Seán Mistéal - who plays David in Ros na Rún - was all set for a Carribean honeymoon with his wife Rianne but it's now on hold - hopefully this will happen sometime in the new year for the couple
The lockdown has been tough, no getting away from that, during the first lockdown in April, my wife Rianne and I were meant to head to the Carribean for our honeymoon - we got married last year. Obviously our flights were cancelled which was very disappointing but like everyone else we just got on with it.
So it's on hold until after the pandemic, and instead we enjoyed some fabulous meals in Galway City where we live, and we especially love sushi! We also went home to my native Kerry, to the beautiful Dún Chaoin near Dingle. We stayed with my brother and visited my father when it was safe to do so. The legacy of lockdown and the pandemic is finding ourselves in nature and we certainly did that when we were in Kerry, climbing the beautiful mountains around Dingle and the West Kerry Gaeltacht.
I am still filming away with Ros na Rún which is great, especially for the show’s milestone 25th season. Obviously the first couple of weeks were a bit stressful with the social distancing on set, and getting used to the new circumstances, but we got used to it I guess. It was great being able to work and not being stuck at home so I will never complain about long days at work anymore.
I do miss the gym and playing soccer with the lads very much. I really miss the social element of that, but I go running a few times a week on the outskirts of Galway which keeps me somewhat sane and fit, which I think is important for mental health especially during this pandemic.
I like to run the Prom in Salthill but during the week when its quieter there but my favourite place is in Renmore in Galway City along by the railway track. It’s quiet and safe with very few people (until now LOL). After my run, I’ll more often than not hop into Galway Bay for a swim, even though I’m not very excited about winter swimming, as it rains a lot in Galway.
We have Netflix but myself and my wife sometimes can't agree what do watch. We both loved Narcos and The Crown. I like my World War 2 documentaries which she's not too keen on sadly.
I'm reading books, mostly non-fiction about modern history. I’m reading a lot on World War 2 and I’m about to start into Champagne Football (Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan, Penguin Ireland, 2020) which concerns John Delaney and the FAI - I love soccer.
I really enjoyed a book which was written on the making of the film Ryan’s Daughter in 1970 (Making Ryan's Daughter: The Myths, Madness and Mastery, Paul Benedicts, New Island Books, July 2020). The book has particular significance to me being from Kerry. Since Covid-19 and the pandemic started I’m spending less time on social media as I find it boring and I’m spending more time reading. I see it with my fellow actors too on Ros na Rún and I think this too is a positive.
I have become very adventurous with food and Rianne is a super cook - I just do the food prep and the clean-up. We make our own brown bread, our own granola, and have also made our own pesto from wild garlic which I picked along by the River Corrib on a walk at the back of NUI Galway, which is beautiful.
It's a walk we’ve done a lot since lockdown. Cooking keeps us busy and we have a good laugh tasting too. Our favourite is a traditional roast with all the trimmings particularly Connemara lamb, I’m very partial to it.
It's very easy to fall into a bad habit of drinking a glass of wine most afternoons after a long day at work so we have a rule of no midweek drinking which can be challenging sometimes. We do miss going out since the two of us are sushi addicts, and of course I do miss a nice cold creamy pint of Guinness.
Like everyone else we just have to get on with the lockdown, we do annoy each other sometimes - mostly me by leaving dirty laundry on the floor or forgetting to put the bins out - but otherwise life is good and hopefully we can enjoy Christmas with our families!
Actor Seán Mistéal, from the West Kerry Gaeltacht, was originally cast as a priest in Ros na Rún, but but he fell in love, has since left the priesthood and is now the local postman.
Ros na Rún and is broadcast twice weekly on TG4 on Tuesday and Thursday at 8.30pm with an omnibus on Sunday at 7.30pm. Follow @rosnarun on social media channels for all the latest news or log onto www.rosnarún.com
