‘Walking is a great way of connecting with nature, but also of connecting with my kids’

HELEN STEELE, Designer and artist, pictured with daughter Halle

For as long as she can remember, walking has been a part of Helen’s every day life. “I’ve always been a walker,” she explains. When she was growing up in Maynooth, her mother would take Helen and her siblings out each afternoon. “It was like a ritual. We used to walk around Carton House — this was before it was a hotel. We also had a boat on the Shannon, so we used to moor and walk into villages from the boat.”

Now she lives in Co Monaghan and has three children of her own: Chloe, now 22, Halle, 17, and Ronnie, 15. Helen has carried on this tradition of regular walking as a family. “When the kids were small, we’d walk in Rossmore Forest Park in Monaghan, which is so beautiful. Now they have wooden sculptures and swings from trees, it’s breath-taking. I would have walked around the Castle Leslie Estate as well. In Monaghan, we’re so blessed with gorgeous walks.”

But family walks have changed since her children became older. There is one walk all three will still join Helen on. “When all my kids are home I make them do Bragan Mountain [or Slieve Breagh]. And usually it’s under huge duress,” she laughs.

“They used to do it when they were younger, that was no problem. They’re teenagers now, and especially the youngest, he’s not so keen on being seen with his mum, which I get,” Helen smiles. “Totally understandable; I was that kid years ago. But he will walk on Bragan Mountain because it’s so desolate and vast, you rarely meet people. They always come on that.”

For Helen, walking on the bog can be almost spiritual. “It’s a beautiful place; you can see into Tyrone, Monaghan, Louth. A lot of it is absolute bog, so there are lupins growing on the side of the road. Sometimes during the summer we go up there at dawn, around five in the morning, and walk around to see the sun come up.”

As the children have grown older, Helen has found that walking is a way of keeping the lines of communication open. “When you’re with your kids, it’s a great way of talking through things. And then you’re surrounded by nature; it’s just such incredible nourishment. For me it’s a great way of connecting with nature, but also connecting with my kids.”