The world needs more culchies like Aisling Leonard.
A born-and-bred Hillsider with parents from way out west, Aisling has somehow turned out to be the perfect combination of Audrey Hepburn and Pat Shortt. Or thereabouts.
No matter how busy Aisling gets though, all that truly matters to the 27-year-old holistic hoofer is her family. “They’re everything to me,” she says, before quickly pointing out that looking after her nieces, Isabel and Danielle, is both a treat and a great reminder that this young woman is nowhere near ready for motherhood.
For the foreseeable future, it’ll have to be cats. And lots of them, Aisling planning on being an eccentric 70-year-old walking around Greystones with an army of cats, harmoniously hissing in a SuperValu shopping trolley. Nice.
Not that we here at GG HQ believe a word of it. There’s a depth of soul and mischief here that clearly stems from her parents, Banada boy Oliver and Knockmore cutie Jo, who, unsurprisingly, first met at a dance hall. Three kids later – there’s also Emma and James (proud father of only grandson, Davin) – and Ol-Jo (as they like to be called) are as happy as ever. Jo has her Greystones Folk Group, her Chernobyl charity work, her church and, when she’s feeling a little wild and feckless, her tennis. Oliver, meanwhile, has that One Perfect Day to bask in for all eternity – his early years racing donkeys having once garnered him the mighty first place prize of a set of deck chairs. Holy, the women in Banada must have been fair impressed that day.
So, perhaps such a fine Finnegan’s Wake of a family somewhat explains how we ended up with such a bright, beautiful and beatific-verging-on-merrily-bonkers Kinesiologist [go look it up] cutie.
Yep, the world definitely needs more Aisling Leonards…