GROWING UP
Katie Taylor reveals ‘very chaotic’ childhood before her mother quit alcohol & found God after neighbours’ tragic fire
KATIE Taylor has opened up on having a “very chaotic” childhood prior to her mother finding God after a tragic fire involving her neighbours.
The Bray Bomber shared that her mother Bridget was a “heavy drinker” up until that point.
That was the context she set out while discussing how her mother and eventually her and her siblings became devout Catholics on Eddie Hobbs’ YouTube channel.
She said: “I always say that my Christianity is so connected to how my mam became a Christian.
“I have to go way back to set the context but my parents were both in their early 20s when they found themselves with four young kids.
“We didn’t have much, we lived in a small council estate in a rough enough area in Bray. It wasn’t glamorous, my mam at that stage was a heavy drinker and heavy smoker and liked to go out.
“My mam is here today (for the interview) but it does get better! So it was a very, very chaotic home with no real structure or vision for a good life.
“Just two broken young people trying their best to raise four children the best way they knew how. My mam actually got a bit restless and started to question if this was all there is to life.
“It came to a real head one tragic Christmas when a few doors down from us, this house went up in a blaze. Several members of the family passed away from this house fire.
“I was only three or four at the time. I can’t even remember my house being chaotic before, I just remember my house being so peaceful.
“But my family knew that family very well. My brother Peter (aged five or six at the time) was actually best friends with one of the kids in the house.
“My dad and a few of the other parents tried to break through the flames and get the children out but they couldn’t. Everyone except the father and the eldest son passed away in that house fire.
“That deeply affected my mam. I guess something like that causes someone to ask the big questions like ‘Where do we go after we die? What’s the point of this life? Why is there so much suffering?’
“All of those questions that every person wrestles with at some point in their life. There has to be more to life than this.
“The next day my mam went for a walk and went into this coffee shop randomly. This is when the coincidences seem too coincidental but the couple who ran it had been very kind to her as a teenager.
“They had run bible studies in her hometown for the youth. My mam had attended and they’d left a huge impression on her.
“There were very few people who’d shown my mam unconditional kindness but this couple had even though they’d known she was a very difficult teenager.”
At that juncture the 39-year-old started to choke up as she noted that the man had died last year.
She explained: “My family owe him and his wife a debt of gratitude. Robin and Oliver were their names – remarkable people.
“But they invited my mam to church and basically that was the start of the journey. She gave her life to the Lord soon afterwards. That’s Christian lingo for ‘She became a Christian and started following after God!’
“And honestly it was just night and day in our house after that. She stopped smoking and drinking. She started to speak life and hope into us.
“She started telling us that God has a great plan for all of us and that nothing is impossible in life. There was peace in our house for the first time, there was hope in our house for the first time.
“So honestly I can’t really remember specifically when I became a Christian but I grew up going to church every single week.
“I experienced the goodness of God. The God who rescued my mam basically became my God.”
While the interview centred on her mother, Katie’s dad Pete has been and remains a big part of her life.
He was her first boxing coach and guided her through a medal-laden amateur career before they became estranged in 2016.
The pair have long since mended their relationship though with him attending her most recent fight last July.
Later on in the frank chat, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist detailed how she’d met her husband Sean McCavanagh at a mass service in Connecticut.
They were friends at first before they began dating with the boxing hero describing her spouse as a “man of integrity”.
On now being a step-mother to his five children, she concluded: “They’re great kids and I definitely hold the value that healthy families produce a healthy society.
“I want to raise these kids well. I’m very intentional with them, the same way my parents were towards me. So it’s been a great challenge but both a great blessing and a shock at the same time!”
Wednesday also saw the two-weight world champion officially announce that she will be hanging up her gloves later this year.
She remains in the dark over whether or not her Croke Park dream will come true but was unequivocal about having one last fight left in her.
Speaking at the launch of her partnership with Brooks Running, she admitted: “I’m not too sure if it is going to be in Croke Park or not.
“But I am going to be having one more fight this year and it is going to be in Dublin somewhere. I have a plan and it’s been an amazing journey but I’ve always wanted to end my career here in Ireland.”
