Did anyone have 'Irish Twins' on purpose?

There are 6 years between my first two and the gap was a little hard on my oldest. She went from being a princess with every ones undivided attention all to herself to being an older sibling to an adorable and colicky baby who needed a lot of attention. I got pregnant with my third while I was still nursing number two and they are 17 months apart. I thought this would mean that they would be close. The problems I faced were many. The were competitors most of the time once they became older and unfortunately one was gifted and the other was like a newborn colt, so that didn't go well. The worst of it? When they were young and needed a lot of my time and attention I felt constantly pulled in two different directions and like I wasn't able to have quality time with either one. It still makes me sad. As a mother of 6 I recommend 3 years between children, but that's just my experience.