Michael Viney

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.

Michael Viney

MRIA
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

Early life and beginning of career

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

The Irish Times and RTÉ

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

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

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

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

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

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
  1. 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. 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. "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, subscription required)
  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
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