Gay Byrne, TV star who 'challenged Irish society', di aged 85 | Ireland | The Guardian

Contents:

• WHERE DID LATE RTE BROADSTER GAY BYRNE FUNERAL TAKE PLACE AND WHERE IS HE BURIED?
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY: THE LEADG IRISH BROADSTER OF HIS ERA
• DOZENS OF RED FLOWERS VER FAL RTG PLACE OF RTE LEGEND GAY BYRNE AFTER IRELAND SAYS GOODBYE
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY: THE MATRO OF IRISH BROADSTG
• DETAILS OF GAY BYRNE'S WILL HE MA JT 12 DAYS BEFORE HIS ATH REVEALED
• GAY BYRNE FUNERAL: IN PICTUR
• GAY BYRNE, VETERAN IRISH BROADSTER, AD AT 85
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY – SON OF GUNS WORKER WHO BEME MOST FLUENTIAL BROADSTER HISTORY OF STATE
• GAY BYRNE: ‘I AM NO DIFFERENT TO HUNDREDS OF THOANDS OF PEOPLE WHO LOST MONEY’
• GAY BYRNE, TV STAR WHO 'CHALLENGED IRISH SOCIETY', DI AGED 85
• GAY BYRNE OBUARY
• YOUR MEMORI OF GAY BYRNE: ‘I FEEL LIKE PART OF MY CHILDHOOD HAS DIED’
• INIC IRISH BROADSTER GAY BYRNE HAS PASSED AWAY, AGED 85
• GAY BYRNE: IRELAND SAYS 'GOODBYE GAYBO' AS FUNERAL HELD FOR LEGENDARY BROADSTER
• 'WHILE HE'S GONE TODAY, THE STORY LIV ON, THE LEGACY LIV ON' - THOANDS GATHER FOR FUNERAL OF LEGENDARY BROADSTER GAY BYRNE
• GAY BYRNE LEAV €1.1M WILL MA 12 DAYS BEFORE HE DIED
• GAY BYRNE TO BE LAID TO RT AS HUGE FUNERAL TAK PLACE DUBL TODAY
• GAY BYRNE: THE GREATT SHOWMAN

WHERE DID LATE RTE BROADSTER GAY BYRNE FUNERAL TAKE PLACE AND WHERE IS HE BURIED?

Image source, Getty ImagGay Byrne, or Gaybo, as he was almost universally known, was the leadg Irish broadster of his anchor of the Late Late Show, he steered the dience through the highs and lows of Irish Ballybunn to Buncrana, he was a faiar and ntroversial face on Irish screens every Friday night, pridg over the shiftg moods of the Republic of Ireland.

GAY BYRNE OBUARY: THE LEADG IRISH BROADSTER OF HIS ERA

Image source, Inpennt News and Media/getty imagImage ptn, Gay Byrne his famo terview wh Gerry AdamsIn the 1960s, Byrne, famo for his tchphrase "and there's one for everyone the dience", was the talk of the well as givg out ee gifts to the dience, the programme and s host were creded wh fluencg Irish attus towards many show provid a platform for an unmarried mother to expla her posn at a time when to be such a suatn was still eply owned an terviewer, Byrne was very much his own man, he did not thk twice about sldg one gut who appeared unr the fluence while on another ocsn, he refed to shake the hand of former Sn Fé print Gerry Adams. Unnists were outraged and, shortly afterwards, the secretary of state Late moments:•Amerin woman Annie Murphy: the mother of Bishop Eamonn Casey's son, tells her story•NI Secretary Peter Brooke sgs O My Darlg Clemente wh hours of an IRA bomb •The Gerry Adams/Gay Byrne terview•Irish journalist Terry Keane tells of her affair wh former Taoiseach (Prime Mister) Charlie HgheyIt was not jt policians who had their feathers ffled by Byrne, but prits too.

