Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí (6 May 1970 – 19 September 2023) was an Irish broadcaster who broadcast mainly through Irish. He is known particularly for his popular magazine programme ''Rónán Beo'' on

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (; "Radio of the Gaeltacht"), abbreviated RnaG, is an Irish language radio station owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the inter ...

. He was born on 6 May 1970 in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, but was brought up 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 ...

, in the Donegal gaeltacht, where he attended Bunscoil Bhun Bhig and Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair. He was the youngest son of the author and came from a family of eight.

Life and career

Mac Aodha Bhuí studied journalism 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 ...

before going on to work at several different radio stations, including Radio Ireland,

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, ...

and

. He has also written for the Irish language publications '' Anois'', ''

Lá ''Lá'' ( Irish for "Day"; later known as ''Lá Nua'', Irish for "New Day") was an Irish-language daily newspaper based in Belfast. It was the first daily newspaper in Ireland to be published in Irish. ''Lá Nua'' belonged to the Belfast Media ...

'' and ''

Nós ''Nós'' (, meaning "custom" or "trend") is an Irish language culture and lifestyle magazine. Launched online on 17 March 2008 during Seachtain na Gaeilge, it began publishing a glossy print edition in November of the same year. Run on a volu ...

''. Outside of his work at Raidió na Gaeltachta, he was active in the entertainment industry and established An Ciorcal Craiceáilte, now defunct, and An Cabaret Craiceáilte, which aims to bring entertainment, particularly music, to Gaeltacht areas and to Gweedore in particular. An Cabaret Craiceáilte usually takes place once a month, and annually at The Soma Festival in

Castlewellan Castlewellan () is a small town in County Down, in the south-east of Northern Ireland close to the Irish Sea. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí had enjoyed much acclaim and popularity, and in 2011 won the Celtic Media award for Radio Personality of the Year. He had also been awarded two

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

media awards, for Radio Personality of the Year and Radio Series of the Year (for his programme ''Rónán Beo@3'') respectively. In 2013, he presented the series ''Rónán ar an Camino'' 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 ...

, based on his experiences walking the Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago). Mac Aodha Bhuí died in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

on 19 September 2023, at the age of 53.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Aodha Bhui, Ronan 1970 births 2023 deaths RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta presenters People from Gweedore TG4 presenters Broadcasters from Cork (city) Broadcasters from County Cork Broadcasters from County Donegal