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Catherine Russell

@catherinethelate

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Writer. Advocate. Swimmer. Converser. Soccer Mum.

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Spent the afternoon at Googong Cascades — and wow.

Crystal clear water, rugged bushland, and that kind of quiet that just resets you.

The water? About 15 degrees.
Cold enough to take your breath for a second… then leave you feeling completely alive.

Meanwhile, on the shoreline… people in puffer jackets watching on like I was slightly unhinged 😂

Worth it. Every second.

#GoogongCascades #ColdWaterSwimming #WildSwimming #NSWAdventures taken in Googong Cascades by @catherinethelate

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6 months ago

This summer we moved into our forever home.

After years of rectification works, selling properties, and holding steady through a lots of change, we finally had the chance to find the place that felt right.

What makes this move especially meaningful is the sense of coming full circle. Fourteen years ago, I was a single mother living in a tiny rented cottage not far from here. Life looked very different then. Standing here now, in a home we’ve worked hard for, is a reminder of how profoundly life and circumstances can change over time.

After a few challenging years, this feels like a season of calm, gratitude, and renewal - in architectural wonder, set within a mature, Japanese-inspired garden — so peaceful. by @catherinethelate

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9 months ago

Blissful Canberra experience @floatingsauna_canberra by @catherinethelate

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10 months ago

✨ 12 Years together | 10 years married in November✨
We call this our Bold Move Anniversary — the day @dionisaacson made the brave (and respectful!) choice to reach out on LinkedIn and set our love story in motion.

Since then it’s been a ride full of challenges that tested us, joys that lifted us, memories - from campsites, cooking, creative pursuits, parenting with so much laughter. ❤️

This weekend felt extra special — getting away, sharing an incredible meal, and being swept up in the energy of a phenomenal concert together. 🎶🥂

Here’s to 12 years of courage, love, laughter, and always making bold moves together. 💕

#BoldMoveAnniversary #12Years #LoveStory #AnniversaryWeekend by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

🇮🇪✨ Ireland wrap– a land of wild beauty, deep roots, and unforgettable stories.

Exploring the country of my ancestors with my mum and sister was something I’ll always treasure. From standing at the edge of the Cliffs of Moher, feeling the Atlantic winds, to hiking through the raw, cinematic beauty of Croagh Patrick, every moment was steeped in history and connection.

Ireland’s past—shaped by Vikings, English, Dutch, and Spanish—felt alive in every castle ruin and quiet village. It reminded me how complex and resilient both places and people can be.

Though the trip didn’t end as smoothly as it began, I’m still deeply grateful for the experience, the memories, and the perspective it brought.

Here’s to journeys that challenge, inspire, and stay with us 🌿

#Ireland #CliffsofMoher #CroaghPatrick #ancestrallands #irishroots taken in Ireland by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

Wild saunas are a thing. Three years ago there were 10 in Ireland now there are over 100.

It is a very civilised way to take a dip in the Wild Atlantic Ocean and then heat up in a box with a postcard view.

We watched a storm roll in over the ocean, and the everyday ritual of people walking their dogs on this majestic shoreline. by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

“A savage beauty” Oscar Wilde describing Connemara National Park.

We were gifted inside knowledge from a local who told us to take the road less travelled through a valley.

The mountain ranges revealed themselves, sheep grazed with their lambs, little cottages speckled about and then around the bend a lake appeared.

We stood on the edge of this landscape, emerged in a painting of untamed beauty, where gust of wind seems laden with the whispers of faeries and ancient warrior-poets.

(P.S These pictures cannot do justice to the Connemara National Park - it is immense in scale. ) taken in Connemara National Park by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

In recent years as friends and family have passed away, my 76 year old Mum has become more practical and accepting about time - what it gives us and how much may be left.

We have talked of her death often to ensure nothing is left unsaid or undone.

When this trip was cancelled due to the pandemic, she lamented she may never see Ireland.

Here she is at a pilgrimage site she has longed to see, Croagh Patrick.

We hiked as far as she could and then she sat on this rock waiting to see the peak reveal itself from mist.

Like an immediate response to a prayer, the clouds moved, revealing the peak (the reek) and the tiny church.

Mum let out a deep sob. “ I never thought I would see this.”

This is what this trip has been about - taking mum to the places she has longed to see, feel, stand within and tracing family connections to land long imagined.

It was a privilege to be here in Ireland on Mothers Day - with this witty, brilliant, resilient woman, my Mum. taken in Croagh Patrick by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

“To be Irish is to stand as tall as the Cliffs with a soul as deep as the ocean” Irish Proverb

We drove through the mist in the early hours to stand on the Cliffs of Moher without anyone else.

All you could hear was the waves smashing against the cliffs and the squeal of thousands and thousands of seabirds.

You do feel like you are at the end of the world.

Alas no puffins. taken in Cliffs of Moher, Ireland by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

“We live in two worlds... the world into which we were born, and the otherworld that was born within us. Both may be a blessing or a curse. We choose.” - Druid homily.

Killarney National Park is a place of what was, what is, what maybe. It is mystical and sacred - like you pass through the veil of this world into another.

To see the sky meet a glass lake and not know the difference.

To visit Muckross House that was built by wealth and squandered by recklessness. To stand before a waterfall - a thin veil between the mortal and the supernatural, a place of Celtic folklore.

To visit a mysterious, cursed or sacred Yew tree planted in a destroyed Abbey, now towering above the ruins.

Ancestor names followed Killarney - Riordan, McElligot taken in Killarney National Park, Ireland by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” - Yeats

Do people make a place or does the place make a people?

A million goodbyes hang in the air like a thick invisible mist over Cobh.

Eerily peaceful - I wonder if Sarah O’Neill (nee Morning) made a promise in this bay before she set sail to be reunited with her rebel William.

Did she promise to keep Ireland alive for her children and grandchildren?

Or did William Russell (a different William) transferred from Nearby Spike Island, chained and shuffling on the deck of the Forth in this very bay, catch his last glimpse of Ireland?

Something survived and trickled down four generations to this full circle moment.

Their heartbreak, oppression, fears, tragedy or reluctant optimism for a new life - has lead to a moment of joy for us - a swim at the head of the River Lee, the last sight of Ireland for our ancestors nearly 200 years ago.

Many others left from here - Collins, Burke, Clifton, O’Connell , Russell, Brophy, O’Neill taken in Cobh Port, Ireland by @catherinethelate

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a year ago

“May there be a generation of children on the children of your children.” - Irish saying

We are visiting our shadow place to Australia- sung to me in lullabies and loud voices, drilled in through soft shoe jigs and tight braids, revisited in Irish stews and banter.

It is here in Wicklow - I sit on the cliff face, seeing swimmers emerge from the cool sea below*, I bury my bare feet in the soft grass to feel the earth of my ancestors.

It feels strangely familiar and yet I have never been here.

(*yes I would have flung myself into the sea but today was a bit of an epic drive. We have brought with us white roses to honour our ancestors on a trail from Wicklow to Cork - through Glenealy, Ratham, the Wicklow Mountains, Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford.)

Family names today - Dowdell, Burke, Power, O’Neill, Morning, Wolloghan, Dalton, Byrne,

We wander the graveyards finding names of our family (and many other familiar names of families who encircled us), we walk the streets and gaze at the landscape they no doubt saw, everywhere we go, we leave a rose. taken in Wicklow, Ireland by @catherinethelate

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a year ago