Ftan O’Toole: Gay Byrne held the key to Ireland’s locked room of secrets – The Irish Tim

Contents:

• GAY BYRNE: ‘I AM NO DIFFERENT TO HUNDREDS OF THOANDS OF PEOPLE WHO LOST MONEY’
• 48 FACTS ABOUT GAY BYRNE
• GAY BYRNE BGRAPHY
• FTAN O’TOOLE: GAY BYRNE HELD THE KEY TO IRELAND’S LOCKED ROOM OF SECRETS
• GAY BYRNE BACK ON TV AMID FANCIAL WO
• 'GAY WAS VERY DISAPPOTED WHEN BEME KNOWN FR MICHAEL CLEARY HAD FATHERED HAD A BIG EFFECT ON HIM'
• GAY BYRNE, REVERED IRISH TALK-SHOW HOST WHO BUILT A CLOSE RAPPORT WH HIS DIENCE AND FTLY HANDLED NTENT ISSU – OBUARY
• HOW GAY-FRIENDLY ARE THE BIG 4 ACUNTG FIRMS?
• IS GAY BYRNE DEAD OR STILL ALIVE? GAY BYRNE BIRTHDAY AND DATE OF DEATH
• GAY BYRNE 1934 -2019 -- FROM 'THE BISHOP AND THE NIGHTIE' TO 'HOW TO WEAR A NDOM', GAYBO ULD SHOCK AND CHARM
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY – SON OF GUNS WORKER WHO BEME MOST FLUENTIAL BROADSTER HISTORY OF STATE
• GAY BYRNE, TV STAR WHO 'CHALLENGED IRISH SOCIETY', DI AGED 85
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY: THE MATRO OF IRISH BROADSTG
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY
• WHO ARE GAY BYRNE'S DGHTERS CRONA AND SUZY? ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW AS THEY APPEAR ON RTE'S LATE LATE SHOWHERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE DGHTERS OF ONE OF IRELAND'S MOST LOVED BROADSTERSIRISHMIRRORBOOKMARKSHARECOMMENTSSHOWBIZBYCOL BRENNAN15:52, 21 MAY 2021BOOKMARKVIO LOADGVIO UNAVAILABLECLICK TO PLAYTAP TO PLAYTHE VIO WILL TO-PLAY SOON8CANCELPLAY NOWWANT ALL THE LATT SHOWBIZ NEWS DIRECT TO YOUR BOX? SHARE YOUR EMAIL FOR NEWS, GOSSIP AND MOREMORE NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBEINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.MORE NEWSLETTERSWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!WE HAVE MORE NEWSLETTERSSHOW ME SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE&TIM;GROUP 28 WANT ALL THE LATT SHOWBIZ NEWS DIRECT TO YOUR BOX? SHARE YOUR EMAIL FOR NEWS, GOSSIP AND MOREINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.SIGN UPNO THANKS, CLOSEWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE &TIM;GROUP 28THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!
• GAY BYRNE TO RECEIVE COUNSELLG AFTER INTERVIEW WH STEPHEN FRY
• GAY BYRNE: HIS TOP 10 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS ON AIR

GAY BYRNE: ‘I AM NO DIFFERENT TO HUNDREDS OF THOANDS OF PEOPLE WHO LOST MONEY’

Gay Byrne's time workg Bra wh Granada Televisn saw him bee the first person to troduce The Beatl on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to troduce Boyzone on screen 1993.

In 1913, Edward Gay Byrne enlisted as a profsnal trooper wh the Brish Army's 19th Hsars valry regiment, given a background as a horseman om his father's employment by the Earl of Meath as a achman County Wicklow. In December 2009, Gay Byrne returned to his old primary school on Synge Street to lnch an onle children's book club, and read an extract om Mara Conlon-McKenna's storybook In Deep Dark Wood. Gay Byrne relied on an acuntant iend, Rsell Murphy, to manage his fanc, and was personally distrght when upon the acuntant's ath 1986, was found that most of his savgs had been squanred, and this had been hidn om him.

