Kathleen Watkins has died aged 90.
The broadcaster, writer and musician was surrounded by her family, and has passed away five years after her husband, RTE legend Gay Byrne.
Kathleen enjoyed success as a harpist and folk singer before joining RTE as a continuity announcer.
She first met Gay in 1957, and they started dating the following year.
The couple married in 1964 and in 1968 they moved to Howth to raise their two daughters, Crona and Suzy.
Gay started presenting The Late Late Show in 1962 and would go on to enjoy a massive career on RTE on both TV and radio. Kathleen had often said even though he was so busy with work, he would never bring it home with him and they valued quality family time.
Kathleen continued to work on her own broadcasting commitments while Gay worked on The Late Late Show and RTE Radio One.
"Ireland's golden couple" relocated to Sandymount following Gay's retirement. In later years, Kathleen became a successful children's author and wrote books about "Pigín", a piglet character she came up while telling stories to her beloved grandchildren.
Back in September, Kathleen opened up about still feeling moments of grief following her husband's passing in 2019.
“There are moments. I am never much alone in that I have family and friends that come out to me. But, yes there are moments that make it real again,” she told the Irish Independent.
She shared that it is “very difficult sometimes really, really difficult” to be without Gay, but she has to “count my blessings”.
Kathleen explained that she has “stopped grieving in one way but my memories are huge and my reminiscences are huge”.
She added: “But I have to stop that and be grateful for the long life I’ve had - and for the life I’ve had. Gay himself often said, ‘We’ve had a charmed life.’ The priest said that on the day of his funeral.”
English (US) ·