Donncha Ó Dúlaing (15 March 1933 – 4 September 2021) was an Irish broadcaster who was known country-wide and among the Irish around the world for his cultural and traditional music programmes.

Career

Ó Dúlaing was born in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

. His broadcasting career began when he joined

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

in 1964. His ''Highways and Byways'' radio series on RTÉ Radio One became hugely popular as did his television series on

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

. He was the former head of features,

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division of the Irish national broadcasting organisation Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Radio broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels nationwide. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, the first broadcaster in th ...

. He became universally known for his fundraising walks for charity in Ireland, the UK, France and Israel and among the

Choctaw Indians The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

in the USA, who had contributed to the victims of the famine in Ireland in the 1840s. His walks, sometimes up to 43 miles per day, have helped raise many hundreds of thousands in funds for charity since the 1980s. Ó Dúlaing presented the hour-long programme ''Fáilte Isteach'' at 10 pm on Saturday evenings on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

and had thousands of listeners among the Irish diaspora who would enter his 'Parlour of Dreams' where 'many dreams came true' on the programme. He celebrated 50 years in broadcasting in February 2014 and presented the last Fáilte Isteach on 25 April 2015. The president of Ireland,

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

, presented a specially commissioned sculpture to him at

Áras an Uachtaráin (; "Residence of the President"), formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of Ireland. It is located off Chesterfield Avenue in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. The building design was credite ...

in Phoenix Park, Dublin in August 2014 in recognition of his contribution to Irish culture. A 288-page illustrated memoir titled ''Donncha's World- the Roads, the Stories and the Wireless'', co-authored with writer Declan Lyons and launched by his friend, the singer

Daniel O'Donnell Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, MBE (born 12 December 1961) is an Irish singer, television presenter and philanthropist. After rising to public attention in 1983, he has since become a household name in Ireland and Britain; he has also had cons ...

, in September 2014, tells the story of his life and career, his walks, his broadcasts and the national and internationally famous people he has interviewed and met including President Eamon de Valera,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" D ...

Rosie Hackett Rosanna "Rosie" Hackett (25 July 1893 – 4 May 1976) was an Irish insurgent and trade union leader. She was a founder-member of the Irish Women Workers' Union, and supported strikers during the 1913 Dublin Lockout. She later became a member of ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, Sir

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

and

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

. Ó Dúlaing and his wife Vera (''née'' Galvin) lived 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 ...

near RTÉ Headquarters in Donnybrook.

Death

Ó Dúlaing died on 4 September 2021, aged 88.

References

Sources

* ''Autobiography: Walking and talking'', Blackwater Press 1998

External links

RTÉ website
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODulaing, Donncha 1933 births 2021 deaths Irish radio presenters Broadcasters from County Cork