Corkonians Abroad: I fell 65ft at work, and it changed my life...

Tell us about your early life, Niall?

My family moved around Ireland for a bit before finally moving in December, 1970, to Aherla, County Cork.

My younger siblings and I attended primary school in Cloughduv, while my three older sisters attended St Aloysius school in Cork. They rode in with dad in the morning, who was now working for Hammond Refrigeration in Togher.

However, due to mum becoming ill, and needing to be closer to a main hospital, we once again upped and moved to Mayfield in 1972, before finally settling in Bishopstown in 1976.

In Mayfield, my brother Michael and I attended St Patrick’s Boys National School on Gardiner’s Hill, near Dillons Cross. By the time we moved to Bishopstown in 1976, I had already completed the entrance exam for Mayfield Community School, so my parents decided that I would go there, at least until the inter-cert, even though Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh was 100 yards from our house, on Central Avenue. I was not happy!

So, over the next three years, I rode my three-speed Triumph Twenty the six miles to Mayfield, three miles of flat surface, and then the gruelling three-mile hike up Summerhill. It was exhausting, and in the winter, it was always dark each way.

When the weather was bad, I would take the No.8 bus. Some mornings, as I would be struggling up Summerhill, Kevin Kehily, RIP, who was our PE teacher, would fly by me on his racer bike, shouting: “Come on, Quinlan, faster”.

The enjoyable part of the journey was coming home in the evening, where I free-wheeled from Mayfield, all the way to MacCurtain Street, passing through Dillon’s Cross, St Luke’s, then Summerhill, passing the scout hall, where I belonged to the 12th Cork Troop, and spent five great years of my life.

The only downside was idiots opening their car doors as I flew by. It was great practice for my reflexes.

How did you end up leaving Cork?

By 1979, my parents decided that I should change school and attend the local Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, which was around the corner. Finally, no more early morning wake-ups.

I completed my Leaving Cert in 1982, and was not going to college, not with my marks anyway.

I was free, and I worked for a few years in Cork before jetting off to America in June, 1985. It was the most popular thing to do at that time, and it had always been a dream of mine.

I spent the next five years working in construction in Boston, Nantucket Island, and New Jersey, before returning to Cork in December, 1989.

After spending Christmas with my family, I then flew to London in January, 1990, where again, I worked in construction, before a life-changing accident in November, 1991, where I fell 65 feet while working in a hangar at Heathrow Airport, London!

This changed the course of my life, and I spent the next nine years at the family home in Bishopstown, recovering, having surgeries, and going back and forth to America, where I had won a green card in the lottery.

The accident changed everything, and the Irish damp weather affected my body and the multiple bones that I broke and fractured in the accident, to the point where I was constantly on pain medication!

So, after my dear mother passed away in August, 1998, closely followed by my father in October, 1999, I made the decision that I needed to live in a warm climate.

On the move again

In early 2000, I returned to America, but decided that I wanted to give Australia a go, as I had been there in 1998 on holiday, and the climate suited me.

So, in 2001, I headed Down Under; however, I was 38 years old at this point, and too old to get any sort of work visa, and had no qualifications to apply for residency, but I was determined to find a way! Which I did, and against my own better judgment, I found myself signing up for a three-year Bachelor of Social Science Degree!

What was I thinking? I hated school and had not been a good student, academically wise. But here I was, paying nearly $40,000 Australian dollars to do something that I didn’t want to do, but it was the only way to stay in Australia.

Time to work

By the time I graduated at the ripe old age of 41, it was time to look for full-time work, and in a field that I had never been employed in before. I had only ever worked with my hands.

I eventually became a residential youth worker, working with young people who had been removed by the state for differing reasons, but mostly sexual abuse and domestic violence. They were placed in residential homes, where people like me were employed to work with them daily.

My usual shift would be a 24-hour one, with a sleepover. Starting at 9am and finishing the following morning at 9am.

Going in a new direction

In October, 2010, I decided to take a year off and head to Phuket, Thailand, and teach English in Thai government schools.

I had been to Thailand previously on holiday, and of course, the climate appealed to my body. All that was required was a degree and a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate.

I completed the course in four weeks. I then worked for an agency in Phuket.

Settling into life in Thailand

After a few months with the agency, I managed to secure a full-time position at a local secondary school called Kathuwittaya.

The first problem for the Thai students was my name. They could not say Niall, but rather, pronounced it, Niam! When I informed them that my middle name was Hugo, I became known as Teacher Hugo.

For the next five years, I worked at this school with one other foreign teacher, named Benji from London.

There were 1,400 students at the school, and together, we taught most of them!

I worked at another two schools after Kathuwittaya, one Thai and the other, HeadStart International School, Phuket.

What is life like in Thailand, Niall?

Living in Thailand is very different from Cork. The climate, for one, but also the culture and language.

My Thai is minimal, partly because Phuket is a popular tourist destination, and most people speak English, or want to.

Motorbikes are the most popular form of transport here. In the past, I owned a car, but now I only have a motorbike, as it’s the easiest way to get around.

Funnily enough, in my 15 years here, I have only come across a handful of Corkonians living here. Pat O’Donovan, who hails from Ballinlough, lived here from 2002 to 2016, and he ran a few Irish bars. We became very good friends and spent many nights reminiscing about Cork. Patsy has since moved back to Cork, with his Thai wife and children, Max and Jerry.

Another Corkonian I met was Sean Madden, who also hails from Ballinlough. Sean lives up in Pattaya, which is about 130km south of Bangkok. It’s like a larger Phuket, and Sean also runs an Irish bar. I usually visit him about three times a year.

Thailand is a great country to explore, and there is a lot to see. They have varied modes of transport. One of my favourites is the train. They are quite modern, and depending on the length of the journey, they also have sleeping carriages.

One time during the school holidays in 2018, I was sitting in the main train station in Bangkok, waiting for the 6.30pm overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. While I was sitting there, I suddenly heard the words, “Teacher Hugo, Teacher Hugo”, I turned in the direction of the voice, and thankfully I recognised the student and her name, which was Toup. I taught her in Phuket back in 2013. One of the best English speakers in that class.

Seventy million people in Thailand, and I’m 1,200km from Phuket, and I’m recognised. Small world!

I finished teaching last year, 2024. Since then, I have been writing my autobiography, which I hope to publish on Amazon by the end of September! The name of the book will be How Far Can I Fall?

Would you like to give a shout-out to people in Cork?

Yes. My sisters, Niamh Quinlan, in Castlemagner, north Cork; Dara Quinlan, in Ballincollig; Siobhan, and Michael O’Donovan, in Fennell’s Bay. My nephew Ian O’Donovan and family are in Carrigaline.

Also, to my friends, Kieran Nestor and the lads. Bernard Vallely, John O’Sullivan, Seamus Murphy, Bernard O’Reilly, to name but a few!

Hi to all, and hope to see you all soon for a few pints!