Gay Byrne Biography | Gay Byrne Wiki
Gay Byrne, affectionately known as Uncle Gay, Gaybo or Uncle Gaybo was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was the first to host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world’s second-longest-running chat show.
His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce The Beatles on screen and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on screen in 1993.
From 1973 until 1998, Byrne presented The Gay Byrne Hour – later The Gay Byrne Show when it expanded to two hours – on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning. When he was young, Byrne was inspired by the broadcaster Eamonn Andrews, who had a successful career on British television, and “wanted to be what he was”.
Andrews was friendly with Byrne’s eldest brother. In 1958 he moved over to broadcasting when he became a presenter on Radio Éireann. He also worked with Granada Television and the BBC in England.
At Granada, Byrne became the first person to introduce the Beatles on television when they made their small-screen debut on local news program People and Places. In 1961, Telefís Éireann (later Radio Telefís Éireann and now Raidió Teilifís Éireann) was set up.
Byrne finally worked exclusively for the new Irish service after 1969. He introduced many popular programs, with his most popular and successful program being The Late Late Show.
After retiring from his long-running radio and television shows, Byrne presented several other programs, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Meaning of Life and For One Night Only on RTÉ One and Sunday Serenade/Sunday with Gay Byrne on RTÉ lyric FM.
In 2006 he was elected Chairman of Ireland’s Road Safety Authority. In his retirement, he was described as the “Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting”. In 2010, The Irish Times said Byrne was “unquestionably the most influential radio and television man in the history of the Irish State”. In 2011, he was approached to become President of Ireland but declined to run, despite topping opinion polls.
Gay Byrne Age
Gay Byrne was born on 5th August 1934 in Rialto, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and died at an age of 85 on 4 November 2019 in Dublin, Ireland.
Gay Byrne Family
Gay Byrne was born in Rialto, Dublin, the Republic of Ireland to Edward Byrne, who joined the Irish Volunteers in 1912. In 1913 Edward Byrne enlisted as a professional trooper with the British Army’s 19th (Queen Alexandra’s Own Royal) Hussars cavalry regiment, given a background as a horseman from his father’s employment by the Earl of Meath as a coachman in County Wicklow.
In the early 1920s, Gay Byrne father Edward Byrne was employed by Guinness’ St. James’s Gate Brewery, where he worked for most of the rest of his life on the barges that operated on the River Liffey, transporting wooden casks from St. James’s Gate Brewery to sea ships at the North Wall in Dublin.
Byrne’s father, Edward, married his mother, Annie Carroll (from Bray), at Belfast, in 1917, when briefly home on leave from the war. The two had met near Bray just before the war began. Gay Byrne first lived with his family at 17 Rialto Street, Rialto, Dublin, before his parents moved to 124 (later renumbered 512) South Circular Road, Dublin, in 1944.
Byrne’s mother, Annie, died in late 1964. He came from a family of six: with five siblings. Nothing much is known about his mother but he revealed that his father Edward fought in the First World War. He was one of eight Byrne brothers who fought in the war.
He said that his father would get up in the middle of the night shouting and screaming in “absolute terror” having been traumatized by his experiences in the war. Byrne has made a documentary entitled My Father’s War which explores Private Edward Byrne’s involvement in the war.
Gay Byrne Wife | Gay Byrne Daughters
The veteran presenter is married to Kathleen Watkins an Irish broadcaster, harpist, singer, and author. The couple first met in 1957 and got married in 1964 in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saggart. They have two daughters (both are adopted): Suzy Byrne and Crona Byrne. The two are also grandparents to a boy born by their daughter Suzy on 15 September 2004.
Gay Byrne Photo
Gay Byrne Education
Gay Byrne attended Rialto National School (since closed) and a number of other schools for short periods. Subsequently, he was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at Synge Street CBS.
He and two classmates bought a jazz record when Byrne was fourteen years old in January 1948, at a time when Radio Éireann refused to play it because of its “licentious” content.
In December 2009, Byrne returned to his old primary school on Synge Street to launch an online children’s book club and read an extract from Marita Conlon-McKenna’s storybook In Deep Dark Wood.
Gay Byrne Television
The Late Late Show
On 5 July 1962, the first episode of The Late Late Show was aired on Irish television. Originally the show was scheduled as an eight-week summer filler. The program, which is still broadcast, has become the world’s second-longest-running chat show.
The show became a forum where controversial topics such as the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, contraception, AIDS, unemployment, homosexuality, abortion, divorce and other hitherto taboo subjects were discussed openly in Ireland, alongside book reviews, celebrity visits, and music acts such as The Boomtown Rats, U2, Sinéad O’Connor, Elkie Brooks, Boyzone and Noel Gallagher.
Other guests included Presidents of Ireland, successive Archbishops of Armagh, minor members of the British Royal Family, politicians, actors and authors. The show had much to do in shaping the new Ireland that was emerging from the 1960s.
