Former RTÉ journalist and newsreader Bryan Dobson has spent most of his life telling other people's stories but tonight he gets a chance to report on his own life on new RTÉ series Museum of Me.
During his nearly forty-year career in RTE, the 66-year-old Dubliner, affectionately known as Dobbo, covered some of the biggest stories of the past four decades, including the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and the 9/11 attacks on New York.
When he retired in 2024, he had become one of the most respected reporters and news anchors in Ireland.
He’s back on our screens on Sunday night as the first guest of The Museum of Me.
The new show is presented by Dermot Whelan and it sees well-known faces uncover their personal history through family heirlooms, sentimental treasures and souvenirs and then curate them in their own personal museum in Fota House in Cork.
It’s gentle Sunday viewing, a kind of cross between This is Your Life and Who do You Think You Are?, that reveals some famous faces as you’ve never seen them before.
Upcoming guests on the show include Pat Shortt, Steve Garrigan of Dublin band Kodaline, presenter Maia Dunphy, actress Mary McEvoy, and comedian Emma Doran.
For Bryan, who jokes that he’s "a bit of a museum piece myself", taking part in the show was a chance to revisit some of the big stories he has covered over the years, including the signing of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998.
"That night, I was broadcasting from outside Stormont. In the dark, it was a bitterly cold night," he says. "Everybody had left, and somebody appeared from the Northern Ireland press office and said, 'do you want one of these?’
"’It's the Good Friday Agreement that's just been signed. We've printed it. We've got them to the printing press, and here it is’. And she put it into my hand."
His prized copy of the agreement was later signed by all 13 signatories, including Tony Blair, John Hume, Gerry Adams, who signed his name with a ‘XOXO’, and Unionist leader David Trimble, who didn’t.
Bryan’s choices provide not just an insight into his life story but also open a window on to Irish history.
He delves into his family’s past when he reveals the World War One medals he inherited from his grandfather, along with a tin box containing tobacco and a card from the British Royal Family presented to soldiers at the front in Christmas 1914.
"My father's father, James Dobson, was a veteran of the First World War. He died in 1963, and in his will, he left me his war medals," says Bryan.
"So this medal was issued to those soldiers who were the first to be deployed to France. And my grandfather was among that group. But what I only discovered in more recent years was that he had been a full-time soldier as a young man, as a 19-year-old.
"He enlisted in the British Army here in Dublin. The contract involved him signing up for a total of 12 years. And what the contract also specifies is if a war breaks out, if war is declared during the period of this 12 years, then you're stuck for a further year.
"And his contract was due to expire on the 17th of August, 1914. So he was 13 days short of being clear of any further liability. He was just caught. He was called up. He went initially to London and then he was sent to France and was finally discharged on the 17th of August, 1915.
"It's a chance to tell my grandfather's story, but also through that, tell the story of so many Irishmen at that time."
Bryan's father's bookcase
Each item chosen by guests on Museum of Me is given to a restoration team, led by the National Museum's Siobhán Doyle, who bring the precious pieces back to life before they go on display.
And there is one object in particular that takes pride of place in Bryan’s collection - the bookcase made by his late father nearly 70 years ago.
"He wasn't a carpenter, he wasn't a cabinetmaker, he worked in an office, he worked in the wine trade," Bryan says. "But he took night classes in woodwork and carpentry, and he built a number of pieces of furniture, including this.
"When I look at this, I think of my dad, obviously. I think of just what joy and pride he got from doing this work. And I kind of feel maybe it's a bit sad that he didn't have a chance to work with his hands because he was obviously very creative.
"I don't think he was unhappy, I never heard him complain. But I just do wonder if there'd been other opportunities, how might things have turned out?"
Museum of Me airs on Sundays at 8:30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
