Evelyn O'Rourke (born 1972) is an Irish broadcaster and journalist employed by

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

. She is the current Arts and Media Correspondent for

RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative ...

since February 2024. O'Rourke joined RTÉ in 1998 as a researcher on ''

The Gay Byrne Show ''The Gay Byrne Show'' (previously ''The Gay Byrne Hour'' and also known as ''The GB Show'') was an Irish radio programme, which ran from 1973 until 1998. The programme was presented by Gay Byrne, and aired Monday to Friday for two hours each ...

'' and '' The Arts Show'' on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

before moving on to become a roving reporter on ''

Today with Pat Kenny Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and me ...

'' on RTÉ Radio 1 and ''

The Gerry Ryan Show ''The Gerry Ryan Show'' (often referred to as ''The Ryan Show'', ''The G. Ryan Show'' or ''GRS'') was RTÉ 2fm's mid-morning radio show. Presented by Gerry Ryan until hours before his sudden death, it was launched in March 1988 and ran from ni ...

'' on

RTÉ 2fm RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is an Irish radio station operated by RTÉ. The station specialises in current popular music and chart hits and is the second national radio station in Ireland. History The station commenc ...

. She has served as a presenter and reporter on several RTÉ programmes on radio and television, including ''

Drivetime DriveTime Automotive Group Inc. is an American used car retailer and finance company. It is based in Tempe, Arizona, and sells and finances cars to customers around the nation. The company was formerly known as Ugly Duckling and was renamed Dr ...

'', ''

Liveline ''Liveline'' is an Republic of Ireland, Irish radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which has been presented since 1999 by Joe Duffy, and is known for its ...

'' and ''

Morning Ireland ''Morning Ireland'' is an Irish breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 and is noted as the country's most listened to radio programme. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 7 am and 9 am and alternate items are normal ...

'', as well as an annual series on which she offers advice to

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

students, ''Study Hub''. She served as a reporter on '' Today with Sean O'Rourke'' and ''

Claire Byrne Claire Byrne (born 11 August 1975) is an Irish radio and television presenter. Byrne presented ''The Daily Show'' from September 2010 to March 2012. In 2013, she became an anchor on RTÉ's flagship current affairs programme ''Prime Time''. From ...

'' from 2014 to 2024 and has co-presented the

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. The primary sponsor is An Post, the state owned postal service in Ireland ...

Early life and education

O'Rourke was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. She attended Coláiste Iosagáin in Dublin. Having completed her school studies she attended

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

to study Drama and English in 1990.

Career

Upon graduation, O'Rourke moved to the west of Ireland to work in film and television. In 1998, she returned to Dublin, joining

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division and service of Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), which broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels across Ireland. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, was the first broadcaster in ...

, working with the veteran broadcaster

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late La ...

during his final season on radio as a researcher. She was then transferred to '' The Arts Show'' with Mike Murphy, and later to ''

'',

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973) is an Irish broadcaster. He currently presents the weekday mid-morning programme ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' on Virgin Radio UK, as well as a weekend programme on Sundays. His broadcasting career with RTÉ spanned ...

's ''

The Full Irish ''The Full Irish'' was a radio breakfast show on RTÉ 2fm. It ran for three years from 2002 – 2005 and was on air from 7 – 9 am. Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973) is an Irish broadcaster. He currently presents the weekday mid-m ...

'' and ''

''. From 2008 to 2010, O'Rourke took on the role of radio reporter and television presenter for the RTÉ cross-media event ''

Operation Transformation Operational transformation (OT) is a technology for supporting a range of collaboration functionalities in advanced collaborative software systems. OT was originally invented for consistency maintenance and concurrency control in collaborative edi ...

'' with

Gerry Ryan Gerard Ryan (4 June 1956 – 30 April 2010) was an Irish people, Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He presented ''The Gerry Ryan Show'' on radio station RTÉ 2fm each weekday morning from 1 ...

. O'Rourke presented ''Countdown to 306'', a nightly one-hour exam preparation programme on

on the build up to the

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

and

exams. O'Rourke was a judge on the 10 January 2010 edition of series two of ''

The All Ireland Talent Show ''The All Ireland Talent Show'' was a Raidió Teilifís Éireann television series which was billed as Ireland's biggest-ever talent contest. It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, ...

'' after

Shane Lynch Shane Eamon Mark Stephen Lynch (born 3 July 1976) is an Irish singer, best known as a member of Boyzone. He has also taken part in auto racing, participated in reality shows such as ''Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series), Celebrity Big Bro ...

's flight from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

was cancelled, despite having given birth to her first son just six weeks earlier. She was also a judge on

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

variety show ''Glas Vegas''. In 2014, O'Rourke wrote a best-selling memoir ''Dear Ross'', which detailed her life following a cancer diagnosis while pregnant. From 2021 to 2024, O'Rourke presented ''Study Hub'', an annual Leaving Certificate programme and podcast series on

. O'Rourke has co-presented the

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

and reports on the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' programme, as well as presenting and reporting for the arts programme ''Arena'' on RTÉ Radio 1. In a May 2021 documentary for TG4, O'Rourke explored the experiences of women who were diagnosed with cancer ten years on from her own cancer diagnosis in 2010. On 29 February 2024, O'Rourke was announced as

Sinéad Crowley Sinéad Crowley (born 1974) is an Irish journalist and novelist who formerly worked for RTÉ, Ireland's national radio and television station, where she was Arts and Media Correspondent for RTÉ News from 2006 to 2023. She has published four no ...

's successor as Arts and Media Correspondent for

. In November 2024, O'Rourke was assigned by RTÉ News to report on

Fianna Fáil leader ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young men, often from the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, "who had left fosterage ...

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...

for the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Personal life

O'Rourke is a fluent Irish speaker. She is married to John McMahon, former head of

and current RTÉ executive producer. They have two sons. On 2 December 2009 she gave birth to her first son. Her second son was born on 2 February 2011. O'Rourke was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

during her second pregnancy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Evelyn Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Irish radio presenters Irish women radio presenters Irish women television presenters Irish reporters and correspondents Broadcasters from County Dublin RTÉ 2fm presenters RTÉ television presenters The Gerry Ryan Show