Máire Ní Thuathail (29 July 1957 – 19 September 2016) was an Irish television producer, best known for her lead role in producing the long-running Irish-language soap opera Ros na Rún. She was previously a school teacher.

Biography

Ní Thuathail was born in Toormakeady, County Mayo, on 29 July 1957. Her father was Tomás O’Toole and her mother was Brigid Ford. The family ran a local pub where Ní Thuathail was eldest of seven children. Ní Thuathail was educated in Toormakeady before going to

University College Galway The University of Galway () is a public university, public research university located in the city of Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Ga ...

, where she graduated with a degree in Agricultural Science. Ní Thuathail became a maths and science teacher in

Gweedore Gweedore ( , officially known by its Irish language name, ) is a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) district, and parish, located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. It stretches some from Glasserchoo and Bloody For ...

. After she got a role with Bord na Gaeilge as an education executive, Ní Thuathail got involved with television. During the 1980s Ní Thuathail worked for the independent Dublin-based production company ''Coco''. By 1988 she had set up her own company in

Spiddal Spiddal, also known as Spiddle (Irish language, Irish and official name: , , meaning 'the hospital'), is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road (Ireland), R336 road. It is o ...

, ''Eo Teilifís''. There she produced children's programming in Irish. When the Irish language television station, TnaG, was founded Ní Thuathail was awarded the contract for the station's soap opera. Working with Tyrone Productions she was the executive producer of Ros na Rún. Ní Thuathail was awarded the Young Business Woman of the Year award in 1997. In 2010 she was a co-founder of the newspaper ''Gaelscéal''. She has also produced a number of educational TV series including ''Turas teanga''. Throughout her television career Ní Thuathail believed in education and the importance of having people with the Irish language trained in all aspects of the production of television programs. As a result, she was also a founder of the training centre ''Gréasán na Meán''. Ní Thuathail died of cancer on 19 September 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuathail, Maire Ni 1959 births Mass media people from County Mayo Irish television producers Irish women television producers 2016 deaths Alumni of the University of Galway People from Spiddal