Philly McMahon: The Dublin GAA Legend Who’d Rather Talk About His Community Than His Medals

He Grew Up in the Flats With a Fishing Rod Made From a Tree Branch. He Went On to Race at the North Pole, Across Antarctica and Through the Sahara. John O’Regan’s Extraordinary Life. John O’Regan is one of Ireland’s most accomplished endurance athletes, an ultrarunner who has competed in some of the most extreme races on the planet: the North Pole Marathon, Antarctica, the Marathon des Sables in the Sahara, the Yukon, the Spartathlon, and a run to Everest Base Camp. He’s also spent years guiding a blind runner, Mark, through many of these same brutal environments. Ryan sits down with John for a genuinely inspiring, story-rich conversation about survival, endurance, mindset, and what a life lived at the edges actually teaches you. What we get into: Growing up in the Dublin flats, fishing with a branch, and the escape the outdoors gave him Writing a letter to survival expert Ray Mears in 1988, and how it changed his life Why the most important thing you can carry anywhere is knowledge, not kit The Dunning-Kruger moment: going over thinking he knew it all, and getting humbled fast The Sahara, the North Pole, the Yukon, Antarctica, and what each one demanded Lending his spare snowshoes to explorer Ranulph Fiennes at the North Pole Years guiding Mark, a blind runner, through deserts, ice and the Himalayas The hardest thing he’s ever done: the race into Everest Base Camp The accident in the desert, the first-aid kit lesson, and “cheating the system” What 24-hour races teach you about rationing energy and the mind The beginner’s mindset, and why “how you do anything is how you do everything” Why there’s no finish line, and why we get old when we stop doing things Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who’ve turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing. Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis 🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

After Years Walking With Couples, a Relationship Coach on What Most People Get Wrong, How to Fight Well, and Why the Grass Is Greener Where You Water It. Lisa McFarland is a relationship coach who has spent years helping couples move from disconnection back to closeness, and who went on her own marriage journey over a decade ago before doing this work. In this warm, funny and genuinely useful conversation, she breaks down why relationships drift, how to argue without damage, and the small daily habits that keep love alive. Ryan sits down with Lisa for a conversation that anyone in a relationship, or wanting one, will take something from. What we get into: Why relationships take conscious effort once the honeymoon chemicals fade The "mental load," and the conversation couples need to have about it Why 80% of arguments are never actually resolved, and what to do instead Attachment styles, and why we're sometimes drawn to chaos over security How to do "healthy conflict," and the ten-minute rule that stops fights escalating Why "I'm sorry you feel that way" is not an apology Why you should never make the big decisions at 10 at night Why men and women often need connection in different orders The daily micro-habits: the six-second kiss, the daily hug, the drip-drip of care Love languages, responsive desire, and why good intimacy starts long before the bedroom Loving someone versus being in love, and why that moves up and down The one thing that predicts whether a couple will still be happy in 20 years Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing. Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis 🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

Ireland's Best-Known Financial Advisor on What We Get Wrong About Money, and Why You're Probably Doing Better Than Social Media Tells You. Paul Merriman, better known as Ask Paul, is one of Ireland's most recognisable financial advisors and CEO of Fairstone Ireland. In this conversation he cuts through the noise, the viral "skip your coffee" advice, the pressure to be a millionaire by sixty, the panic about pensions, and gives a refreshingly honest, jargon-free take on money in Ireland. Ryan sits down with Paul for a genuinely useful conversation about planning, property, pensions, investing and why the best investment most people can make is in themselves. What we get into: Why we don't plan enough, and the one habit that quietly changes everything Financial literacy in Ireland versus the US, and why we're actually good savers Good debt versus bad debt, and what wiped the country out in 2008 Why he pushes back on the "cut out the coffee" advice, and when a "money diet" does make sense The housing crisis, developers, planning, and why there's no will to fix it Why you're probably doing better with money than social media makes you feel The real biggest asset most people have, and it isn't their bank balance Pensions, tax relief, ETFs and why there's no one-size-fits-all answer Deemed disposal, the savings account changes coming, and the noise around both Why investing in yourself beats an ETF in your twenties Looking wealthy versus being wealthy, lifestyle creep and "Die With Zero" After 20 years, the one thing he's determined not to get wrong in his own life Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing. This conversation is general information, not personal financial advice. For advice specific to your situation, speak to a qualified financial advisor. Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis 🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

A Professional Poker Player on Risk, Luck, Reading People and Why You Can Make the Perfect Decision and Still Lose. Chris Dowling has spent well over a decade making a living at the poker table, from local card rooms in Ireland to the high-stakes rooms of Las Vegas. But this conversation is about far more than cards. It is about how to think clearly under pressure, how to read people, how to manage risk and emotion, and how to keep making good decisions when the outcome is out of your hands. Ryan sits down with Chris for a genuinely fascinating look inside the mind of a professional, and the mental habits that apply to anyone's life, whether you have ever played a hand or not. What we get into: How Chris went from the electrical trade to professional poker after the recession The three levels of poker, and where the real money and the real pros actually are Why films get poker completely wrong, and how cheating really works Why poker is not gambling, and the maths that makes the house always win Reading people: what you can actually tell from how someone acts, dresses and bets Game theory, exploiting mistakes, and the rock paper scissors trick that explains it all Why the best players randomise their decisions using their watch Going on tilt, and how the same emotional spiral shows up everywhere in life Why most people badly misunderstand luck and probability What separates a calculated risk from being reckless, and when to walk away How experience, not talent, lets the best stay calm playing for millions The single most useful thing poker can teach you about decisions in real life Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing. Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis 🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

He Built One of Dublin's Best-Known Businesses While Addiction Nearly Took Everything. Rob Connolly on Success, Grief, Recovery and the Brother He Lost. Rob Connolly is the founder of The Ink Factory, one of the most recognisable tattoo studios in Ireland, and a serial entrepreneur since his teens. But behind the businesses is a life shaped by addiction from the age of twelve, the loss of his brother John to suicide, and a long, honest reckoning with what success is really worth. Ryan sits down with Rob for one of the most open and moving conversations Made in Chaos has had, about building a life while battling addiction, the loss that changed everything, and why he believes there is always a way back. What we get into: Getting into business as teenagers, from nightclubs to The Ink Factory Why he built The Ink Factory around community, not just tattoos Growing up in an addicted household and using from the age of twelve How success became the perfect place to hide an addiction Mistaking net worth for self-worth, and the hole that no business could fill Losing his brother John to suicide, and the years of grief that followed The conversation with Ryan that helped Rob reconnect with his brother in time Why there is always a way back, no matter how far down The John Connolly Foundation and the mental health work it funds The loneliness and identity crisis facing young men in Ireland Why Ireland's mental health system too often fails people until crisis point Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing. Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis If anything in this episode affects you, support is available in Ireland. Samaritans are free, 24/7, on 116 123. Pieta (suicide and self-harm support) is on 1800 247 247, or text HELP to 51444. The HSE Drugs and Alcohol Helpline is on 1800 459 459. 🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory