Maurice O'Doherty

HydeRoad

I was going to post to ask if there were no recordings at all of Maurice O'Doherty in the RTE newsroom, and then I found a clip on the RTE Libraries and Archives of Maurice reporting the death of Eamon De Valera in 1975.

It seems a shame that stalwarts of the Irish living room every dinnertime for years in the 1970s and 1980s should quietly slip away without some suitable recognition or tribute. There is small mention of Charles Mitchel, the late, great newsreader, and practically no mention at all of Maurice O'Doherty or Don Cockburn, all of whom had very distinctive voices, and were almost part of the family for years. Paddy McHugh I remember too, the regular senior weather forecaster of the time, with his little batten to point to the maps.

It's a pity there aren't more clips of these gentlemen, or even some kind of tribute page...

http://www.rte.ie/laweb/smil/t09/t09_death_announcement_tv.smil

carchaeologist

HydeRoad wrote: »

I found a clip on the RTE Libraries and Archives [URL="http://"][/URL]

How did you get access to that?

HydeRoad

Goooooooooogle...

Lizzykins

Thanks for that Hyde Road. I remenber Maurice O'Doherty very well. And Don Cockborn too. Is he still alive I wonder. Dev dying seems like only yesterday.

steveone

I was listening to gay byrne back in february I think it was.. he was complaining about the standard of reporting that is presented to us on the main news programmes across the board. he was highly critical of it and I would agree with him. memories of Don Cockburn come back to me, and maurice o doherty with the black rimmed glasses..they were indeed highly distinctive..
I also recall valerie mcgovern, aunty poppy (ruth) and was it mary kelly. I thinks she's an artist or writer now. she was from the days when anne doyle was a young wan.....

and garda patrol and the endless search for agricultural equipment thieves...

telecinesk

wow that brings me back to 70s780s , news and so on. I have a vhs of rte news from 1982 which followed some ThinLizzy gig in RDS and it has Charles Mitchell and it runs for 15mins to the cheesy Discover ireland 82 adbreaks haha, must upload it to youtube and break every copywrite law in the world.
Anyone ellse have something on the end of a tape of the news from back then?

steveone

telecinesk wrote: »

wow that brings me back to 70s780s , news and so on. I have a vhs of rte news from 1982 which followed some ThinLizzy gig in RDS and it has Charles Mitchell and it runs for 15mins to the cheesy Discover ireland 82 adbreaks haha, must upload it to youtube and break every copywrite law in the world.
Anyone ellse have something on the end of a tape of the news from back then?

ah yeah for sure.... charles mitchell I remember him.
that would be great to see...

gipi

Speaking of weathermen, I remember Michael Gilligan, whose "catch phrase" was "Wet and Windy". It always seemed to be "wet and windy" weather on the way when Michael did the forecast!

Hey, we've got the weather now, wonder is Michael doing the great forecasts in the sky these days?!

nlgbbbblth

Maurice O'Doherty annoucing Dev's death appears on Reeling In The Years 1975.

Charles Mitchell's final RTE News sign-off is on the 1984 instalment.

Green Hornet

Don Cockburn always seemed to have a happy personality. Always finished the bulletin with a pleasant smile. Spoke very well as well.

topper75

Green Hornet wrote: »

Don Cockburn always seemed to have a happy personality. Always finished the bulletin with a pleasant smile. Spoke very well as well.

If you ask me, that accent they had is the real Dublin 4 postal address accent. The tosspot Dort accent was really only started by Geldof and co.

If you listen to older folks from South County Dublin, they actually have a very pleasant accent that is neutral and clear.

Bearhunter

What I remember about Don Cockburn was his alarming mannersim while reading news for the deaf. He would twist his mouth to one side into a kind of snarl and he looked like he'd ate the face off you. I also remember Maurice O'Doherty playing a newsreader during a RTE Christmas night screening of some telly version of a Jimmy O'Dea panto, Cinderella from memory, where he was dressed in old-fashioned clothes and had a pint of stout on the desk beside him. Or maybe it's the years of drinking that ahve destroyed my memory.

europhile

HydeRoad wrote: »

with his little batten to point to the maps.

Baton. Batten is what you do with hatches.

buffalo

I passed Maurice O'Doherty's grave yesterday actually. His epitaph reads "Sorry, I'll read that again."