RTÉ journalist’s personal diary recalls first 100 days of pandemic

When did you last shake hands? Do you remember homeschooling, the 2k travel limit, essential shopping?

RTÉ journalist Carole Coleman has documented the changes Covid-19 brought to our lives in News From Under a Coat Stand, a diary March-June 2020.

“On Sunday, March 8, 2020, I was in Westport to interview hoteliers Darren Madden and Michael Lennon for RTÉ radio when I decided to stop shaking hands.

"We had a bit of a laugh about it, but we had no idea we’d be still grappling with the pandemic 21 months later,” Carole told The Connaught Telegraph.

“I kept my diary as a record for the future, so our children and grandchildren could understand this very strange time. We won’t forget what happened, but we will forget the small details of how our lives turned upside down. The diary tells that story.” Carole said.

In News from Under a Coat Stand, Coleman brings readers along on her reporting and personal journey – as Ireland and much of the world shut down and families stayed apart and took extreme measures to protect one another.

The This Week presenter and former RTÉ Washington Correspondent records the fear that drove many of us to stockpile food and remain indoors for nearly 12 weeks.

News from Under a Coat Stand details the sad loss of life in Ireland, the US and the UK, but also the tender and sometimes quirky situations experienced by countless Irish families.

Illustrations sketched by the author’s teenage daughter Irena help tell the story.

“We quickly forget how it was to home school children while working our own jobs from bedrooms and kitchens. Then there was banana bread, Joe Wicks workouts and Zoom bingo. We have left all that behind but the effects of that time are very much with us,” Coleman said.

News from Under a Coat Stand is available at The Castle Book Shop, Castlebar, McLoughlin’s Bookshop and The Bookshop, Westport and Pangur Bán Bookshop, Ballina.