Indeed, it was famously said by politician and Papal Knight, Oliver J. Flanagan that, “there was no sex in Ireland until Teilifís Éireann went on the air”. Bishop of Galway Michael Browne called him “a purveyor of filth” after he asked a woman what color nightie she wore on her wedding night and she had replied that she believed she’d worn nothing.
However, Byrne saw himself as a presenter, not a radical social reformer, though his style was more challenging and less deferential than the style of his successor as presenter of The Late Late Show, Pat Kenny.
More than a decade after departing his role as host of The Late Late Show Byrne is remembered for conducting memorable interviews with former politician Pádraig Flynn and then Bishop of Galway Eamon Casey‘s lover Annie Murphy, among others.
Another memorable moment to occur on The Late Late Show was 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.
During the early years of Byrne’s time hosting The Late Late Show, prior to about 1978 when the second national Irish TV channel was launched, he was employed by RTÉ on a continuously renewing 3-month contract, lest his employer might want to fire him any time they choose.
Byrne and The Late Late Show were central to the development of the careers of figures such as Mary Coughlan. He was noted for wearing a “Bing Crosby sweater” when presenting The Late Late Toy Show.
On 21 May 1999, Byrne presented his last edition of The Late Late Show. He was presented with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle by Bono and Larry Mullen, Jr. Pat Kenny succeeded Byrne as a presenter in September 1999, subsequently succeeded by Ryan Tubridy in September 2009.
Byrne gave Tubridy his blessing upon taking over the role, saying: “He has all the qualities required, the light deft touch together with a serious mind. I think it’s a great adventure that he’s setting off on”. Byrne returned to The Late Late Show as a guest twice during Tubridy’s first season as a presenter, the latter appeared on the day of Gerry Ryan’s death.
Gay Byrne Radio career
Byrne began his broadcasting career on radio. 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. He is now best remembered for his two-hour morning show, The Gay Byrne Hour, which was later renamed The Gay Byrne Show (1972–1999).
For many years the show was produced by John Caden. Joe Duffy was a reporter on The Gay Byrne Show and subsequently succeeded him as a presenter. Byrne featured on the radio occasionally since retiring from The Gay Byrne Show – in 2006, he began presenting a weekly Sunday afternoon show entitled Sunday Serenade on RTÉ lyric FM.
After 2010, he could be heard playing jazz on Sunday afternoons on lyric FM. This two-hour show began after an encounter with Head of Lyric FM Aodán Ó Dubhghaill at the National Concert Hall.
Sunday with Gay Byrne attracted 55,000 listeners through “word of mouth”: no advertising and no mention in the RTÉ Guide. The show was broadcast weekly approximately from September to March, with a break during the intervening six months.
Byrne once commented on the emptiness of RTÉ at this time of the week: “As soon as Marian finishes at one [o’ clock], there is a clear-out. There are a couple of fellas down the corridor doing sport, and that is about it. You have the place to yourself and it is wonderful”.
Gay Byrne Health | Gay Byrne Cancer
He revealed that he had a hearing loss in one ear which he initially thought was a result of working in the TV and radio industry but later came to realize that it was genetic. His mother, sister, and three brothers had hearing problems also.
The radio presenter has been having a struggle with his health. It began with a scare at his home in Sandymount when he struggled to breathe in 2011 and was admitted to St Vincent’s hospital. He then had a heart attack in 2015, while enjoying Christmas at home with his family and was re-admitted to the hospital.
On 20 November 2016, he revealed Lyric, that he had prostate cancer for which he was to begin treatment and that cancer may have spread to his lower back. He made the revelation live on his Time Warp radio broadcast on RTE Lyric. As of 2018, he is still fighting the battle with cancer.
Gay Byrne Death
Gay Byrne died on 4 November 2019 at his home in Ireland, after a long illness.
Gay Byrne Legacy
Credited with being a catalyst in the transformation of Irish society since the 1960s, Byrne broke several societal taboos by engaging in discourse on subjects like contraception, homosexuality, and abortion.
For example, when Barry Galvin—then Cork’s state solicitor—guested with Byrne on The Late Late Show in 1992 to discuss Ireland’s mounting problems with the illegal drug trade, he was subsequently given the post of first-ever head of the important Criminal Assets Bureau.
Alongside Terry Wogan, Byrne was part of Ireland’s bilaterality of broadcast giants, but was also described as solely “the most famous Irish broadcaster in history”, and lauded by the media as “the man who changed Ireland”.
According to the Irish Examiner, Byrne “had more influence on changing life in this country than any of the political leaders”, including Taoisigh W. T. Cosgrave, Éamon de Valera and John A. Costello, as well as Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, John Charles McQuaid, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland for over 30 years.
A 1998 poll found Byrne level with notorious former Taoiseach Charles Haughey as the most hated public figure in the country, but the same poll also found Byrne to be the most popular public figure.
