Made In Chaos with Ryan Curtis

One of the Greatest to Ever Wear the Dublin Jersey — But This Isn't About Football. Philly McMahon on Ballymun, His Brother, and What Really Shaped Him.
Philly McMahon is considered one of the greatest Gaelic footballers to ever play for Dublin. But behind the medals and the All-Ireland titles is a far more interesting story: growing up in working-class Ballymun, losing his brother John to addiction, becoming a father, and spending his life trying to understand what really drives people from communities like his.
Ryan sits down with Philly for a wide-ranging, honest conversation that goes nowhere near a highlight reel.
What we get into:
Growing up in the Ballymun flats and the community that shaped him
How systemic decisions, not just individual choices, ghettoised whole areas
The hero's journey, slaying the dragon, and why hardship is where the growth is
The story of the footballer he transformed by sending him to feed the homeless
Losing his brother John to addiction, and what his mother taught him about love and connection
Why "tough love" often isn't the answer, and what actually helps someone struggling
Fashion, identity and status in working-class communities
Parenting: how much hardship to pass on, and how much to protect them from
Why our prisons are full of people from a handful of postcodes, and what that says about class
Adverse childhood experiences and how much of our lives trace back to childhood
What Philly hopes people remember about him, and why it isn't football
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 — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

He's 23 and Has Spent Years on Dublin's Streets Helping the Homeless — Not Because It's His Job, But Because He Chose To.
Everyone has walked past someone sleeping rough. Most of us glance, wonder, and keep walking. Brandon O'Connor spends his nights sitting beside those people — hearing their stories and watching addiction, trauma, kindness and hope all exist on the same street.
Brandon founded Dublin Homeless Awareness at just 16, as a transition year school project. Years later, his team run first-aid patrols, missing-person searches, river-safety patrols and mental health interventions across the city. In this episode, Ryan sits down with him for an honest, eye-opening conversation about what really happens on Dublin's streets — and what needs to change.
What we get into:
Why most people develop addictions after becoming homeless, not before
How Dublin Homeless Awareness started as a school project and grew into a frontline service
The reality of night patrols: overdoses, mental health crises and river rescues
The systemic gaps that leave people with nowhere to go
Why homelessness can happen to almost anyone — including nurses, guards and charity workers
Brandon's own story: growing up with a mother who was homeless and addicted
What frontline work does to your own mental health, and how the team protects each other
The small acts of kindness that people never forget
What every one of us can do differently when we walk past someone sleeping rough
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
To support or report a concern, find Dublin Homeless Awareness on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

He Won Olympic Silver in Beijing. Two Years Later He Hit Rock Bottom. Kenny Egan on Winning, Addiction & Finding Himself Again.

Kenny Egan has one of the greatest stories in Irish sport, a ten-time senior champion, the only man ever to win ten consecutive senior titles, and an Olympic silver medallist in Beijing 2008. But once the gloves came off and the homecoming faded, Kenny faced a very different fight.
Ryan sits down with Kenny for one of the most honest and important conversations Made in Chaos has had, about what happens when the biggest win of your life doesn't fix everything, the loss of identity that followed, the two-year spiral into addiction, and the long road into recovery that he now values more than any medal.
What we get into:
​Growing up one of five brothers in Clondalkin and how boxing found him
​Losing three All-Ireland finals in a row and nearly quitting at 13
​The coach who told him he was a "2 out of 10", and how that rebuilt him
​Gary Keegan drawing a line on the gym floor and changing Irish boxing forever
​Beijing 2008, five near-flawless fights and an Olympic silver medal
​Why winning the medal sent him from zero to rock bottom in two years
​The loss of identity: "Who am I now?"
​Walking away from a 10-year professional contract while in active addiction
​The night his mam walked into a pub and said "Come home, son"
​The day he got sober, 12th of August 2010, and never looked back
​Becoming a psychotherapist and what real purpose looks like now
​Why his sobriety means more to him than any Olympic medal
​His upcoming charity fight for the Irish Cancer Society in memory of his late mother
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, Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

Real Strength Isn't Pushing Through Everything. It's Learning to Bend Without Breaking. A Clinical Psychologist Explains.
Most people think mental strength means never slowing down, never breaking, never letting anyone see them struggle. Professor Ross G. White, clinical psychologist, author and performance specialist who works with the Irish Rugby Football Union, argues that this exact belief is why so many people are burnt out, anxious and quietly losing themselves.
Ryan sits down with Ross for a conversation packed with usable frameworks on resilience, purpose, pressure and emotional avoidance, the kind of practical psychology that genuinely changes how you think about your own life.
What we get into:
The get, threat and reset modes, and why high achievers neglect the one that keeps them well
Why being "relentlessly relentless" guarantees burnout
The arrival fallacy, why hitting your biggest goal won't make you happy
Shallow success vs deep success, focusing on values and process over outcome
Why you don't find your purpose, you form it
Treating emotions as messengers, and why there's no such thing as a negative emotion
The inner critic, where it comes from, and self-compassion as strength turned inward
Survivorship bias, why copying Michael Jordan's mindset won't make you Michael Jordan
Towards moves vs away moves, the one question that can change every decision you make
Strong intention, light attachment, protecting your identity beyond one pursuit
What burnout actually is, and why it's not your fault
"You're not broken, you're stuck", and how a flexible mind helps you get unstuck
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, Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

He Built the Road for Irish Muay Thai Himself. Two Years Homeless. A Best Friend Lost. World Champion.
Craig "Coco" Coakley is one of Ireland's most accomplished Muay Thai fighters a Dublin Combat Academy fighter who became Irish Fighter of the Year, won multiple titles including a world title, and fought for Yokkao, Muay Thai Grand Prix and ONE Championship. But what makes Craig's story remarkable isn't the trophy cabinet. It's everything that happened underneath it.
Ryan sits down with Craig for an unfiltered conversation about growing up in Dublin's inner city, falling into fighting almost by accident, spending two years homeless while building a career at the same time, losing his best friend to suicide, and walking away from the security of the biggest promotion in the sport because his sanity mattered more than the contract.
What we get into:
Growing up in Dublin 1, community, hardship and what people get wrong about "rough areas"
How Craig fell into Muay Thai after getting battered in his first boxing match
The brutal reality of fight week, fight camps and the sacrifices nobody sees
Two years homeless in a hotel room with a newborn while still actively competing
The loss that nearly broke him, his best friend James, and the system that failed him
Why fighting is more mental than physical, and what losing taught him about who's really in your corner
Walking away from ONE Championship and choosing his sanity over the biggest contract in the sport
Becoming a father and how it completely reshaped what he was fighting for
What he wants people to actually remember about Craig Coakley when it's all said and done
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. Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory