At home with Phillip Cawley

He lives in Wicklow, was born in Wexford and works in Dublin. So it looks like Philip Cawley has the East Coast fairly well covered. But why Avoca?
“I moved to this house in Avoca about three years ago for a better quality of life and I’m comfortably settled here now," he explains. "The estate itself is only about six years old. The location appeals to me because it’s close to a forest, in a typical, small Irish village that, leaving aside the Ballykissangel angle [which was filmed here], has a church, two restaurants, great walks in the surrounding countryside and two pubs.” Actually, Cawley is a popular customer at Fitzgerald’s Pub, only 200 yards from his house.
His home has a substantial garden, an important consideration given that he has two offspring, Christina (12) and Richard (9). He also has two energetic springer spaniels, Crusty, the grumpy, more dominant of the two, and Peppy, who is, er, a bit peppy.
“I got both of them from the local dog shelter and they’re great to have with the kids,” he says.
The location has other advantages. It’s a short drive to either Arklow or Rathdrum railway stations (Cawley prefers to use the train to get to work).
But there are disadvantages too, as he readily admits. “I can’t really go to all those hotpress ligs and receptions because I’d have to leave to get the last train. I recently took a cab from Renard’s nightclub in Dublin to Rathdrum and it cost me €150, so the proximity of Fitzgerald’s has its obvious attractions. The one thing that I would like to see happening is the re-opening of Avoca railway station. Then everything would be perfect!”
Besides his treasured BMW motorcycle, the Today FM man loves his stereo and has a sizeable collection of records. Unlike some of his rivals, he actually listens to music at home. “I have a system I’ve built myself, mainly using Panasonic separates and Bose speakers," he says. "Most importantly I have a Techniks turntable. I love to sit down with a small Jameson and soak in the real sound of vinyl. It’s only when I listen to my old vinyl records that I realise how warm they are compared to CDs.”
Sadly, his collection contains a couple of items that could well be held in evidence against him, including ‘The Birdy Song’ by The Tweets and a Greatest Hits compilation by The Nolan Sisters. But his secret is safe with me.
The house is a sanctuary and certainly not a non-stop party venue. Cawley imposes a “no-shouting” rule and admits to being a bit of a tidiness freak.
“I’m probably a bit neurotic about it, actually,” he confides. The house is kitted out with a small compact recording facility to enable him to record his own voice-overs, but another treasured possession seems to be his Sky Plus system. “You know, it’s true what they say in the ad. Sky Plus totally changes the way you look at television,” he claims.
His bookshelves tend to be laden down with biographies, including such musical subjects as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Quincy Jones.
“But the latest book I’ve got into is Auschwitz, published by BBC Books. It’s not what I normally read, but the horrors it covers really put your own little worries into perspective."
What about fiction?
“Actually, I’m a big fan of writers like Jonathan Kellerman and Patricia Cornwell, but I recently packed hundreds of them to a local charity to make room for more!”
One serious advantage for Cawley working with Today FM is a culinary one, and has nothing to do with the station’s staff canteen.
“Right across the street there’s a Chinese food wholesaler. I love nothing better than getting some real ingredients from them and going home to make one of my favourite Chinese dishes. It’s probably one of the smells you’re most likely to spot when you come into the house at first.”
Despite living so close to areas that afford lots of space for exercise activities, Cawley has some fitness equipment to hand too. “I’m planning to run the New York marathon next month, so I have a cross-trainer in the house for use when it’s not easy to go outdoors. But I also use a gym in Brittas Bay, so keeping fit is important to me.” And with that he’s off on another training run, complete with dogs in tow.