48 FACTS ABOUT GAY BYRNE

Gay Byrne thought origally that was due to workg the televisn and rad dtry for over 50 years that ed his hearg loss, but later found out was geic as his mother, his sister and three brothers all had hearg problems.

Gay Byrne's funeral took place on 8 November 2019 at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral Dubl and was shown live on RTE; several thoand fans led the route of his rtege om his home Howth to the Church wh thoands more gatherg outsi the church.

Alongsi Terry Wogan, Gay Byrne was one of two Irish broadst giants, but he was scribed as solely "the most famo Irish broadster history", and he was ld by the media as "the man who changed Ireland". His time workg Bra wh Granada Televisn saw him bee the first person to troduce The Beatl on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to troduce Boyzone on screen 1973 until 1998, Byrne prented The Gay Byrne Hour – later The Gay Byrne Show when expand to two hours – on RTÉ Rad 1 each weekday morng.

GAY BYRNE BGRAPHY

After retirg om his long-nng rad and televisn shows, Byrne prented several other programm, cludg Who Wants to Be a Millnaire?, The Meang of Life and For One Night Only on RTÉ One and Sunday Serena/Sunday wh Gay Byrne on RTÉ lyric fm. He troduced many popular programm, wh his most popular and succsful programme beg The Late Late reerMa article: The Gay Byrne ShowByrne began his broadstg reer on rad.

Rad Éireann gave him a 15-mute slot on Monday nights which he ed to play Jazz rerdgs, his first broadst for the statn beg is now bt remembered for his two-hour morng show, The Gay Byrne Hour, which was later renamed The Gay Byrne Show (1972–1999).

FTAN O’TOOLE: GAY BYRNE HELD THE KEY TO IRELAND’S LOCKED ROOM OF SECRETS

Joe Duffy was a reporter and ocsnal -prenter on The Gay Byrne featured on rad ocsnally sce retirg om The Gay Byrne Show – 2006, he began prentg a weekly Sunday afternoon show en*led Sunday Serena on RTÉ lyric fm. Byrne returned to The Late Late Show as a gut twice durg Tubridy's first season as prenter, the latter appearance on the day of Gerry Ryan's Meang of LifeMa article: The Meang of Life (TV seri)In April 2009, RTÉ One began broadstg a seri lled The Meang of Life, durg which Gay Byrne terviewed public figur about issu of meang and life.

He also hosted The Gay Byrne Mic Show and Make 'Em Lgh, a seri about edy Ireland, Gaybo's Gmpy Men and Cl* the summer season of 2000, Byrne hosted The Gay Byrne Mic Show, which was a stud-based show aired on Saturday nights as a summer filler between 8 July and 19 Augt 2000 and showsed all genr of mic the pany of the RTÉ Concert Orchtra.

And is very hard to image that, after the ath of Gay Byrne, any broadster will ever aga have the kd of faiar, perhaps even faial, place Irish people's liv that he trivial and the serIn some rpects, this is a bad thg – we mt mourn the passg wh him of a culture which there was such a thg as a natnal TV show, a weekly baret of the trivial and the ser that was pulsory viewg if you wanted to be part of next week’s nversatns at work, the pub, the kchen, over the farm gate: “What did you thk of your woman on the Late Late?

GAY BYRNE BACK ON TV AMID FANCIAL WO

Workg all the time the gap between what the natn said was and what knew self to also, ccially, no actorIt was not accintal that his two great platforms, the Late Late on TV and the Gay Byrne Show on rad had “show” their tl.

But he was at his bt when he was wieldg the profsnal hman's motto: nothg wasn't personal when he ambhed D O'Malley by askg him about his meetgs wh Charl Hghey durg the arms trial or when he lured Pádraig Flynn, then an EU missner, to plag about how hard was to keep his three ho gog, or when he asked Bernárd Lynch, the prit who was mpaigng heroilly on the Aids crisis, if he was gay.

