Tony McAuley (24 October 1939 – 7 June 2003) was a Northern Irish broadcaster, producer and musician.
Biography
Early life and education
McAuley was born Anthony on 24 October 1939 to a chemist from
Cookstown
Cookstown ( ga, An Chorr Chríochach, IPA: anˠˈxoːɾˠɾˠˈçɾʲiːxəx is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth largest town in the county and had a population of 11,599 in the 2011 census. It, along with Maghe ...
,
County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...
Charles McAuley
Charles McAuley (1910–1999) was an Irish painter. He was born on 15 March 1910 at Lubatavish, Glenaan, near Cushendall, the youngest of eight children in a family whose forebears had inhabited the Glens for many generations.
McAuley pursu ...
Queen's University Belfast
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, where he was a founding member of the Glee Club together with fellow musicians such as
Phil Coulter
Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009.
Coulter has ...
and
Paul Brady
Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age.
Initially popular for playing ...
.
After qualifying as an English teacher he taught at
St Patrick's College, Belfast
St Patrick's College, Bearnageeha was a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys aged between 11-19 situated on the Antrim Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The college's catchment area encompassed the New Lodge, Ardoyne, the Antrim Road and va ...
before joining the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
in 1972 in the Schools Department and writing and presenting Today and Yesterday.
Broadcasting career
His musical ability led him to produce and direct a ground breaking Irish music programme titled ''As I Roved Out'', a programme responsible for giving many musicians their first TV appearance; artists now well known such as
Mary Black
Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland.
Background
Mary Black was born into a m ...
,
Paul Brady
Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age.
Initially popular for playing ...
,
Christy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...
and others.
In the 1983 he produced '' The Celts'', a television series based on the book by
Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney (24 October 1942 – 21 February 2017) was an Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He was the author of ''The New York Times'' best-seller ''Ireland'', Op-Ed Contributor: Holy Rollers and Papal Perfectas">The New York Times ...
. In his search for suitable music to accompany the series he came across
Enya
Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
Brennan, member of the band Clannad whom he had filmed as part of his "As I Roved Out" television series.
Tony went on to direct and record many television and radio series including a programme that brought together
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...
and
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
. Other programmes included ''A Portrait of Derek Hill'', ''In Performance'', ''The Flight of the Earls'' and ''A Border Childhood''. Throughout his time at the BBC he produced and presented numerous radio programmes and continued to present his Folk Club until the week before his death.
Death and afterward
Tony McAuley died from cancer on 7 June 2003. His funeral and interment occurred at St Mary's Church in
Cushendall
Cushendall (), formerly known as Newtownglens, is a coastal village and townland (of 153 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coas ...
,
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
. In 2005, Irish singer, songwriter and musician
Enya
Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...