Gay Byrne | An RTÉ Entertament Retrospective

Contents:

• GAY BYRNE OBUARY
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY: THE MATRO OF IRISH BROADSTG
• GAY BYRNE, WHO TACKLED TABOOS AS IRELAND’S TV HOST, DI AT 85
• VETERAN RTÉ BROADSTER GAY BYRNE DI AGED 85
• GAY BYRNE, VETERAN IRISH BROADSTER, AD AT 85
• GAY BYRNE, TV STAR WHO 'CHALLENGED IRISH SOCIETY', DI AGED 85
• GAY BYRNE'S FT MOMENTS ON THE LATE LATE SHOW

GAY BYRNE OBUARY

The TV and rad broadster Gay Byrne, who has died aged 85, leav a unique legacy Irish life. ”Born Dubl, Gay (Gabriel) was the youngt of the four sons and one dghter of Edward Byrne and his wife Annie (nee Carroll). His father worked for the Guns brewery and Gay attend the Christian Brothers school at Synge Street.

To Ireland he was simply Gaybo, or even Uncle Gaybo. Patrick Freyne looks back at the reer of the multi award-wng broadster Gay Byrne.

Stills: The Irish Tim/ As creded Gay Byrne Born: Augt 5th, 1934 Died: November 4th, 2019Gay Byrne, who has died at the age of 85, was the undisputed leadg figure the history of Irish broadstg, and played a hugely fluential role the transformatn of attus the latter part of the 20th a reer that spanned six s, he was father figure, nfsor, quisor and entertaer, all rolled to one.

GAY BYRNE OBUARY: THE MATRO OF IRISH BROADSTG

Both parents were om Co Wicklow, his father om Kildry (where Gay Byrne’s grandfather was achman to the Earl of Meath) and his mother om Bray. It was partly for this reason that the young Gay Byrne never got close to him. She was termed that her children would better themselv and sent Gay to sendary regular e om Guns’s ma the fay more fortunate than many others.

Mr Moynihan was so pleased wh young Gay Byrne’s performance that he gave him a threepenny those the stud thought of the boy who, the future, would revolutnise Irish broadstg, remas unknown.

She had promised to go to Mass and Communn every day if her hband me back safely om the first World War – they had married Belfast 1917 – which he daily Mass-gog eventually chafed wh the young Gay Byrne and at the age of 14 or 15 he had a ser row wh his mother durg which he said some extremely solent thgs to her. By the time the uple fally married Saggart Parish Church 1964, their weddg was a celebry event, wh a crowd of more than a thoand gatherg the Dubl village to tch a glimpse of the newlyweds, who need a Garda rt to get to their a broadster, Gay Byrne, or Gaybo, as he me to be known, saw his populary as fickle and as somethg that uld disappear at the whim of the dience.

GAY BYRNE, WHO TACKLED TABOOS AS IRELAND’S TV HOST, DI AT 85

The girls who flocked to the ballrooms uld, if they beme pregnant, fd themselv shut to a mother and baby home for up to two years, spendg their time scbbg floors and workg the kchens, their nam changed, their right to munite wh the outsi world cut off, their babi taken om them to be sent to Ameri on a few hours’ Gay Byrne – who was very well aware of the existence of that other Ireland – chipped away and away at , lethally on The Late Late Show, brgg on, for stance, guts who champned the right of unmarried mothers and their babi to be treated cently by the the old Ireland stepped – and had plenty of reprentativ RTÉ, polics and the civil service – to sist that The Late Late Show stick to “safe” entertament, the story of Gay Byrne would probably be of ltle tert to today. Neverthels, his survival was a remarkable achievement for the boy who got a ser beatg over givg cheek to his mother bee he didn’t want to go to great ntradictn of Gay Byrne, of urse, was that so many of his views he was nservative, though he did so much to unrme the very nservative approach which had characterised Irish life well to the 1960sHe did make one apology which he regretted was the Bishop and the Nightie affair, when he asked a woman the dience what she had worn on her weddg night.

