Late Late Show viewers have been expressing their delight at the reminisces of Gay Byrne’s daughters about their famous father.
uzy and Crona Byrne shared some special memories of their dad on the show that he once hosted last night, including one particularly “mortifying” incident when Gay used his powers to stop Suzy from going to an infamous disco.
Suzy told Ryan Tubridy that when they were teenagers, the fact that their dad was a well-known radio and TV presenter, could go against them.
“In teenage years it is just mortifying,” Suzy revealed. “We had a particular incident where myself and my friend Ger… we were desperate to go to Wesley disco, just desperate. So myself and Ger thought this was fantastic, we would go and then we get a lift home from Donnybrook.
“So we set about the plan and informed dad that we would be getting a lift home the next Friday. A couple of days later in school, I go in and there is silence and everyone is furious with me. This whole thing comes out that there was this big investigation on the Gay Byrne hour and everybody was barred.
“A few people had written in with concerns over the goings-on in Wesley, so when Suzy decides she wants to go he decides well let’s just see what this is all about. So he sent his team.”
Suzy added: “They monitored people being dropped at Wesley, they monitored the people who got on the bus to into town after their parents left, the drinking, people changing their clothes, they snuck around the back of Wesley and they monitored the kissing on the dancefloor. It was horrendous.”
Suzy said that when she complained to her dad over the investigation., “he said, ‘what’s the problem, they did a very good piece. I am very pleased with what happened and I don’t know what you are getting upset about, because there is no way in hell you are going anywhere near the place’.”
Gay, who passed away in 2019 shared his life with both daughters and wife and author Kathleen Watkins and enjoyed a close bond with them all.
Both sisters still celebrate their father’s life, with Crona writing a crime novel dedicated to Gay which will be published this year.
And the name of the after-school she runs with husband Paul Carney in Killaloe, Co Clare, the Owl and Pussycat, is dedicated to the owl which features in the Late Late Show opening credits.
Suzy also previously revealed after the funeral how her family had fulfilled Gay’s final wish to be brought back to his home in Howth to die.
On her first Father’s Day without him, she wrote: “On October 29, 2019, we brought Dad home to Howth.
“Within minutes he changed: gone was the fear and agitation, replaced by peace and contentment. His beloved Baily lighthouse in his view, and all of us with him. His last days.
“We chose to have Dad downstairs, slightly away but still centre to the hum and noise of us all. Enabling steady company but not a vigil, which he would have hated.”
She added: “Dad’s last moments were peaceful, and if death can be gentle, his was. To the end his timing was impeccable and considerate. Dad went when he decided it was time. Medically, a week earlier, he had been told things were looking up.
“Always gracious, Dad smiled and thanked his doctor, John McCaffrey. Minutes later he said to me: ‘Please Suzy, take me to Howth.’
Viewers and fans shared their own memories of Gay on social media today with one person remembering how she once introduced Gay Byrne to three teens from St. Michael’s House.
“3 weeks later, in RTÉ studio Gay walked up to the teens & addressed them each by name, ignoring ‘minders’. That blew me away. That basic respect for learning disability didn’t exist very much in 80s,” she tweeted.
“Nice interview by Ryan Tubridy with daughters of Gay Byrne and Kathleen Watkins,” added another.
“Miss Gaybo on the wireless and television. What I remember most about him was his enormous personal courtesy. Almost old fashioned, but always a feature of his personality,” one fan wrote.
One other said: “Such a lovely interview with Suzie & Crona Byrne reminiscing about their dad.”