More than anyone else, he created a culture which there was no entlement to be listened to – attentn had to be earned and Lra Birmgham (left) and Sheila Etace wh Gay Byrne at a receptn Dubl to announce tails of the 1991 Late Late Show fashn awards. Fr Brian also reveals the advice he received om Gay durg a trmatic perd his life when he was censured by the Vatin for his Sunday World WORLD lumnist Fr Brian D'Arcy tells how Gay Byrne adored his wife Kathleen Watks and the voted pair were separable at social Brian first met Gay sually at var media receptns around Dubl, but he got to know him better at private dner parti the Dubl home of Gerry McGuns, -founr of the Sunday World. "In those days, Gerry would host a dner once or twice a year his hoe wh guts such as Charlie Hghey, and I would meet Gay at those, " says Fr Brian, who has been a lumnist wh the.

'GAY WAS VERY DISAPPOTED WHEN BEME KNOWN FR MICHAEL CLEARY HAD FATHERED HAD A BIG EFFECT ON HIM'

"He thought the thgs should be talked out and thrashed out, " Fr Brian so many, Gay was shocked by Church sndals and revelatns, cludg the fact that Fr Michael Cleary had secretly fathered children. "Fr Brian also remembers how Gay was among the people who supported him when the Vatin tried to silence him, and censured him for some of his articl the Sunday the Vatin me after me, John McColgan and Moya (Riverdance supremos) had a dner their hoe for me.

This (Murphy) was a man who had his lunch on Sundays wh Gay and the fay, who was a godfather to one of his children and ed to say to Gay, 'Don't you be worryg about money, you're a broadster.

"Fr Brian says that while he was termed to battle on, Gay found his illns difficult to handle havg been lucky enough to enjoy good health all his says: "Gay was a very strong man. "Through his rad and TV shows, Gaybo helped to lnch many reers - the most recent beg untry mic sensatn Nathan Fr Brian tells , this happened by chance: "In the midst of his sickns I said to Gay, 'Would you be able to e and preach at our Novena of Hope at The Graan Enniskillen?

GAY BYRNE, REVERED IRISH TALK-SHOW HOST WHO BUILT A CLOSE RAPPORT WH HIS DIENCE AND FTLY HANDLED NTENT ISSU – OBUARY

"Gay spoke betifully that night, sayg 'be good to yourself, you are not supposed to be perfect, there is nobody perfect, do the bt you n, look after neighbours'… was very homely and went down a bomb. ● Gay Byrne was born on Augt 5, 1934 (age 85) Dubl, Ireland ● He is a celebry tv show host ● His tn: Sil Treasa Naofa, Synge Street CBS, honorary doctorate lerature om, Try College Dubl(1988)● His spoe is Kathleen Watks ​ ​ ( m.

HOW GAY-FRIENDLY ARE THE BIG 4 ACUNTG FIRMS?

To mera Cathy Halloran on the oute of the hearg and on tentn of acuntant Patrick Campbell to ntue his ntempt proceedgs agast Gay Byrne and agast two Sunday Prs journalists, Michael Keane and Éanna Brophy. Gay Byrne, who has died aged 85, was Ireland’s foremost broadster for more than three s; although primarily an entertaer, he brought bat on abortn, Aids, ntraceptn, ath, divorce and suici to the natn’s hom.

Although acuntg isn’t the first dtry you thk of when you thk of liberal, open, acceptg workplac, ’s now relatively open and acceptg of mori to s ranks, and even more gay-iendly than you might gus. Here’s one Big 4 acuntant talkg about his firm’s diversy efforts:As a gay man workg here, I thk the firm's diversy and cln strategy is extremely effective and proactive.

