Claire Byrne Recommends: Never Have I Ever
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, I hope you've been enjoying your Clare Byrne Show podcast this week. If you like what you've heard there, be sure to check out my weekly podcast series, Never Have I Ever. In episode three, I met an extraordinary woman whose life journey has taken her from nurse to flight attendant with a detour into pharma sales before becoming a wedding and funeral celebrant. Her name is Karen Dempsey. Take a listen.
You are known as the bald priestess. When people are saying, I don't remember her name, they can say, yeah, she's the bald one and you find me. I don't want her to become a capitalist transactional piece where you pay somebody money and they say some fancy words and off they go.
One wedding trend that you would happily just ban forever? Donut walls.
What is the journey of Karen Dempsey, the Bald Priestess?
It would be really important to do it as Claire, who you were as a child, rather than Claire Byrne, the broadcaster.
Never have I ever. Never have I ever. Never have I ever. Never have I ever. Never.
Wedding season is in full swing again. Every second weekend, someone's off to a hotel in Clare or they're standing in the freezing cold in Wicklow. Afraid to say that they're freezing cold because it really is worth it for the photographs. It's always worth it for the photographs. If you're Irish, chances are you've probably spent a fair chunk of your life both at weddings and at funerals. But here's the thing I've been thinking about. Like, despite all the ceremonies I have been at, nobody has ever asked me to officiate at one of them. You know, like, in an unofficial capacity? Like, none of my friends have ever gone, surely Clare would be good at that. I'm not taking it personally, but almost. I got married myself in the Dublin Registry office 10 years ago, exactly this year.
And after all of these years of attending weddings and funerals and christenings and so on, never have I ever stood at the front and led one. But I am joined by somebody who has done that because I'm joined by Karen Dempsey. Karen, you're very welcome. Hi Clare. So when you say to people that you are a celebrant, what do you think that they think? What do they say to you about that job?
I think immediately people go into how they would feel about that job. So they either say something like, I'd love to do that. That sounds brilliant. I've always thought about doing it. Or I could never do that. I could never stand in front of people and speak publicly. People are rarely kind of mediocre about it.
What trends in weddings does Karen Dempsey want to ban?
There's some kind of interest somewhere. They have strong feelings about it. Yeah, they do tend to, yeah. To me, the ceremony sets the tone for the day. And that's why I think it's so meaningful as well to kind of create that feeling of community and connection in the ceremony. Because then people will carry that forward into the celebrations afterwards and onwards into the life of that couple.
So then when it came to, let's say, your first wedding, did you have that moment where you thought, right, I am leading the charge? This is me now. This day depends on very much what I do.
So my first wedding ceremony was two people who I didn't know at the time. I went on to become dear friends of mine, Renee and Audrey. On the day of their wedding ceremony, I remember that morning, they messaged and said, oh, Karen, we don't have ribbons for such and such. Could you pick up something? I was like... This is not part of the job. Yeah, I was like, I'm already on my last minute. But I laughed and I just stopped on the way down, got the ribbons. And that's very much a part of it as well. I'm really, really strong with couples in saying, nothing can go wrong. And whatever happens is part of the story. I mean, whether we have ribbons or not is actually irrelevant.
Karen Dempsey isn't just somebody who conducts weddings. Before becoming a celebrant, she worked as a nurse, a psychotherapist, a flight attendant and in pharmaceutical sales. She grew up in a family marked by sudden loss, trained in interfaith ministry and founded Entheos, an organisation that supports people who feel somewhere in between faith and no faith.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:46
2
What is the journey of Karen Dempsey, the Bald Priestess?
0:46–2:40
3
What trends in weddings does Karen Dempsey want to ban?
2:40–6:43
4
How does Karen create meaningful wedding ceremonies?
6:43–13:14
5
What is the difference between weddings and funerals in celebrancy?
13:14–20:31
6
How does Karen handle emotional moments during ceremonies?
20:31–24:39
7
What challenges does Karen face in her celebrant work?
24:39–31:19
8
How does Karen's background influence her approach to ceremonies?
31:19–44:31
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Claire Byrne Show
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