Gay Byrne. Longest runningTV chat show.
Born in Rialto, Dublin, on August 5, 1934, when Gay Byrne was young the family moved to the South Circular Road. His parents came from the Bray area of Co Wicklow, and his father worked for Guinness. Educated by the Christian Brothers at Synge Street, he started his working life in insurance. In 1958 he moved to broadcasting, becoming a presenter on Radio Éireann. He also worked in England with Granada TV and the BBC. While at Granada, he became the first person to introduce The Beatles on TV.
He joined the newly set-up Telifís Éireann (later RTE) in 1961 and introduced many popular programmes such as Jack Pot, Film Night and the Rose of Tralee. However, his most popular and successful programme was the Late Late Show, which became the world’s longest running chat show, running from 1962 until 1999. In 1964 he married the harpist Kathleen Watkins and they have two daughters, Suzy and Crona.
The Late Late, as it was popularly referred to, started originally as an eight week summer filler. The show was moved to the Saturday night slot and it became a forum where controversial topics such as the Church, contraception, homosexuality and compulsory Irish were discussed openly for the first time in Ireland.
It was famously said by Dail deputy and Catholic conservative Oliver J Flanagan, in a reference to the show, that “there was no sex in Ireland until Teilifís Éireann went on the air.” Bishop Michael Browne of Galway called him “a purveyor of filth” after the host asked a woman if she had worn anything on her wedding night. He conducted his shows with charm and neutrality and had a knack of putting people at their ease, sometimes coaxing them to say more than they had intended.
His popularity grew such that he has been referred to as “the most famous man in Ireland”. It is widely accepted that the show greatly influenced the shaping the new Ireland that emerged in the second half of the 20th century, a point made by President McAleese. In 1985 the Late Late moved to a Friday night slot.
Late late highlights:
- Encouraging then EU Commissioner Padraig Flynn to talk about the difficult upkeep of his three houses.
- Interview with Annie Murphy, Bishop Eamon Casey’s onetime lover and mother of his son.
- The Dubliners show.
- The interview with Gerry Adams.
- When he called the winner of a prize car live on air only to discover the woman’s daughter had died since she had entered the competition.
- Interview with Terry Keane who revealed she had had a long-term affair with Charles Haughey.
He was famously gifted a Harley Davidson motorcycle by Bono and U2 on his last night hosting the Late Late Show. The bike was later auctioned for charity.
Gay Byrne was also a successful radio broadcaster. Radio Éireann gave him a 15-minute slot on Monday nights which he used to play jazz, his first broadcast for the station being in 1958. But he is best known on radio for The Gay Byrne Show (1972-1999), a two hour morning discussion and music programme in which his personal style, soothing voice and common sense approach to life endeared him to listeners.
Broadcasting aside, he presented The Rose of Tralee Festival for 17 years, until 1994, and compered the finals of the Castlebar Song Contest in 1966 and 1967. He has won numerous television awards and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin. In 1989 he wrote his autobiography entitled The Time of My Life. In 1999 he was awarded the freedom of Dublin City.
He has been unfortunate in his nest egg investments. He relied on accountant and friend Russell Murphy to manage his finances, only to discover on the accountant’s death in 1986 that most of his savings had been secretly squandered.
Since retirement he has remained close to the limelight. In 2009, he recorded a TV series for RTE series called The Meaning of Life in which he interviewed public figures about issues of faith. He has hosted a Sunday afternoon jazz series on Lyric FM Radio. Also, in March 2006, he became chairman of the Irish Road Safety Authority. He and his wife have downsized from their house in Howth to an apartment in Sandymount.
In August, 2011, he was approached by the Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin about running for the presidency of Ireland. He was to turn down the offer. At one point, according to an opinion poll, he was seven points ahead of Micheal D Higgins who was subsequently elected President.
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