‘My ex contested the divorce. It ended up costing me €45,000’: the high costs and secret shame of ending a marriage

“Divorce is clouded in a shroud of secrecy,” says Patricia*, a mother of two from Co Westmeath. “Looking back, I went into it completely blind. No one wants to talk about it openly. There is no education. It’s hard to compare it with the experience of others. And this blows my mind because it’s an ordeal of the highest standard. It costs extortionate amounts of money. It takes a psychological toll on all those involved, including children, but we refuse to have open and honest conversations about it, even in 2025.”