Counselling Service Co. Tipperary
Jim O’Shea, Furze, Thurles, Co. Tipperary
Phone: 087 8211 009. Email: jpposhea@eircom.net
Jim O'Shea lives with his wife, Mary, in Furze, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. He has four living children, Frances, Breda, Deirdre and Bill. Frances lives in America, Bill in Dublin, and Breda and Deirdre live near Jim and Mary. Their fifth and youngest child, Cathal, was killed outside their house in a road accident in February 1990. It took them a long time to come to terms with this loss.
Jim O'Shea was born in the parish of Gurtnahoe in Co. Tipperary, and received his second level education in The Christian Brothers School, Thurles. He attended University College, Dublin, and was conferred with a Bachelors of Arts Degree, and a Higher Diploma in Education. He did a Ph.D. in University College, Cork, and a Diploma in Counselling in the Counselling Centre, Fr Mathew St., Cork, where he achieved a first class honours grade.
Jim spent four and a half years training under Maria Huss, the
founder of the The Counselling Centre, Fr Mathew Street, Cork City. This training
centre is one of the finest in Ireland, and requires exacting standards for
its trainee counsellors. Jim was both trained by Maria, but also supervised by her when counselling people during his training. Its training programme is recognised by the Irish Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists.
In his earlier years, Jim worked in England for some time, and then returned to Dublin where he worked in industry. Teaching was always in his blood (his grandfather, James O'Shea, taught in Gurtnahoe from 1910 until 1946), and Jim returned to his native Tipperary, where he spent 21 years teaching in his alma mater, Thurles C.B.S. He spent 12 years as Principal of Our Lady's Secondary School, Templemore, where he gained vast experience in dealing with people, listening to them, and advising them when appropriate. When Jim retired from Our Lady's he set up a counselling practice.
Jim always had a passion for writing. He published two major works on history before turning his attention to writing psychological articles. He publishes an article every fortnight in the Tipp Tatler. In this popular and worthwhile magazine he has written a long series of articles on bereavement and shame. Currently he is writing a series on abuse of all types.
Eighteen years after the death of his child, Cathal, Jim decided to publish his own and his family's experience of this bereavement. Veritas Publications published his book 'When a Child Dies. Footsteps of a Grieving Family' in February 2008. Jim and his son, Bill, were on the popular radio programme, 'The Gerry Ryan Show', for an hour discussing their sad experience. The 'Farmers Journal' and the 'Irish Examiner devoted a full feature to the book. It was written to help other bereaved people, and so popular is it that in July 2008 it was reprinted. If you want to know more about it, click on the image in the publications section of this website.