Paddy O'Byrne (8 December 1929 – 4 December 2013) was an Irish radio broadcaster and actor who became one of the best-known radio personalities in South Africa.

Early life

O'Byrne was born in

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within ...

, a suburb of

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 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He attended

St Mary's College, Dublin St Mary's College C.S.Sp. (Congregatio Sancti Spiritus) is a voluntary secondary school, voluntary boys' primary and secondary school run by the Holy Ghost Fathers, Congregation of the Holy Spirit and located in Rathmines, Dublin, Republic of Ire ...

Castleknock College Castleknock College () is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one of the oldest boys' schools in ...

and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, where he earned a degree in Legal and Political Science. In 1952, he was called to the Kings Inns. In 1954, he abandoned a legal career in favour of the performing arts, joining the George Mitchell Singers in London but had a "day job" working for an insurance company. During the summer season in

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

, he met and later married a singer and dancer from Dublin named Vicky Fitzpatrick. They had three children Jane, John (died 1980) and Dominic. He was the son of John O'Byrne, K.C. and Marjorie (née McGuire)."The late Paddy O’Byrne, a major radio name in two countries, dies in Mullingar"
(11 December 2013) ''

Westmeath Examiner The ''Westmeath Examiner'' is a weekly newspaper in County Westmeath, Ireland. It was founded in 1882. The ''Westmeath Examiner'' is a sister paper of the ''Westmeath Independent'' which circulates in the Athlone area of the county. The ''West ...

Career in South Africa

O’Byrne emigrated to the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

in 1958. In 1961, he won a competition called The Voice of South Africa, thereby gaining a contract with the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

and a new career. As was commonly the case at the time, both among Irish actors abroad as well as many South Africans in the theatre and broadcast media, he used

Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent of British English regarded as the Standard language, standard one, carrying the highest Prestige (sociolinguistics), social prestige, since as late as the beginning of the 2 ...

for his professional speaking voice.Peter Roach (2001) ''British English: Received Pronunciation'', School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, University of Reading
In 1980, when the radio station

Talk Radio 702 702 or (Talk Radio 702) is a commercial FM radio station based in Johannesburg, South Africa, broadcasting on FM 92.7 and FM 106 to the greater Gauteng province. The station is also webcast via its website. It claims to be Johannesburg's numb ...

was launched in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, he was the first announcer heard on it. He also worked for

Radio Today Radio Today is a 24 hours radio station in Bangladesh that started airing in May 2006. It is currently available in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Khulna, Bogra, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barishal, Kushtia, Comilla. History Radio Today started as ...

and

Radio Veritas Radio Veritas Asia is a non-commercial Catholic shortwave radio station that broadcasts across Asia. Headquartered in Quezon City, Philippines, it is operated by the Philippine Radio Educational and Information Center (PREIC), which also man ...

, a Roman Catholic station, in Johannesburg and for

Fine Music Radio Fine Music Radio is a radio station that is based within the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 1995, Fine Music Radio focuses mainly on classical music and jazz, and broadcasts on frequencies 101.3 in the greater Ca ...

in Cape Town. He also worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on Radio 2 and

Capital Radio Capital London is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment as part of its national Capital (radio network), Capital Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Bri ...

in the United Kingdom, during the 1970s and 1980s. He was also an actor, and narrated five films, while in South Africa. He was one of a series of actors who played the science-fiction character Mark Saxon in the original

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

''No Place to Hide'', originally created by South African author Monty Doyle. O’Byrne and his family moved to

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

in 2001, but he continued to do broadcasts for Irish classical-music radio station Lyric FM, and his programmes for Fine Music Radio were recorded there and transmitted to South Africa for broadcast. He retired in 2004."The #ConsideredView - RIP Paddy O'Byrne" (2013-12-05) EWN – ''Eye Witness News'', South Africa
/ref> In 2010, at the MTN Radio Awards Gala, in Johannesburg, O’Byrne was honoured for his contribution to South African broadcasting, being named one of the inaugural inductees into the

Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communication ...

Narrator

He narrated two movies from ''

The Gods Must Be Crazy ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' is a 1980 comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Jamie Uys. An international co-production of South Africa and Botswana, it is the first film in ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' series. Set in Southern Afri ...

'' film series, as well as ''

Animals Are Beautiful People ''Animals Are Beautiful People'' (also called ''Beautiful People'') is a 1974 South African nature documentary written, produced, directed, filmed and edited by Jamie Uys, about the wildlife in Southern Africa, presented with comedic elements ...

''.

Death

Paddy O'Byrne died on 4 December 2013, aged 83, in

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

."Veteran broadcaster, popular actor O’Byrne dies" (6 December 2013) ''The Witness'', Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
/ref>

References

External links

*
Obituary at Talk Radio 702, South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:OByrne, Paddy 1929 births 2013 deaths Irish expatriates in South Africa Musicians from County Dublin Irish male film actors 20th-century Irish male actors Irish radio presenters Alumni of King's Inns Alumni of University College Dublin People from Killiney People educated at Castleknock College Broadcasters from County Dublin