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, I have some articles on the principles and systems I use.

If you want to learn about who I am, read on past this photo of me on top of a mountain near Innsbruck!

The story so far

I was extremely lucky to get access to a 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.

Eventually my mum could afford to buy a some kind of Intel Pentium PC on instalments. I connected to the internet and I've been hooked ever since (thank you!❤️). I grew up breaking and rebuilding PC's, building websites, running IRC daemons and servers. Just messing around on the early internet in general. I still love it.

I studied applied physics at Cork Institute of Technology and graduated in 2008. I mostly remember Cork for 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 and participated in some offshore races like the Round Ireland race.

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!❤️).

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

I found myself building web applications for Blackberry 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 still miss the sunsets over the lakes in Northern Ontario, but not the mosquitoes!

After four years of 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 to find a new city to live in. 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.

I flew to New Zealand for a 6 month visit to see some friends and to avoid Canadian winter, but I ended up living in Auckland for 6 years.

I spent most weekends exploring New Zealand's lush forests and 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.

In March 2020 I moved to Sydney, Australia to help build an app for a customer. Covid 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 NSW and Sydney since then and I'm looking forward to seeing everything Australia has to offer.

I love to try new things, learn new topics and skills. I'm always trying to improve myself and be better. I like 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 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 and keeping me busy with baking scones. I don't like salad dressings, creamy white sauces or butter (exceptions for baked goods! 🍪).

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 I search for new music 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. I read all the time (goodreads), mostly non-fiction these days and in general I'd rather be on my paddle board, with great people, in the warm ocean around the North Island of New Zealand 🐳.