Gay Byrne brought to an end wh what he later scribed as a “half” apology. But he didn’t feel good about and he cid he would never aga apologise when he had done nothg enough, he was probably the only one who remembered years later that he had apologised: all the public remembered was that a bishop had ma a fool of himself over a harmls joke by a woman about her weddg Gay Byrne Show, the rad programme which brought him to the natn’s kchens every weekday morng, started 1972 and ran until 1998. They ntaed the prevly untold, heartrendg experienc of many women Ireland at the great ntradictn of Gay Byrne, of urse, was that so many of his views he was nservative, though he did so much to unrme the very nservative approach which had characterised Irish life well to the took the view, for stance, that the untry was gog to the dogs enomilly and that State spendg was too high.

”This renred the loss of his money the Rsell Murphy affair all the more shockg – when emerged after Murphy’s ath 1984 that the acuntant had taken all the money which he had managed on Gay Byrne’s behalf and had left him bt.

VETERAN RTÉ BROADSTER GAY BYRNE DI AGED 85

Worse, Murphy had been a close iend and Gay Byrne had seen him almost as a father blow was a grievo one to a man who nfsed to havg a sense of secury about his e, spe his great succs. He ntued to appear on televisn, prentg the Irish versn of Who Wants to Be a Millnaire?, along wh seri such as The Gay Byrne Mic Show and Make ’Em Lgh (about edy Ireland), Gaybo’s Gmpy Men and Class beme a tirels and forceful advote for savg liv, appearg equently on rad and televisn, durg a perd which saw a dramatic fall road traffic fataliHis long-nng terview seri The Meang of Life clud a number of remarkable moments, cludg actor Gabriel Byrne’s admissn that he had been abed as a child and Stephen Fry’s nunciatn of God.

GAY BYRNE, VETERAN IRISH BROADSTER, AD AT 85

“I am not gog to say, bee would promise me terms of the show if people knew I had a posn, ” he 2006, he also prented Sunday afternoon shows on Lyric FM, where he displayed his encyclopaedic knowledge and ep love of classic jazz while lightg his substantial dience wh curmudgeonly asis about the state of 2014, he prented a documentary, Gay Byrne: My Father’s War about his father Edward’s service the 19th Royal Hsars durg the first World War, and his return to Ireland afterwards.

Photograph: David Sleator Gay Byrne was diagnosed wh prostate ncer 2016 and he wrote and spoke publicly about the gellg nature of the chemotherapy treatment regime he was recently due to receive the Ireland-US Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award om Print Michael D Higgs, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to a broken wrist and cht fectn.

GAY BYRNE, TV STAR WHO 'CHALLENGED IRISH SOCIETY', DI AGED 85

Print Higgs paid tribute to him at the event, sayg: “Controversial, outspoken, and unaaid to break new ground, has been said that, throughout his many s on televisn and rad, Gay Byrne’s role the shapg and craftg of morn-day Ireland has been profound. ”Gay Byrne is survived by his wife, Kathleen Watks, and their two dghters, Crona and Suzy.

” Cogill/Associated PrsDUBLIN — Gay Byrne, a revered Irish rad and televisn personaly who broke s of silence over sexualy, abe and hypocrisy Ireland’s eply nservative Roman Catholic society, died on Monday at his home Dubl. Byrne produced many fg moments of Irish public life — live the 1985, for example, when homosexualy was still illegal and the Catholic clergy sacrosanct, he fied prayer-chantg protters by vg two Amerin lbian ex-nuns onto the show. Growg up the hardscrabble Rialto district of Dubl, Gay was the only child his fay to be sent to sendary school, the nearby Christian Brothers school on Synge Street.

” A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn B, Page 12 of the New York edn wh the headle: Gay Byrne, Top TV Host Who Cononted Taboos In Ireland, Is Dead at 85. Veteran Irish broadster Gay Byrne has died aged 85, his longtime employer RTÉ announced on Monday.

GAY BYRNE'S FT MOMENTS ON THE LATE LATE SHOW

In a statement to RTÉ, his fay said: “It is wh sadns that Kathleen, Crona and Suzy wish to announce that their beloved Gay has died peacefully at home today, surround by his fay.

“We wish to thank everybody for their love and support durg Gay’s illns.

Earng the nickname “Uncle Gaybo, ” he beme a faiar voice on the rad 1973 on RTÉ Rad 1’s “The Gay Byrne Show” before steppg back om both programs 1999. “Gay Byrne was the most fluential broadster the history of the State, a much-loved figure who changed Ireland for the better so many ways, ” Irish Prime Mister Leo Varadkar said on Twter, also praisg “the effectivens of his mpaign agast the needls tragedy of road aths.