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Late Late Show hosts Pat Kenny, Gay Byrne and Ryan Tubridy celebratg 50 years of the show 2012Bishop of Clonfert, Dr Thomas Ryan, protted vigoroly at the ntent of the Late Late ed natnal outrage and led some to clare the show was "filthy dirty" and "smut" 1993, his terview wh Amerin woman, Annie Murphy, who had a child wh Bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey, end very remarked that Eamonn Casey's son would be fe, if he was "half the man his father" rponse, Ms Murphy icily retorted: "I'm not so bad eher, " before she got up and walked off was not jt Ms Murphy who had been later, her son said he had wanted to "ck" Byrne for the way he had treated his source, RTÉImage ptn, In more recent years Gaybo had a much lower profileAnother notable affair of the heart to be shared wh the Irish public was an terview wh journalist Terry Keane spoke to Byrne about her long-standg relatnship wh former Taoiseach (Irish prime mister) Charl Hghey. Image source, Inpennt News and Media/getty imagImage ptn, On his last Late Late Show Larry Mullen and Bono om U2 gave Gay a Harley DavidsonAfter biddg his fal "goodnight" to viewers May 1999 after 37 years on the show, Byrne said he planned to "do nothg" for six months. His employers, RTÉ, said after his parture that the door would "always be open for a return for Gaybo" more recent years he has had a much lower profile, but still prented rad and televisn programm and was the chairman of Ireland's Road Safety Authory.

DOZENS OF RED FLOWERS VER FAL RTG PLACE OF RTE LEGEND GAY BYRNE AFTER IRELAND SAYS GOODBYE

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. 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 OBUARY: THE MATRO OF IRISH BROADSTG

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. 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.

DETAILS OF GAY BYRNE'S WILL HE MA JT 12 DAYS BEFORE HIS ATH REVEALED

”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. 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. “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.

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. PhotographyHundreds me to pay their last rpects to broadster Gay Byrne, who died earlier this week aged 85Image 1 of 25Broadster Gay Byrne, who died earlier this week at the age of 85 after a long illns. “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.

GAY BYRNE FUNERAL: IN PICTUR

“On rad and on televisn over so many s ‘Uncle Gaybo’ provid a voice for all those who had been silenced or were aaid to speak up, and helped nont thgs that need to be changed, ” Varadkar said.

GAY BYRNE, VETERAN IRISH BROADSTER, AD AT 85

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

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. 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. 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.

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.

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

”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. – Lorrae M Co GalwayThe Gay Byrne Show rned all 13 Cron siblgs wh their parents 1998 We the Cron fay of Ballyfermot, wt Dubl, are forever grateful to Gay and his show for the gift of our fay homeg, live on his rad programme, on December 18th, 1998, when he surprised our parents wh the rnn of all 13 children unr the one roof after 26 years.

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

– Anne Marie Hourigan DevonIt was Febary 1986, three months after the publitn of my book The Dtctn of Dubl, and I was stg bi Gaybo on The Late Late Show, wearg a black leather jacket and a th yellow leather tie, facg a panel that clud Frank Feely, who was Dubl cy manager at the time, and Sam Stephenson, the notor archect, discsg the state of the cy and what should be done about . – San SlaneAnne O Neill’s son William wh Gay Byrne on O’Connell Street Dubl More than 12 years ago, while a stunt at the Natnal College of Art and Dign, my son William spotted Gay Byrne as he waed, hat pulled low across his forehead, to cross O'Connell Street Dubl.

– John Rogers Abu DhabiWe always admired Gaybo's art beg able first to lay a fger a fterg wound and, moments later, to have stch wh a hilar storyIn 1981 my first hband and I bought a relict ttage Co Lerim.

Photograph: Eddie Kelly Dpe havg harboured a ol, on-trend teenage rejectn of Uncle Gaybo, when I was faced wh him my late 20s, on the top floor of RTÉ, I was stantly won over by this charismatic, charmg man, who seemed to float the length of the rridor towards me.

