The widow of the former Munster rugby player Anthony 'Axel' Foley has said she is finally seeing "a little bit of light after" a turbulent few years since her husband's sudden death in 2016.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Marian Finucance show, Olive Foley said that she had no indication her husband was in poor health and this made the news of his death absolutely shocking to her.
Mrs Foley told how her mother broke the sad news to her that Anthony had died suddenly while away in Paris with the Munster team.
Mrs Foley's two boys Dan and Tony were 8 and 11 at the time and her instinct was to protect them.
She said she told her children very straight that 'Daddy had died in his sleep'.
She said David Coleman, a child psychologist and neighbour advised her to bring her children with her to Paris and to spend as much time with their dad before his funeral.
She said she was completely honest and open with them from the start.
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Mrs Foley said she channeled her 'inner Anthony' to deliver her eulogy at the packed funeral for her husband.
Olive said her two children are now doing great after a tough couple of years.
Mrs Foley spoke of the camaraderie and rivalry between Anthony Foley and New Zealand's Jonah Lomu.
She said Anthony had travelled to New Zealand in 1992 with the Irish schoolboys and made lots of great friends.
Following an international match in later years, Anthony had swapped jerseys with the revered Jonah Lomu, who died in 2015.
Lomu's jersey is now framed on the wall in their house.
