Maurice O'Doherty (17 November 1932 – 5 April 1998) was an Irish broadcaster best known as a newsreader for

RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs ( ga, Nuacht agus Cúrsaí Reatha RTÉ), also known as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Its services include local, nationa ...

from 1966 until 1983. As a contemporary of Charles Mitchel the two men made the Nine O'Clock News the most watched news programme on Irish television.

Early life

The son of a member of the Garda Síochána from Donegal, O'Doherty was born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in 1932. He was educated locally before later boarding at

St. Flannan's College Saint Flannan's College is an Irish co-educational secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare, which takes its name from the 7th century patron saint of the Dál gCais. Formerly an all-boys boarding school, the first girls class was ente ...

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

. After completing his secondary schooling O'Doherty worked with the state transport provider

CIÉ Córas Iompair Éireann (''Irish Transport Company''), or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the republic and jointly with its Nor ...

Foynes Foynes (; ) is a town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 520 as of the 2016 census. Foynes's role as seap ...

before joining

Met Éireann Met Éireann (; meaning " Met of Ireland") is the state meteorological service of Ireland, part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. History The history of modern meteorology in Ireland dates back to 8 October 1860, w ...

in Shannon. It was here that he developed an interest in acting and he became a key member of the College Players in Limerick. In 1961 O'Doherty was transferred to Met Éireann's Central Analysis and Forecasting Office in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Broadcasting career

After moving to Dublin O'Doherty applied for a position as an announcer with

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 transmitt ...

and was accepted. He started out presenting music shows such as ''Hospital Requests'' and ''Today in the Dáil''. During a newspaper strike in 1966 he was invited to read both radio and television news bulletins. Over the next two decades he became one of the most recognised faces and voices in Irish broadcasting. His unscripted and humorous asides that he would slip into his bulletins also became popular, much to the ire of the RTÉ authorities. He also became famous for announcing the death of

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

on 29 August 1975. In 1983 O'Doherty announced his retirement from the state broadcaster, blaming bad working conditions. He subsequently toured the country as a comedy act before moving to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Private life

O'Doherty was married to theatre producer Philomena "Phyl" Savage (d. 27 August 2005)O'Doherty : Death notice
/ref> whom he met during his earlier acting days in Limerick. The couple had four children, Cahir, Sharon, Ewan and Fearga.

Death

O'Doherty died at the Adelaide Hospital in Dublin on 5 April 1998 aged 65. He had been suffering from cancer. In keeping with his dry sense of humour his epitaph reads "I'm sorry, I'll read that again."

References

1932 births 1998 deaths RTÉ newsreaders and journalists People educated at St Flannan's College Mass media people from Limerick (city) {{Ireland-tv-bio-stub