Gay Byrne Retirement
Gay Byrne did not completely retire and continued to feature occasionally on radio and television after leaving The Late Late Show and The Gay Byrne Show. He launched Joe Duffy’s autobiography Just Joe in Harry’s Bar in October 2011.
In March 2006, Byrne was appointed as the chairman of the Irish Road Safety Authority, a public body given the task of improving road safety in the Republic of Ireland. The role saw him visit hospitalized survivors alongside President of Ireland Mary McAleese.
Gay Byrne Politics Views
In “retirement”, Byrne continued to make his political views known, including questioning then Taoiseach Brian Cowen and “whether you can be Taoiseach and still sit up and have a pint in the local pub. You have to dignify the office”. In later years he become known for his anti-EU stance. Bookmakers suggested Byrne might become Mayor of Dublin.
Presidential prospects
In August 2011, Byrne was approached by the once-dominant political party Fianna Fáil as a possible independent nominee for that year’s presidential election. The media advised Byrne, who had enjoyed an avuncular relationship with the public as a performer over many decades, against such a move.
An editorial in the Irish Independent said: “This isn’t some sort of a reality TV show but a contest for the highest office in the land.” The Irish Times queried the distinction between Byrne as a performer versus Byrne as an individual.
“But who is it that the Irish people really love? Is it Gaybo or Gabriel Byrne? Given they don’t really know the man himself – a man who has retained his privacy throughout a lifetime of fame – the love is surely for the persona rather than the person.”
Byrne topped polls as the candidate people were most likely to vote for. On 13 August 2011, Byrne announced that he would not be a candidate for the Presidency. Appearing later on TV3’s Midweek program he called Martin McGuinness, formerly of the IRA who was contesting the election as a representative of Sinn Féin, a “liar”.
The Meaning Of Life Gay Byrne: Conversations on Love, Beliefs, Morality, Grief, and Everything in Between
On RTE’s The Meaning of Life, Gay Byrne has spoken with public figures about these questions and many others.
Here, for the first time, Gay recollects the most insightful discussions on the big themes: childhood, love, faith, disbelief, morality, grief – the universal themes that bind us all – and reveals the meaning the interviews have had for him.
Gay suggests that the show’s success is less to do with the profile of its guests and more about the fact that viewers can imagine themselves in the hot-seat. “How would I answer that one? What do I think?”. Now, readers can re-experience the interviews at leisure and ponder their own beliefs from the written word.
Originally published: 27 September 2013
Author: Gay Byrne
Genres: Biography, Autobiography
Gay Byrne Awards and Honours
He was awarded an honorary doctorate in letters from Trinity College, Dublin in 1988.
He was granted the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 1999.
Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2007 from Irish Film and Television Network.
He has six Jacob’s Awards for his radio and television work and holds the record for the greatest number of Jacob’s Awards received.
He was appointed chairman of the Road Safety Authority in Ireland in 2006.
Outstanding Achievement PPI Radio Award (2009)
A wax figure of Gay Byrne has been put on public display at Wax Museum Plus on Dublin’s College Green.
The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne: Gabriel Byrne
Gay Byrne Latest News
STAR’S BIG C BATTLE Gay Byrne says he just wants to ‘lie down and die’ on his bad days as he continues putting up strong fight against cancer
Published: 5th September 2018
Source: https://www.thesun.ie/
GAY Byrne wants “to lie down and die” some days, he has admitted — as he revealed he won’t be coming back to his radio show this year.
But the 84-year-old broadcasting legend is putting up a strong fight against cancer and goes walking every day.
He told the Irish Sun: “What choice have I got? You either fight, or you lie down and die.
“Believe me, there are some days when you want to lie down and die, every cancer sufferer in the country will tell you that.
“But you do the best you can — and follow the treatment.”
There had been hopes that Gay would return to his popular jazz show on Lyric FM next month.
It was on that program the Dubliner revealed he was fighting prostate cancer in November 2016.
But he said: “It would have been a lot of work for Eithne (producer Eithne Hand) because I can’t do as much. But I have decided now, I won’t be back this time. I’m just not up to it. Maybe in January?
Asked if he had a message for fans who miss him being on telly, Gay told us: “Are you joking? There are two generations of TV viewers who have absolutely no idea who I am. No idea.”
Meanwhile, Byrne will continue his treatment, with two hospital visits this week, and two more next week as docs continue to monitor his condition.
He said: “Appointments are at 6 am. The specialists just want to check what’s going on. I’ve been getting a standardized treatment for prostate cancer and I’ve had a double hip replacement as well.” Despite this, the radio and telly veteran is often seen strolling.
He said: “I really have to take exercise. So I had a walk this morning, and I will get another little walk in this morning.”
Gay paid tribute to his daughters Crona and Suzy and wife Kathleen Watkins for getting him through his Big C treatment.
He said: “I’ve got the most incredible family. I couldn’t get through this without the love and support of my wife and daughters. They really have kept me going.”