IS GAY BYRNE DEAD OR STILL ALIVE? GAY BYRNE BIRTHDAY AND DATE OF DEATH

Birthday: Augt 5, 1934Date of Death: November 4, 2019Age at Death: 85 Gay Byrne - BgraphyGabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (born 5 Augt 1934; affectnately known as Uncle Gay, Gaybo or Uncle Gaybo) is a veteran Irish prenter of rad and televisn.

Succsful reer: Gay Byrne RTÉ studs back 1964He was one of Ireland's most endurg and succsful broadsters, but a swdlg acuntant and a doomed property play durg the boom saw Gay Byrne take lamo hs to the fortune he'd ma. On The Late Late Show and The Gay Byrne Show, there were no taboos, and if anyone n be said to have sgle-handly opened up public bate on everythg om women's rights to sexualy, then the mantle sat easily on his shoulrs.

GAY BYRNE 1934 -2019 -- FROM 'THE BISHOP AND THE NIGHTIE' TO 'HOW TO WEAR A NDOM', GAYBO ULD SHOCK AND CHARM

Many terviewers nowaby days thk talkg for the gut is part of their job, but Gay knew if he waed long enough, the terviewee would do the work and reveal more the procs than he or she maybe had planned to. 'He was an old man before I me along, so I was too young to be taken wh his war stori, and then by the time I was old enough to nnect wh him, he was gone [Edward died soon after Gay pleted the Leavg Certifite exams]. 'When The Beatl first me on our show, Pl McCartney asked you for your tograph for his mum, ' Gay said, 'and he asked me to take on the job as manager, which I turned down for some reason.

Gay terviewed lbian nuns, and at the height of the Aids crisis monstrated how to put on a ndom (not lerally), havg prevly weled to the show the women who went to Belfast on the so-lled 'ndom tra' to buy the then banned ems.

His terview wh Pádraig Flynn effectively led to the Flood (later Mahon) Tribunal; Terry Keane nfirmed the most open secret the untry when she told of her relatnship wh Charl Hghey; and there was a rare misstep when Gay seemed to put Annie Murphy on trial for her affair wh Bishop Eamonn Casey, rather than jt terviewg her.

GAY BYRNE OBUARY – SON OF GUNS WORKER WHO BEME MOST FLUENTIAL BROADSTER HISTORY OF STATE

His morng rad show, The Gay Byrne Hour (later The Gay Byrne Show), was no ls effective at breakg the silenc that hnted 20th-century Ireland, pecially when hundreds of women wrote of their own experienc wh teenage pregnancy the wake of the tragic ath of Ann Lovett, a Granard churchyard 1984. Gay later relled the heavy work schle that kept him apart om Kathleen and their dghters Suzy and Crona -- he did the rad show om Monday to Friday, and The Late Late Show on Saturday, and ually worked om 7am to 7pm.

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

It was Gay himself who cid to hand over the res to Pat Kenny, when he left The Late Late Show 1999, after 36 years at the helm (Frank Hall replaced him for one seri). The biggt setback his personal life me when acuntant Rsell Murphy squanred much of the money Gay had put away for retirement, a fact disvered only after Murphy's ath 1986. Havg moved om Howth to Ballsbridge, Gay ntued to walk daily whenever possible, and while his public appearanc beme ls equent, he neverthels attend theatre openg nights and other receptns where, as always, he was the centre of attentn.

GAY BYRNE OBUARY: THE MATRO OF IRISH BROADSTG

Shortly afterwards, Gay returned to Ireland beg the biggt name Irish broadstg for the last half century wh a morng rad programme on RTE Rad and RTE TV's flagship programme The Late Late Show, which he hosted until 1999. It was a goln age of TV where anythg uld happen and often did om actor Oliver Reed throwg himself at actrs San Gee on live TV, to Gay challengg psychiatrist RD Lag for g on dnk. Even more ntroversial was Gay's terview the year before 1993 wh Annie Murphy, who revealed the tails of her affair wh the Bishop of Galway Eamon Casey, which led to their birth of their son.

