Colm Keane, author and award-winning journalist, was born in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin (B.A. Mod., M.A. Economics) and Georgetown University, Washington D.C. (M.A. Economics).
Colm enjoyed a long and prolific career at Ireland’s national broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann. Working initially as a television journalist in the late 1970s, he was part of the Today Tonight programme known for its in-depth analysis and investigative reporting. He eventually moved to RTÉ Radio, where he worked as a reporter, presenter, producer and series producer.
Colm’s programmes ranged from the award-winning American Profiles series to documentaries with some of the biggest musical stars of modern times – among them Pete Seeger, Cat Stevens and Burt Bacharach.
He produced and presented many groundbreaking series on Gaelic football and hurling, as well as soccer and rugby, while interviewing great Irish sporting heroes including George Best, Roy Keane, Willie John McBride, Mick O’Connell and Jimmy Doyle.
His documentary A Belfast Game, profiling the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the experiences of Belfast’s Ardoyne Kickhams Under-16 football team, later inspired the Andrew Lloyd Webber West End production The Beautiful Game.
During his time with RTÉ, Colm also presented and produced many radio series – and edited and wrote accompanying books – on mental health, including Nervous Breakdown, The Stress File, Mental Health in Ireland, The Teenage Years and Death and Dying.
In 2003, Colm retired from broadcasting and embarked on a career as a full-time author. Since then, he has written books about Padre Pio, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and on issues concerning the near-death experience and deathbed visions. Eight of his books have become No.1 bestsellers.
He is married to former RTÉ newsreader Una O’Hagan. In 2005, his only son Seán was diagnosed with cancer and, after a two year battle, died on Christmas Day 2007.
Colm Keane currently lives in County Waterford.
LINKS
Colm Keane and Una O’Hagan
Una O’Hagan Wikipedia
Colm Keane’s books