Brendan Courtney says Christmas this year took a different slant following the death of his beloved mum Nuala just days before.
The TV presenter announced his mum's passing on December 17th, fondly remembering her as "such a beauty".
The sad news meant the festive season was different for Brendan and his family.
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The Keys to my Life host was back on the airwaves his morning as he filled in for Oliver Callan on RTE Radio 1, and informed listeners of how touched he has been by people's kindness.
Brendan said: "I'll just get this out of the way. I hope yours was magical, and all of the things it should be, but our family Christmas was a little bit different. And like many people I have encountered over the past couple of days, sadly we lost someone very special.
"My mum passed away just before Christmas. She had been very ill, and she was 81, but our family Christmas took a very different slant, as you can imagine.
"Because of the documentaries I made with my dad, and then with my mum, people always asked me about her. She was an incredibly beautiful woman.
"I used to joke that I'm going to get a t-shirt that says 'Mam's grand' because [people always asked] 'how's your mother, how's your mother'."
The festive period was a sad time for Brendan's family, but remembering Nuala, as well as the support from the public, helped them through it.
He shared: "Christmas Day, the remaining of us got together, told all of our hilarious stories, but I just really felt compelled to say, what really surprised me - really and truly - was the experience of the last couple of weeks of the incredible kindness we received from every corner of the world.
"I want to acknowledge every single one of those good wishes we received. Also, my mother would just love that I was talking about her on the radio."
Christmas and the days that follow are usually a time for winding down, but Brendan wanted to keep busy.
He now regularly goes to a sauna in Wicklow, where he moved to earlier this year, and is enjoying the physical and mental benefits.
He shared: "In an attempt to mind myself and keep my head out of the selection boxes, I decided to be pro-active and to partake in some positive self-love and adapt some new, healthy pastimes into my life, rather than sitting down on the couch all day.
"So, I spent a lot of my free time in saunas. A sauna is a noun, but I've turned it into a verb because I went sauna-ing a lot."
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