But Gaybo's fence, late newspaper edor Pl Dry said "All Gay had been dog was reflectg the mood of the Irish people - most of whom, back then, still had an enormo rpect and affectn for Dr Casey. Gay Byrne had terviewed a married uple om the dience, Richard and Eileen Fox om Terenure Dubl, and asked each of them a seri of qutns while the other was out of earshot.

In her book, The Gaybo Revolutn: How Gay Byrne Challenged Irish Society, thor Fola Doyle-O’Neil wrote: "From 1962 to 1999, Byrne mataed what appeared to be an effortls grip on the live talk show, both on rad and on was not a missnary; he was a talented broadster who had no hatn phg boundari to make entertag televisn. No one ptured the mood of the natn more than Gay when he vered the ath of 15-year-old Anne Lovett, who had given birth to a stillborn child next to the Grotto of Our Lady a field Granard Co Longford, which beme one of the most poignant stori vered by the groundbreakg Gay Byrne rad programme. On page 224, Gay reunted how Ryan Tubridy's grandfather Todd Andrews, then Chairman of the RTE Authory, once rang RTE's Director General to tell him "get rid of that f***er Byrne.

GAY BYRNE OBUARY

It was the late Gerry Ryan who joked shortly before his ath "'s a py Gay wasn't ad" bee the olr man so often got the shows he wanted to do, cludg beg the job of hostg an Irish versn of Who Wants To Be A Millnaire, another post Late Late outg for Byrne semi-retirement.

Close pals said Gay's reluctance to stop workg was fuelled by his experienc wh late acuntant acuntant Rsell Murphy, who effectively stole everythg Gay ma durg his early reer.

WHO ARE GAY BYRNE'S DGHTERS CRONA AND SUZY? ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW AS THEY APPEAR ON RTE'S LATE LATE SHOWHERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE DGHTERS OF ONE OF IRELAND'S MOST LOVED BROADSTERSIRISHMIRRORBOOKMARKSHARECOMMENTSSHOWBIZBYCOL BRENNAN15:52, 21 MAY 2021BOOKMARKVIO LOADGVIO UNAVAILABLECLICK TO PLAYTAP TO PLAYTHE VIO WILL TO-PLAY SOON8CANCELPLAY NOWWANT ALL THE LATT SHOWBIZ NEWS DIRECT TO YOUR BOX? SHARE YOUR EMAIL FOR NEWS, GOSSIP AND MOREMORE NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBEINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.MORE NEWSLETTERSWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!WE HAVE MORE NEWSLETTERSSHOW ME SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE&TIM;GROUP 28 WANT ALL THE LATT SHOWBIZ NEWS DIRECT TO YOUR BOX? SHARE YOUR EMAIL FOR NEWS, GOSSIP AND MOREINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.SIGN UPNO THANKS, CLOSEWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE &TIM;GROUP 28THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!

Fah discsn The Meang of Life, and entertament show For One Night Only were other vehicl for Gay semi-retirement, as well as a Sunday afternoon programme on Lyric FM which quickly beme the most listened to show on the easy listeng statn. If that didn't make his semi-retirement by enough, 2006 Gay beme boss of The Road Safety Authory vowg he would "walk away" om the job if nonted by a "solid wall of burecracy". Generatns grew up watchg the host of RTÉ’s long-nng chatshow blend light entertament wh current affairs and taboo-shatterg moments, a cultural renzvo that domated Friday night viewg and praged a new Gay Byrne era officially end on Monday when he died at home Dubl, surround by fay, aged 85.

”Ireland had braced for the ath of Uncle Gaybo, as many lled him, sce he revealed he had prostate ncer hosted The Late Late Show om 1962 to 1999, one of the world’s longt chatshow ns, as well as a rad show and other gigs such as the Rose of Byrne 1962. 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. 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.

GAY BYRNE TO RECEIVE COUNSELLG AFTER INTERVIEW WH STEPHEN FRY

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.

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. 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.

GAY BYRNE: HIS TOP 10 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS ON AIR

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. 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.