Éamon de Buitléar (; 22 January 1930 – 27 January 2013) was an Irish writer, musician and film maker. He was managing director of Éamon de Buitléar Ltd., a company which specialises in

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

filming and television

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

. The son of aide-de-camp to the then

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

, he grew up in a house of

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

speakers in

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

. He began his working career in ''Garnett and Keegan's and Helys'', selling fishing gear and shotguns. It was there where he first met

Seán Ó Riada Seán Ó Riada (; born John Reidy; 1 August 1931 – 3 October 1971), was an Irish composer and arranger of Irish traditional music. Through his incorporation of modern and traditional techniques he became the single most influential figur ...

. A 4 km circular walk or ''The De Buitléar Way'' on Bray Head commemorates his life and work, calling out notable flora and fauna in the area. It was inaugurated in May 2014 by his wife Lailí.

Film career

For many years in the 1960s he was the only independent film producer, with

Gerrit van Gelderen Gerrit van Gelderen (1926-1994) was a Dutch-born naturalist, wildlife broadcaster, film-maker, illustrator and cartoonist, who lived and worked in Ireland for a large part of his life. He is famous for his television work on Amuigh Faoin Spéir w ...

, making wildlife programmes, notably the series ''Amuigh Faoin Spéir'' (English: "Out Under the Sky") for the Irish television channel, Telefís Éireann. In 1986, his programme, ''Cois Farraige leis an Madra Uisce'', won him a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

. His work includes directing films based on his books, and he received commissions from

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and other stations. In 1987, he was

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

to the

18th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 18th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These Senators were elected or appointed in 1987, after the 1987 general election and served until the close of poll for the ...

. He was appointed to the Central Fisheries Board in 2005.

Musical career

De Buitléar was involved in Irish traditional music with Seán Ó Riada and was later involved in the establishment of the traditional music groups

Ceoltóirí Chualann Ceoltóirí Chualann (pronounced ) was an Irish traditional band, led by Seán Ó Riada, which included many of the founding members of The Chieftains. Ceoltóirí is the Irish word for musicians, and Cualann is the name of an area just outsid ...

(1960–1969) and Ceoltóirí Laighean.

Books

* * * - Reviewed by the Irish Independent *

Filmography

* ''Amuigh Faoin Spéir'' – television series (RTÉ); * ''The Natural World and The Living Isles'' (BBC); * ''Exploring the Landscape'' – television series (RTÉ); * ''Ireland's Wild Countryside'' – television series (RTÉ); * ''A Life in the Wild'' – television series (RTÉ); * ''Wild Islands'' (RTÉ, S4C and STV); * ''Nature Watch'' (ITV); * ''Éiníní and Ainimhithe na hÉireann'' (TG4).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Buitlear, Eamon 1930 births 2013 deaths 21st-century Irish people Irish writers Irish film directors Irish accordionists Jacob's Award winners Members of the 18th Seanad People from Bray, County Wicklow Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Independent members of Seanad Éireann