Colm Keane

Colm Keane
Born Youghal, County Cork
Occupation Author, Broadcaster, Journalist
Nationality Irish
Education B.A. (Mod.), M.A., M.A.
Alma mater Trinity College, Dublin; Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

Colm Keane is an author, broadcaster and journalist who has published 25 books,[1] including six No.1 Irish bestsellers.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Keane was born in Youghal, County Cork, on 15 September 1951.[8] He attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated with a B.A. Mod., M.A. in Economics and Political Science.[9][10] Further postgraduate studies were undertaken at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., where he received an M.A. in Economics.[11]

He joined the Irish national broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann, in 1977, where he initially worked as a television journalist.[12] He co-presented the weekly investigative series Public Account with Pat Kenny,[13][14] and he worked as a reporter on the current affairs programme Today Tonight.[15] While in television, he won a Glaxo Fellowship for European Science Writers for his scripting and presentation of the science series A Future in Mind.[16] [17]

In the early 1980s, Keane moved to RTÉ Radio 1, where he worked as a reporter, presenter, producer and series producer.[18] He won a Jacob's Award in 1988 for American Profiles, which featured a visit to Death Row in Texas, a profile of an Auschwitz survivor living in New York and a feature documentary on NASA astronaut James Irwin.[19]

As a radio producer, he compiled and presented documentaries based on interviews with legendary musical figures including Burt Bacharach, Cat Stevens, Davy Jones of the Monkees, Dave Davies of the Kinks, Chubby Checker, Engelbert Humperdinck, Pete Seeger, Val Doonican, Glen Campbell, Neil Sedaka and more than 140 other performers and musicians.[20]

Among his documentary subjects was former Manchester United footballer George Best.[21][22] He also produced and presented A Belfast Game, profiling the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the experiences of the Ardoyne Kickhams Under-16 football team. This programme would later inspire the Andrew Lloyd Webber West End production, The Beautiful Game.[23]

Colm’s radio presentation work included Studio 10, which he co-presented with future President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.[24][25]

Having retired from broadcasting in 2003, Keane embarked on a career as a full-time author and was responsible for the national bestsellers Going Home (No.1),[26] We’ll Meet Again (No.1),[27] Heading for the Light (No.1),[28] The Distant Shore and Forewarned. Most of the content of these books was based on research with survivors of near-death experiences. He also wrote two national No.1 bestsellers on the Italian saint Padre Pio – Padre Pio: The Irish Connection[29] and Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses.[30]

Married to RTÉ newsreader Úna O'Hagan,[31] the couple's only son Seán Keane died in 2007.[32] In 2008, he set up the publishing company Capel Island Press.[33] The company’s first book was written by Colm and called The Beatles Irish Concerts.[34] Since its inception, it has published four No.1 bestsellers.[35][36][37][38]

He currently lives in County Waterford.

Selected bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Orpen, Joy. "I lost my beloved son to cancer and then faced it myself". www.independent.ie. Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Heading for the Light" (Irish Times 6 December 2014). Nielsen Book Research.
  3. ↑ "Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses" (Irish Times 28 September 2013). Nielsen Bookscan.
  4. ↑ "We'll Meet Again" (Irish Times 30 March 2013). Nielsen Bookscan.
  5. ↑ "Going Home" (Irish Times 24 October 2009). Nielsen Bookscan.
  6. ↑ "Padre Pio - The Irish Connection" (Irish Times 27 October 2007). Nielsen Bookscan.
  7. ↑ "Nervous Breakdown" (Irish Times 16 April 1994). Book Sellers Association Irish Branch.
  8. ↑ "Youghal author 'Going Home' for book signing". www.youghalonline.com. Youghalonline.com. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Dublin University Calendar 1974-5. p. 674.
  10. ↑ Dublin University (Trinity College) Graduate Records. 6 July 1990.
  11. ↑ Georgetown University Graduate Records. 29 August 1975.
  12. ↑ "RTE crew outside Kerry Co-op, Listowel". www.rte.ie/archives/. Stills Library - RTE Archives. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  13. ↑ RTE Guide. 5 March 1982. pp. Front, 12.
  14. ↑ "'Public Account' production team (1981)". www.rte.ie/archives/. Stills Library - RTE Archives. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  15. ↑ Today Tonight, season 1980-81. RTE Television Archives: RTE.
  16. ↑ "Technology Ireland". August 1981: 7.
  17. ↑ O'Connor, John. "Where do we go when we die?". www.munster-express.ie. The Munster Express. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  18. ↑ "RTE Radio producer Colm Keane". www.rte.ie/archives/. Stills Library - RTE Archive. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  19. ↑ "RTE Radio Archives 1 August 1987, 8 August 1987, 25 July 1987".
  20. ↑ RTE Radio Archives 28 August 1997, 17 March 1999, 4 April 2002, 28 October 1996, 12 June 1997, 17 March 1998, September 1998 (3-part series), 18 March 1996, 7 August 2000, 28 December 1998.
  21. ↑ "The George Best Story". RTE Radio Archives. 5 November 1984.
  22. ↑ George Best, A Cut above the Rest. RTE Radio Archives. 24 September 2000.
  23. ↑ Keane, Fergal. "The tragedy, hopes and fears behind the beautiful game". www.independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  24. ↑ McCarthy, Justine (1999). Mary McAleese : the outsider : an unauthorised biography. Dublin: Blackwater Press. pp. 26, 64. ISBN 978-1841314419.
  25. ↑ Mánais, Ray Mac (2004). The road from Ardoyne : the making of a president. Dingle [u.a.]: Brandon [u.a.] pp. 169, 198. ISBN 978-0863223334.
  26. ↑ "Going Home" (Irish Times 24 October 2009). Nielsen Bookscan.
  27. ↑ "We'll Meet Again" (Irish Times 30 March 2013). Nielsen Bookscan.
  28. ↑ "Heading for the Light" (Irish Times 6 December 2014). Nielsen Book Research.
  29. ↑ "Padre Pio: The Irish Connection" (Irish Times 27 October 2007). Nielsen Bookscan.
  30. ↑ "Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses" (Irish Times 28 September 2013). Nielsen Bookscan.
  31. ↑ "Colm Keane, Una O'Hagan and Sean". www.rte.ie/archives/. Stills Library - RTE Archives.
  32. ↑ "Sadness at death of Sean". www.independent.ie. The Bray People. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  33. ↑ "Capel Island Press Ltd". www.companiesireland.com. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  34. ↑ "The Night Dublin Rocked The Beatles". www.independent.ie. Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  35. ↑ "Heading for the Light" (Irish Times 6 December 2014). Nielsen Book Research.
  36. ↑ "Padre Pio:The Scent of Roses" (Irish Times 28 September 2013). Nielsen Bookscan.
  37. ↑ "We'll Meet Again" (Irish Times 30 March 2013). Nielsen Bookscan.
  38. ↑ "Going Home" (Irish Times 24 October 2009). Nielsen Bookscan.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, November 22, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.