Love in the Time of... Her Final Hours

In the second essay in our new Magazine and podcast series, Love in the Time of..., Irish author Louise O’Neill recalls the life and death of her much-loved grandmother in west Cork

Louise O’Neill, author, reflects on her love for her grandmother: ‘It’s been almost two years since her death, and I still dream of her.‘ Picture: Clare Keogh

Words are easy, my father told me when I was a child. Words are cheap. Look at how people behave, observe how they treat others. That’s where you’ll find the measure of the man.

When I think of my grandmother, I cannot remember her ever saying the words “I love you”. She didn’t possess the easy warmth of my grandfather, pulling me on his lap and laughing uproariously when I poked at his belly fat, ...