Charles Gerald Anthony Mitchel (8 November 1920''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', Patrick Long, "Mitchel, Charles Gerald"
, retrieved 19 August 2016 – 18 August 1996) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

actor and broadcaster, best known as an RTÉ television newscaster for almost 23 years.

Early life

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Mitchel was educated at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...

boarding school in

Clane Clane (; ) is a town in County Kildare, Ireland, from Dublin. Its population of 7,280 makes it the eighth largest town in Kildare and the 66th largest in Ireland. It is on the River Liffey. Clane gives its name to the associated townland, ci ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. Mitchel subsequently attended

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

where he studied forestry. It was here that his interest in acting developed and he quickly became a leading member of the Trinity Players. Mitchel left Trinity in 1947 without taking a degree. He immediately joined the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Ge ...

where he played with the Longford company until 1958. He was one of the founders of Irish Actors Equity and served as president of the Catholic Stage Guild.''The Irish Times'' ("Death of Charles Mitchel, the voice of news on RTÉ", p.4), 19 August 1996

Broadcasting career

In 1961 Mitchel, joined the newly formed state television station, Telefís Éireann, as its first chief newsreader. His starting salary was £26 per week. Mitchel read the very first bulletin on the network at 9.15pm on Sunday 31 December 1961. He received numerous honours, including being awarded television personality of the year in December 1962 - he also became the first RTÉ presenter to win a Jacobs' Award. As chief newsreader, Mitchel led a team of readers for the main evening bulletins including

Andy O'Mahony Andy O'Mahony is an Irish broadcast journalist who worked for RTÉ (Raidio Telefís Éireann) from 1961 to 2013. He was one of the network's first television news anchors, and thereafter was a radio and television host of various long-running s ...

Maurice O'Doherty Maurice O'Doherty (17 November 1932 – 5 April 1998) was an Irish broadcaster best known as a newsreader for RTÉ News from 1966 until 1983. As a contemporary of Charles Mitchel the two men made the Nine O'Clock News the most watched news ...

Don Cockburn Donald Cockburn (13 March 1930 – 4 September 2017) was an Irish journalist, presenter and newsreader. He is best known as a long-serving newsreader for Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), who anchored the broadcaster's main evening television n ...

and in later years,

Derek Davis Derek Davis (26 April 1948 – 13 May 2015) was an Irish broadcaster. On television, he co-hosted '' Live at 3'', presented '' Davis at Large'' and '' Out of the Blue'' and won ''Celebrity Bainisteoir''. Early life Davis was born in Bangor, ...

and

Anne Doyle Anne Catherine Doyle (born 30 January 1952) is an Irish journalist, presenter and former newsreader. She is best known as a long-serving newsreader for RTÉ, who anchored the broadcaster's main evening television news programmes, during her 3 ...

. Mitchel retired from RTE on Thursday 8 November 1984 after presenting his last TV bulletin, the flagship '' Nine O'Clock News''. In 1989 he joined

LMFM LMFM is an independent Local Radio station based in Drogheda, Ireland. In terms of listenership, It is the largest radio station in Ireland outside of Dublin and Cork broadcasting to a population in excess of 300,000 adults. Media group UTV Media ...

, a local radio station in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

, where he read the news and answered listeners' queries.

Personal life

Mitchel was keenly interested in animal welfare and served as vice-president of the Irish

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

for several years in the 1980s. He bred

basset hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...

s and adjudicated at dog shows. Mitchel married Elizabeth ('Betty') Stubbs on 9 May 1949 and they had two children, Nicholas and Susan. He died on 18 August 1996 at Bloomfield Nursing Home, Donnybrook and is buried at

Glasnevin cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Ghlas Naíon) is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasne ...

.RTE Archives - Charles Mitchel Newsreader
, rte.ie

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchel, Charles 1920 births 1996 deaths Irish male stage actors Jacob's Award winners People from Monkstown, County Dublin RTÉ newsreaders and journalists Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Clongowes Wood College 20th-century Irish male actors Male actors from County Dublin Broadcasters from County Dublin