When Siobhan was two years old, both her parents, her older brother who was seven and her aunt all died in a drowning tragedy on Carlingford Lough.

Siobhan, her eleven month-old brother Terry and a nine-year-old sister Orla, were separated from each other and taken in by two sets of grandparents and were raised in a society that didn’t condone mourning or talk of grief.

Siobhan tells us about how she created an imaginary life for herself as a child and how this loss coloured her life experience and influenced her life choices. Decades later, Siobhan still feels anxious whenever she has to wait for someone and how she finds solace in the company of family and friends.

She finds healing in the work she does with grieving children who come to the Rainbows programme which Siobhan facilitates and offers advice to anyone supporting a grieving child.

BBC coverage of the commemoration.