The Donegal-based priest on childhood games with her brother, actor Matthew Broderick, how people react to her preaching sermons, and her dislike of fishRev Janet Broderick pictured in Portnoo, Co Donegal. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times John O'ConnorSun Aug 02 2026 - 06:00 • 4 MIN READHow agreeable are you?I think life has made me agreeable. The people who like me think I’m agreeable but I tend to be spontaneous. If someone asks me to come over to dinner and they ask, “What do you like to eat?” I would say I eat everything but I don’t like fish. There’s things like this I’m not agreeable on. People can find you very disagreeable when you don’t like fish. Where is your favourite place in Ireland?When I am making pottery, especially on the wheel. Working with my hands, the clay. I love being in the water so the beaches near my home in Kilcar, Co Donegal. You just feel the waves and look up at the hills. You know, I grew up in Manhattan in New York then New Jersey and then ultimately in Beverly Hills, California. It’s a big change. I also just love sitting in kitchens and chatting. Describe yourself in three wordsFunny. Creative. Welcoming? I think that people are very often afraid of entirely being themselves and letting their true feelings come out. Having a sense of humour is humble making. It shows you’re not judging anyone. Some people could come to church and they have had very frightening or sad or joyous experiences. They want to feel that it’s a home for them emotionally and spiritually. I want them to be really and entirely comfortable. You don’t want people to feel rejected. A really central thing for me is that they don’t have to be somebody other than who they really are. When did you last get angry?I get very angry at the misuse of power. People in a position of power and don’t think of those weaker than themselves. They use their power to really just manipulate and get what they want. That really makes me upset. What is your strongest childhood memory?My father used to put me on the swings and he would push the swing and then say that I was not to come back down. To just stay up there. Then the swing would come down and he’d push it and say it again. I’d come back down and he’d say, “You really can’t keep doing this.” I would be hysterical and I wouldn’t be able to stop laughing. I remember my brother Matthew and how he loved this certain game. We had this long hallway and I would put him in a pillowcase and drag the pillowcase really fast up and down the hallway and he would be giggling the whole time and would keep asking for me to do it again. Rev Janet Broderick Rev Janet Broderick with her brother, Matthew Broderick, in 2018. Photograph: Bobby Bank/Getty Images What have you lost that you would like to have back?My father got me these beautiful antique earrings at an antique shop in Donegal town. There were rubies in the centre with gold on the outside. I lost one and I kept the other one for many years and I’ve finally lost that one. I would really like them back. Where do you come in your family’s birth order and has it defined you?I’m in the middle so I can’t ever make up my mind. I see both sides all the time. I think I should pick a side sometimes but it never feels really comfortable. I think when you’re in the middle it really increases your understanding of other people, different social and economic backgrounds. There’s this beautiful psalm, it talks about God picking you up and setting you down in a wider place. I think that’s what happens when you’re with people from different backgrounds. When do you think you were happiest?I remember when my children were placed on my stomach. It was incredibly moving. There are also moments when you’re preaching a sermon and you can see that people are really experiencing love.Rev Janet Broderick pictured in Portnoo, Co Donegal. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times