Eoin Neeson (13 September 1927 – 2 January 2011) was an Irish journalist, historian, novelist and playwright.

Life and career

Born to a staunch republican

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

family Neeson was the son of Seán Neeson, station director for

6CK 6CK was the first official radio station in Cork, Ireland and formed part of the national radio service of the Irish Free State. The station was set up in 1927 as an expansion of 2RN, the national station established in Dublin the previous year. ...

, the first official radio station in Cork, and his wife Geraldine Sullivan, a classical pianist and music critic for

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

. Neeson was educated in the

Christian Brothers College, Cork Christian Brothers College, Cork (CBC Cork, colloquially known as Christians) is a fee-paying school under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust in Cork, Ireland. Their sister school in Dublin is CBC Monkstown. History In the mid ...

, and

Newbridge College , latin_name = , logo = Newbridge College crest.gif , logo_size = 140px , seal_image = , image = Newbridge College.jpg , image_size = 270px , alt = Newbridge College and the R ...

, Co Kildare. After school he joined the

Irish Air Corps "Watchful and Loyal" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = ''see list of wars'' , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , fl ...

where he remained for 2 years. But he had always wanted to write and so after that he joined various provincial presses and rose to editor of

The Kerryman ''The Kerryman'' is a weekly local newspaper published in County Kerry in Ireland by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper was founded in 1904 by Maurice Griffin and cousins Thomas and Daniel Nolan. Independen ...

and managing editor of the Munster Tribune. He worked his way to being recruited for the new television station Telifís Éireann. He worked as a news reporter there until he finally left to become chief press officer of the national transport company

CIÉ Córas Iompair Éireann (''Irish Transport Company''), or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the republic and jointly with its Northern Ireland counte ...

. His final role was as director of the Government Information Bureau succeeding Pádraig Ó hAnnracháin. He lived in

Blackrock, Dublin Blackrock () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire. Location and access Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. ...

and died after a long illness.

Bibliography

Mythology

* The Book of Irish Saints (Cork,

967 Year 967 ( CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) calls for a council at Rome, to present the ne ...

, 238pp.; * The First Book of Irish Myths and Legends (Cork: Mercier Press, 1965) * The Second Book of Irish Legends (Cork: Mercier Press 1966) * Celtic Myths and Legends (Cork: Mercier Press 1998) * Deirdre and Other Great Stories from Celtic Mythology (Mainstream 1998)

History

* The Civil War in Ireland, 1922-23 (Cork Mercier 1966, 1969; Dublin: Poolbeg 1989) * The Life and Death of Michael Collins (Cork, 1968) * Birth of a Republic (Dublin: Prestige 1998) * Myths of 1916 (Aubane Hist. Soc. 2007) * The Battle of Crossbarry (Aubane Hist. Soc. 2008)

Miscellaneous

* A History of Irish Forestry (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1991) * Aspects of Parallelism in Japanese and Irish Character and Culture osei Daigaku, Inst. of Comp. Econ. Studies; No. 29: Ireland-Japan papers, No. 8(Tokyo: Hosei UP 1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neeson, Eoin 1927 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Irish journalists Writers from County Cork People educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork People educated at Newbridge College 20th-century Irish non-fiction writers People from Blackrock, Dublin RTÉ newsreaders and journalists Irish newspaper editors Broadcasters from County Dublin