About This Episode

Welcome to episode 1 of the Voices Of Boyle Podcast! 

It’s only taken us a couple of years to actually follow through with our idea of trying to document and record some stories from the people of Boyle! 🙂 

In the opening episode of the Voices of Boyle podcast, we sit down with Risteard Lloyd, whose story begins with a sudden, life-changing event: a serious motorbike accident in Thailand. What follows is a deeply honest conversation about memory loss, recovery, identity, and the strange experience of rebuilding your life without remembering the one you had.

Risteard is from Boyle, County Roscommon, and although his story takes us across the globe, from Australia to Southeast Asia, Boyle remains an ever-present thread, grounding the conversation in familiar places and people.

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A Life Interrupted

The episode opens with a simple question: “What happened?” Risteard begins to unpack the moment that changed everything , a crash that left him unconscious, hospitalised, and unsure of who he was when he woke up.

He speaks about losing large chunks of his memory including people, places, and experiences and the mental chaos that followed. There’s confusion, anger, and heartbreak in his words, but also humour and reflection. 

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Boyle, Then and Now

Though much of the episode revolves around his post-accident recovery, Boyle plays a recurring role. Risteard talks about his childhood, local football, old classmates, and familiar faces from around town. He recalls teachers, his days in St. Mary’s College, and the local culture that shaped much of his early life.

One particularly poignant moment is when he reflects on seeing someone in Boyle after returning from abroad, and not remembering who they were a jarring experience in a town where everyone knows your name.

Despite the memory gaps, there’s a clear affection for Boyle throughout the episode. It’s not romanticised or sugar-coated, but it’s real a connection to place that lingers even when the details have slipped away.

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Rebuilding and Remembering

Risteard doesn’t shy away from the frustration of recovery. He talks about the effort it took to piece things back together learning how to manage documents, bank accounts, and basic routines all over again.

And yet, there’s strength in how he speaks a quiet resilience that shines through even as he describes the confusion. There’s no self-pity here. Just a determination to keep going, to make sense of it all, and to try and reconnect with the person he used to be.

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Humour, Honesty, and Hope

What makes this episode so engaging is Risteard’s ability to tell his story with raw honesty and flashes of wit. Whether he’s describing the awkwardness of forgetting people on the street, the challenge of buying shampoo when he didn’t recognise brands, or just the bizarreness of waking up in a life he couldn’t remember, there’s a warmth and openness in his delivery that draws you in.

Listeners from Boyle, and beyond will find themselves nodding along not just out of recognition, but out of empathy.

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Why It’s the Perfect First Episode

As a launch episode for Voices of Boyle, Risteard’s story sets the tone beautifully: grounded in the local, but with a universal appeal. It’s about what happens when life throws you off course, and how you navigate your way back even if the route looks nothing like the one you started on.

There are no sweeping declarations or neatly tied-up endings here. Just one man, sitting down to share a story he’s still figuring out. And in doing so, he gives others the space to reflect on their own journeys, too.

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🎧 Listen Now:

Episode 1 – “The Motorbike Accident” with Risteard Lloyd – is available now wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in for a raw, human story from the heart of Boyle, Co. Roscommon — and don’t forget to subscribe for more real conversations with real locals.

Click Here to read the article that Risteard wrote called – A Different Light But A New Light