GAY BYRNE OBUARY

– Douglas Syme ArizonaKathleen, should be well wh your soul that you were the one to live this amazg life wh your beloved GayBack 1967, while still St Louis' Sendary School, I was asked to sg on The Late Late Show by Pan Colls, his rearcher. Photograph: Peter Rowen My first memory of Gay Byrne is om the late (Late Late) 1970s, via parentally sanctned transgrsns that allowed me to sneak down om my bed, while my younger sister was fast asleep, to watch the show on a Saturday night – only to be hooshed up the stairs aga if somethg unsuable was on. Gay Byrne helped me accept that the gog was tough at tim, to feel part of the wir world and to five myself for beg humanAs a new mother 1980s Ireland I had given up my job to stay home and be the perfect mum.

'For over six s, he was a towerg figure Irish broadstg' RTÉ Arts and Media Corrponnt @SeadCrowley on broadstg legend Gay Byrne, who has died at the age of 85 | — RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 4, 2019.

The funeral Mass for Gay Byrne has taken place at St Mary’s Pro Cathedral crowds began gatherg outsi the Pro Cathedral om early on Friday morng to pay their fal rpects to the late in who died on Monday at the age of hearse arrived down Marlborough Street shortly after noon as spontaneo applse broke out among the huge crowds gathered to show their affectn for the man who was a natnal treasure. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Print Michael D Higgs and his wife Saba offered their ndolenc to Gay's wife Kathleen, dghters Crona and Suzy, and his five grandchildren; Cian, Saoirse and Sadhbh, and Kate and Harry, ahead of the ’s Joe Duffy scribed as a “very sad day” and one he hoped he would never Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (left) and RTE's Ryan Tubridy, prenter of The Late Late Show arrive for the funeral of the celebrated broadster Gay Byrne at St. PicA tr of elrly gentleman who had worked RTE wh Gay for 30 years travelled to pay their fal rpects to him this former producers Billy Wall and Louis Hogan alongsi former director of rad Michael Carroll scribed him as “one of the greats” and said we’ll never see his like ’s Marty Morissey said he was “like a hero” and someone he had always rpected and admired.

YOUR MEMORI OF GAY BYRNE: ‘I FEEL LIKE PART OF MY CHILDHOOD HAS DIED’

He said he had even offered him criqu durg his time on Dancg Wh the Stars and he remaed a iend till the Print Michael D Higgs arriv for the funeral of the celebrated broadster Gay Byrne at St. "To say they brightened our journey would be a gross unrstatement, " she nclud wh the words of the poet Brendan Kennelly, who prevly wrote about her broadster Miriam O'Callaghan arriv for the funeral of the celebrated broadster Gay Byrne at St. '"Fr Leonard Maloney SJ said, "Those who were clost to Gay knew him as a kd, genero and simple person who would unsel them always to give people the benef of the doubt bee, as he ed to say, you never know what they are gog through.

"He spoke about Gay's rad show and how he often "voted large segments of his two-hour programme to readg extracts om the movg and often harrowg letters om women om all over Ireland" who had had "suffergs and vlatns vised upon them" and how he "let their voic be heard".

INIC IRISH BROADSTER GAY BYRNE HAS PASSED AWAY, AGED 85

"The Paltra Choir are also performg durg the Mass will be followed by a private burial St Ftan's Cemetery broadster Joe Duffy arriv for the funeral of the celebrated broadster Gay Byrne at St.

PA the Mass, the procsn route for the funeral rtege began at Gay's home Howth at 11am, headg towards the ast road and then pass over Annley travellg to Amiens Street and over the quays at the Matt Talbot Memorial Bridge, ntued along the south quays before turng right on O'Connell the Mass, the rtege is expected to leave the thedral between 1pm and 1. Dubl 1934, Gay Byrne grew up on the South Circular started work as a newsrear and ntuy announcer on Rad Eireann the late 1950s before movg to Granada Televisn Manchter, where he worked on a variety of shows, terviewg acts cludg The a time he muted between Dubl and UK, workg for both the BBC and RTE, but me back to Ireland full time the late 1960s as prenter and producer of The Late Late Show.

