Nationality Irish Name Colm Keane | Role Author Spouse Una O'Hagan | |
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Occupation Author, Broadcaster, Journalist Education B.A. (Mod.), M.A., M.A. Alma mater Trinity College, Dublin, Georgetown University Books Forewarned: Extraordinary Irish Stori, Padre Pio: The Irish Connection, Ireland's Soccer Top 20, Hurling's Top 20, Gaelic Football's Top 20 | ||
Colm Keane is an author, broadcaster and journalist who has published 25 books, including six No.1 Irish bestsellers.
Keane was born in Youghal, County Cork, on 15 September 1951. He attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated with a B.A. Mod., M.A. in Economics and Political Science. Further postgraduate studies were undertaken at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., where he received an M.A. in Economics.
He joined the Irish national broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann, in 1977, where he initially worked as a television journalist. He co-presented the weekly investigative series Public Account with Pat Kenny, and he worked as a reporter on the current affairs programme Today Tonight. While in television, he won a Glaxo Fellowship for European Science Writers for his scripting and presentation of the science series A Future in Mind.
In the early 1980s, Keane moved to RTÉ Radio 1, where he worked as a reporter, presenter, producer and series producer. He won a Jacob's Award in 1988 for American Profiles, which featured a visit to Death Row in Texas, a profile of an Auschwitz survivor living in New York and a feature documentary on NASA astronaut James Irwin.
As a radio producer, he compiled and presented documentaries based on interviews with legendary musical figures including Burt Bacharach, Cat Stevens, Davy Jones of the Monkees, Dave Davies of the Kinks, Chubby Checker, Engelbert Humperdinck, Pete Seeger, Val Doonican, Glen Campbell, Neil Sedaka and more than 140 other performers and musicians.
Among his documentary subjects was former Manchester United footballer George Best. He also produced and presented A Belfast Game, profiling the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the experiences of the Ardoyne Kickhams Under-16 football team. This programme would later inspire the Andrew Lloyd Webber West End production, The Beautiful Game.
Colm’s radio presentation work included Studio 10, which he co-presented with future President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.
Having retired from broadcasting in 2003, Keane embarked on a career as a full-time author and was responsible for the national bestsellers Going Home (No.1), We’ll Meet Again (No.1), Heading for the Light (No.1), The Distant Shore and Forewarned. Most of the content of these books was based on research with survivors of near-death experiences. He also wrote two national No.1 bestsellers on the Italian saint Padre Pio – Padre Pio: The Irish Connection and Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses.
Married to RTÉ newsreader Úna O'Hagan, the couple's only son Seán Keane died in 2007. Together, they collaborated on the bestselling book Animal Crackers: Irish Pet Stories, published in June 2016.
In 2008, he set up the publishing company Capel Island Press. The company’s first book was written by Colm and called The Beatles Irish Concerts. Since its inception, it has published four No.1 bestsellers.
He currently lives in County Waterford.