Michael Viney

Michael Viney

Born(1933-02-06)6 February 1933
Brighton, England
Died30 May 2023(2023-05-30) (aged 90)
Occupation
  • Writer
  • broadcaster
  • artist
SubjectsNature
Spouse
Ethna McManus
(m. 1965)
Children1

Michael Viney MRIA (6 February 1933 – 30 May 2023) was a British-born Irish artist, author, broadcaster and journalist. Best known for his writings on nature, he contributed to The Irish Times from 1962.

Early life and beginning of career

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Michael Viney was born in Brighton, England on 6 February 1933, to parents who operated a cafe.[1] Although interested in art as a career, he began work with the Brighton and Hove Herald at the age of 16, before stints at the Evening Argus, The Star, and Today.[1] In 1962, he took a career break and moved to Tully Cross in Connemara, and eventually decided to stay in Ireland, performing freelance assignments for The Irish Times, later becoming a staff journalist.[1]

Career

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The Irish Times and RTÉ

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In the 1960s Viney wrote for The Irish Times about social issues such as the fate of people in institutional care.[2] His articles were later incorporated into the Ryan Report on institutional abuse of children in Ireland.[3]

Viney began working at RTÉ Television as presenter in programmes aimed at social, consumer affairs and with items on household and family matters. He took training there as a TV director and became a production editor in 1976.

Move to Mayo

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Viney left Dublin in 1977 with his wife, Ethna, and daughter for a simpler life in County Mayo, at their holiday home on one acre at Thallabawn, Murrisk, near the coast south of Louisburgh.[3][4]

Nature writing

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Viney published "Another Life", a weekly column in The Irish Times, from 1977.[3][4] Over the years the focus of the column shifted from sustainability to natural history. His last column was published in February 2023.[1]

Personal life

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Viney married Ethna McManus in 1965, and they had a daughter.[1] He was an atheist.[1]

Viney died on 30 May 2023, at the age of 90.[1]

Recognition

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In 1966, Viney won a Jacob's Award for his RTÉ Television documentary, Too Many Children.[5]

Viney was a member of Aosdána, Ireland's academy or affiliation of distinguished creative artists.[6] He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy in May 2017.[7]

Bibliography

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Viney's books include:

  • Ireland: A Smithsonian Natural History. 2003[8]
  • Ireland's Ocean (co-written with Ethna Viney)
  • 'A Year's Turning' 1996, The Blackstaff Press' 3 Galway Park,Dundonald, Belfast BT16 OAN.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Boland, Rosita (30 May 2023). "Michael Viney obituary: A life of self-sufficiency and curiosity in Ireland's wild west". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  2. ^ Kelly, Brendan (4 October 2010). "Walking through the past in today's Sligo". Irish Medical Times. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Boland, Rosita (10 July 2010). "If I had stayed working in Dublin I'd probably be dead by now". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. ^ a b "First words from the west ; In his first Another Life column published in 1977, Michael Viney tells of adjusting to country life"". 15 February 2003. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  5. ^ The Irish Times, "Television awards presented", 8 December 1966
  6. ^ Aosdana website
  7. ^ O'Sullivan (May 2017). "Michael Viney elected to the Royal Irish Academy". The Irish Times.
  8. ^ Paul Clements,"Our precious stake in a fragile world" Archived 25 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Fortnight magazine, January 2004