Identity area
Reference code
IE LMOD 333
Title
1999 Gay Byrne's Freedom of the City
Date(s)
- Twentieth Century (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
Paper, ink, paint. 55 x 39 cm
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
13/07/2011
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Gay Byrne's Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin awarded on 11 May 1999. It has a picture of the Late Late Show owl on the bottom.
Gay Byrne hosted RTÉ’s flagship talk show, the Late Late Show, for 37 years from its first broadcast in 1962. Byrne was a major catalyst in the transformation of Irish society, riffing on abortion, contraception and homosexuality. The Late Late Show featured an owl on its opening credits, hence the owl’s appearance on Byrne’s freedom of the city award. Byrne retired in 1999, but still pops up on Irish television.
