Hi! I'm Darragh ORiordan

I'm a technologist, software developer and manager. I work mostly on distributed web and backend engineering. I think a lot about improving developer experience to drive business outcomes in tech organisations.

I spent the first 10 years of my career as a .Net developer and the last few years working with React, NodeJS, AWS and Azure as a consultant.

If you want to know how I work, read about why you should hire me. I also have some articles on the principles and systems I use.

If you want to learn about who I am, read on!

Darragh standing at the top of a mountain in Austria

The story so far

I grew up in the 1990s breaking and rebuilding PC's, building websites on geocities, running IRC daemons and servers. Just messing around on the early internet in general, and I still love it.

When I was a kid I was extremely lucky to get access to an Acorn computer that my mom borrowed from her school during the summer shutdown. It wasn't common at all to have a computer at home in the early 90s so this was a huge advantage (thank you Mom!❤️). I remember that computer had logo, lemmings and some drawing software.

I started connecting to the Internet at some stage in the late 90's. In rural Ireland back then we connected through a 33.6kbps dial up modem and eventually 56kbps. It's hard to describe how incredible it was to chat to people all over the world on IRC from little old Ireland!

Later, I made some sites on Geocities and I've been building things online ever since.

The view of O, Emperor! on stage, a band in cork

Me on a sailing yacht in Kinsale, Co Cork

I spent college years in Cork, Ireland. I loved it for the people, the music and gigs. I have very fond memories of seeing prog rock bands there!

I randomly got invited to join a sailing crew towards the end of my time in Cork and spent a couple of seasons racing from Kinsale, Co. Cork and I participated in some offshore races like the Round Ireland race. This really started my love of the outdoors, adventures and the ocean.

After Uni I moved to Dublin for a while to look for work during the GFC and I survived 6 months of unemployment only because of the kindness of some of the best people in the world (thank you Rory and others!❤️).

Canada

I eventually found a job, but it was in Canada! So I moved to Waterloo, Ontario to work for Blackberry.

At Blackberry I found myself building web applications instead of the industrial control systems that I had studied for. I've continued doing web development as the internet exploded.

Canada really cemented my love for the outdoors and camping. I'm forever grateful to all the wonderful Canadians who took me to stunning places. I still miss the sunsets over the lakes in Northern Ontario, but I don't miss the mosquitoes!

Cycling Africa, Cairo to Capetown

After four years of coding web apps, hiking and portaging canoes around Ontario I grew a bit tired of the long winters. I stopped working and travelled for a while - I cycled through Africa on the Tour d'Afrique. I sailed from Durban back to Cape town. I flew to Europe and visited family, friends and festivals.

I returned to Canada and I drove my motorcycle from Ontario, Canada across the country. I detoured up to the Yukon and Northern Territories to visit the Arctic Circle and finished the trip in Vancouver, BC.

A picture of my bicycle on a dusty road in africa

A picture of me up the mast on a sail from Durban to Cape town

Me and my motorcycle at the arctic circle in the North West Territories, Canada

New Zealand

It was getting Canadian levels of cold at this stage in Vancouver so to avoid another winter I flew to New Zealand for a short 6 month visit to see some friends , but I ended up living in Auckland for 6 years!

I spent most weekends exploring New Zealand's lush forests, paddle-boarding and surfing crystal clear oceans. What a beautiful country! Lucky for me I was able to join the Whanau and I became a citizen of New Zealand ❤️ 🇳🇿 in 2019.

Sydney, Australia

In March 2020 I moved to Sydney, Australia to help build an app for a customer. Covid 19 happened and I found myself lucky enough to be in one of the best countries in the world for pandemic response.

I've been exploring all over Australia since then and I'm looking forward to seeing everything Australia has to offer.

In a nutshell

I love to try new things, learn new topics and skills. I'm always trying to improve myself and be better. I like to travel, to see new places and meet new people.

I'm particularly fond of the mountains, the oceans and outdoor places. I try to stay reasonably fit with weight-lifting, hiking, running or cycling.

I love to cook and bake. Love of food and cooking seems to run in my family. I have very fond memories of my Nana baking her Brown Bread while keeping me busy with baking scones.

I randomly don't like salad dressings, creamy white sauces or butter (exceptions for baked goods! 🍪). I never have and I can't remember why.

I listen to a lot of music. I've been playing guitar for 20 years, never very well but it makes me happy to nail something that I couldn't before.

I've noticed that I search for new music less and less as I get older and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I've recently picked up the mandolin to play some traditional Irish melodies. Maybe I'm getting homesick ☘️!?

I still play with Lego sometimes! The NASA models are incredible. I read all the time (goodreads), mostly non-fiction these days.

In general, I'd rather be on my paddle board, with great people, in the warm ocean around the North Island of New Zealand 🐳.