Live verage of the mass is broadstg on RTÉ One and RTÉ News Now, also available below on funeral Mass for Gay Byrne heard that his "legacy will live on" crowds began gatherg outsi the Pro Cathedral om early this morng to pay their fal rpects to the late in.

GAY BYRNE: IRELAND SAYS 'GOODBYE GAYBO' AS FUNERAL HELD FOR LEGENDARY BROADSTER

RTÉ’s Joe Duffy scribed as a “very sad day” and one he hoped he would never Tubridy said that the Late Late show special which aired on Tuday was like a “natnal wake” for the people of Ireland who had rpond drov wh their own favoure stori of Gay.

'WHILE HE'S GONE TODAY, THE STORY LIV ON, THE LEGACY LIV ON' - THOANDS GATHER FOR FUNERAL OF LEGENDARY BROADSTER GAY BYRNE

”A tr of elrly gentleman who had worked RTÉ wh Gay for 30 years travelled to pay their fal rpects to him this gather outsi the Pro Cathedral for the funeral of Gay former producers Billy Wall and Louis Hogan alongsi former director of rad Michael Carroll scribed him as “one of the greats” and said we’ll never see his like aga. Pictur by David ConachyPrint Michael D Higgs and Saba offer their ndolenc to Gay Byrne's wife Kathleen, dghters Crona and Suzy and hearse arrived down Marlborough Street shortly after 12 noon as spontaneo applse broke out among the huge crowds gathered to show their affectn for the man who was a natnal treasure. Silence scend on those assembled outsi as pallbearers, cludg Gay's grandson Cian (15), gathered to rry the simple brown ff si the church a ltle after noon for the funeral Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Print Michael D Higgs and his wife Saba offered their ndolenc to Gay's wife Kathleen, dghters Crona and Suzy, and his five grandchildren; Cian, Saoirse and Sadhbh, and Kate and Harry, ahead of the ceremony is led by Fr Leonard Maloney SJ, wh Archbishop Diarmuid Mart leadg the prayers of fal 's dghter Suzy weled the ngregatn to the Mass for "our darlg dad and grandfather" thanked Profsor John McCafey and his team at the Mater hospal who had treated her father for the past three years and also the "unsung hero" of that time, "the Mater's terg ladi and the gentlemen porters who worked tirelsly for all".

"Former RTÉ Director General Bob Colls gave the Appreciatn, scribg Gay as "reflective, ep, ser, thoughful, a person of valu" spoke about Gay leavg TV executiv "mmerized by his talent" at an Emmy event New York 1983 when he prented a live Late Late Show om the cy wh "no tocue and no sense of dience as applse mache" and "brought the stud alive, a wonr to behold and to savour" Paltra Choir also performed durg the the Mass, the procsn route for the funeral rtège began at Gay's home Howth at 11am, headg towards the ast road and then pass over Annley travellg to Amiens Street and over the quays at the Matt Talbot Memorial Bridge, ntued along the south quays before turng right on O'Connell Mass will be followed by a private burial St Ftan's Cemetery Sutton.

RTÉ nfirmed the news of the broadst legend's ath a statement on former Late Late Show prenter had been unrgog treatment for prostate ncer for more than two Dubl 1934, Gay Byrne grew up on the South Circular started work as a newsrear and ntuy announcer on Rad Éireann the late 1950s before movg to Granada Televisn Manchter, where he worked on a variety of shows, terviewg acts cludg The a time he muted between Dubl and UK, workg for both the BBC and RTÉ, but me back to Ireland full time the late 1960s as prenter and producer of The Late Late Show. When Annie Murphy, at the centre of a sndal when she ma public that she'd given birth to a son whose father was Eamon Casey, the then Bishop of Galway, appeared on the show, Gay seemed to si wh Casey, who had clearly taken advantage of a vulnerable young woman.

GAY BYRNE LEAV €1.1M WILL MA 12 DAYS BEFORE HE DIED

GAY BYRNE TO BE LAID TO RT AS HUGE FUNERAL TAK PLACE DUBL TODAY

GAY BYRNE: THE GREATT SHOWMAN