they were serious contenders. It’s not like I wrote them off though, because every family has to be incredibly fit to get on the competition. However, other families had long-distance runners, some were gym owners, there was even a guy who ran for Ireland. As the show progressed though, it was clear the Kingstons were really hard workers and incredibly strong, with amazing endurance. Also, they worked together on the farm and this sense of team really benefitted them. They helped each other along at each stage and were really in it together.”

The new season is set to be just as competitive.

“Everyone seems to be on par at the moment, but what I can say is the Daverns from Tullamore are back. You just can’t keep a good family down. We’re shooting across the country and we’ve really thrown the kitchen sink at every competitor, so I have great admiration for them all.”

Love of the GAA

Mairead is also keen to keep fit. As well as working out in the gym, she enjoys the occasional half marathon, but her real love is the GAA and she was shouting loud for the Dublin footballers last weekend. It was a memorable All-Ireland win but Mairead says the one final that really sticks in her head was 1995.

“I tweeted a picture recently of me and my sisters 20 years ago on the way to Croke Park. My dad had no sons but I loved going to matches with him. Back then, Dublin didn’t have much luck. Meath seemed to beat us every year and there was no back door. When you were out, you were out. So when we won in ’95, we were floating on air.”

Darragh’s dedication to the sport also keeps her on the sidelines most weekends.

“I keep joking with him that in years to come, if he doesn’t run out in Croke Park, I’ll eat my hat. He goes training twice a week and then there are matches on top of that. A few weeks ago I was putting on his coat after his third match when I was told he was playing in another. Now it was only 10 minutes aside but at that stage I thought, I’ve done my bit,” she laughs.

“But you have to be dedicated as much as the kids. I mean there are some evenings when I’d prefer the couch rather than the side of a rainy field, but it’s important to support his interests.”

This is part of the reason that Mairead recently became involved in GloHealth’s September Savings campaign, which offers new and renewing customers €30 cashback on children’s sports club fees for the month of September.

“I think it’s a really good incentive to get kids involved in sport and keep them interested. GloHealth is also calling on the government to do more to support parents with the back-to-school burden and is calling for tax relief on children’s sports club fees.

“I figure in years to come I could be spending a lot more on sports fees given Darragh’s dedication, so I’m sure it will help in the long run.”