About Da Silly Heads

learn more about our story

Mental Health
mental health

Da Silly Founders

"Have I gone mad? I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are". Alice in Wonderland

Meet Dan…

“Hi, I’m Dan. In 2018, we set out on a journey to tell our story through mental illness in a new and engaging way. Let me take you back a little bit…
I have been living with Generalized Anxiety Disorder & Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder since my mid-teens. It has stayed with me until this day, with several serious bouts of depression, self harm and suicidal thoughts along the way. I have been through the Irish public mental health system which I felt was doing very little in helping me overcome my silly heads, and this motivated me to find a concept that has a sense of humanity, engagement, and fun to everybody who supports the fight against mental health stigma”.

In 2018 & 2019 we lost two family members to suicide which has propelled our determination to bring this concept into reality.

Our goal is to spark a movement of mental health advocacy which will help to create environments of understanding and empathy. A stigma free society is key to allow ambition, productivity and creativity to flourish.

We do this in three ways:

Reviews

Da Silly Heads are a breath of fresh air! Their events, advocacy, and apparel support people to stand up and send the message that “Stigma is Silly.
Don O’Leary Director
Cork Life Centre
I first met Dan and Mike when I caught a hat bobble they threw into the crowd at the Student Inc awards two years ago. I was really impressed with both them and their concept. Since then I have seen Da Silly Heads grow and flourish. Dan and Mike are inspirational and have developed an extremely creative way of engaging with people on a very important topic though their workshops, events and apparel. We have used their apparel as an engagement tool in our Schools Enterprise programme and I look forward to seeing Da Silly Heads develop even further in the future.
Paul McGuirk Head of Enterprise
Local Enterprise Office Cork
Wearing Da Silly Heads hat is like an act of unison. People coming together and turning their shame into pride. Publicly supporting mental health reduces the stigma around the taboo issue, and Da Silly Heads allowed us to do that in a simple yet very effective way!
Emma Jane O’Donnell
Business Student - MTU