O'Shannon, Cathal

Cathal O'Shannon (1928-2011) was a journalist and broadcaster.

He was the son of socialist and republican Cathal O'Shannon (1890-1969). Born in Dublin, O'Shannon joined the RAF when he was 16 and spent three years on service in the Far East. Back in Dublin, he joined the Irish Times as a junior reporter. While working as London correspondent, he met and married journalist Patsy Dyke. In the early years of Irish television, O'Shannon became a presenter on 'Broadsheet' and 'Newsbeat'. He also worked for the BBC's 'Tonight'. His 1972 interview with Muhammad Ali became one of RTÉ's landmark interviews. Other work includes 'Even the Olives Are Bleeding'(1976), a documentary about the Irish in the Spanish Civil War 

O'Shannon left RTÉ in 1978 to work as public affairs director of Aughinish Alumnia in Limerick, but later returned to broadcasting with documentaries such as 'Hidden History: Ireland's Nazis' (2007).