Andy O'Mahony facts for kids

Andy O'Mahony is a famous Irish journalist and broadcaster. He worked for RTÉ (Raidio Telefís Éireann), which is Ireland's national TV and radio station, for over 50 years! He started there in 1961 and retired in 2013.

Andy was one of the very first people to read the news on Irish television. After that, he hosted many popular radio and TV shows. He also made programmes for the BBC in the UK between 1977 and 1988. This included arts documentaries for BBC Two.

He was best known for his radio shows about books and ideas on RTÉ. Shows like Books and Company, Off The Shelf, and Dialogue were places where people could discuss important topics. These topics included economics, politics, and culture. From 1988 to 2000, he hosted The Sunday Show, a talk show about current events on RTÉ Radio 1. He won four special awards called Jacob's Radio Awards for his excellent work.

Andy loved collecting books his whole life. In 2015, he gave his huge personal library to the University of Limerick. This collection has over 7,000 books! They cover many subjects, like philosophy, religion, literature, and history. In 2016, he wrote a book about his own life called Creating Space: The Education of a Broadcaster.

Andy's Early Life and Education

Andy O'Mahony was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1934. He was the oldest child. His father was a shop owner. Andy went to school with the Christian Brothers and then studied at Mount St. Alphonsus. There, he learned Latin and Greek.

He also studied music at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. Later, he went to Trinity College Dublin and studied business. He also studied philosophy at University College, Dublin. Andy even earned a PhD in psychology from Trinity College Dublin. He was also a visiting scholar at Harvard University in the United States for a year.

Starting His Career

Before becoming a broadcaster, Andy worked for a food company for a year. Then, from 1954 to 1961, he worked for the Bank of Ireland. In his last year at the bank, he also started working part-time for Radio Éireann. He was an announcer and newsreader.

His Time at RTÉ

In November 1961, Andy joined Radio Éireann full-time. Two years later, he became a news anchor for Ireland's new TV service, Telefís Éireann. This later became RTÉ. In his first ten years, he also presented shows about arts and music on the radio. In 1972, he decided to stop reading the news. He wanted to focus on special feature programmes and his academic studies.

Radio Shows

Andy hosted many radio series. Some of his shows included:

• Focus
• Music and Musicians
• Opera and the Singer
• Lookaround
• Bookweek
• Books and Company
• The Sunday Show
• Off The Shelf
• Dialogue

On his Dialogue show, he interviewed many famous people over 25 years. These guests included writers, artists, and thinkers.

Television Shows

Andy also worked on many television programmes. Some of his TV work included:

• The Course of Irish History
• Over the Barricades
• Predicting the Future
• Opening of the National Concert Hall in Dublin
• High Profile
• He was even a guest host on The Late Late Show in 1989.

Working for the BBC

Andy also made programmes for the BBC in the UK.

BBC Radio

He created many arts documentaries for BBC Northern Ireland. These included profiles of famous writers like Brian Friel and Sean O'Faolain. He also made a documentary about religion for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Television

For BBC Northern Ireland, he made a six-part series called Widows of Writers. He also hosted Lifetimes, a show where he interviewed writers, artists, and scholars. Guests included the poet Seamus Heaney. For the BBC Gallery series, he had conversations with novelist William Trevor.

For BBC Two, he made documentaries about important Irish figures. These included the playwright Seán O'Casey, the singer John McCormack, and the inventor Harry Ferguson.