Terry Keane (1939 – 31 May 2008), born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, England, was an Irish social

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

and fashion journalist.

Life

Born Ann Teresa O'Donnell in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, UK in 1939, Keane studied medicine at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. She dropped out without taking a degree and later married a young barrister, Ronan Keane. The couple separated in the 1990s, and Ronan Keane went on to become Chief Justice.

Career

Keane spent the majority of her career working for the Irish newspaper, the '' Sunday Independent'', where she was the principal contributor of the Sunday Independent's long-running gossip column, The Keane Edge.

Charles Haughey

In the Keane Edge column there were often hints of a relationship with a prominent political figure, named in the column as Sweetie, and her relationship was apparently widely known in certain circles, though never openly confirmed. Keane left the paper on bad terms after selling the story of her 27-year affair with former

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...

to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

newspaper ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', a rival to the affiliated London ''Independent'' newspapers, though she admitted her affair on '' The Late Late Show'' in 1999.

Death

Keane's death on 31 May 2008 after a long illness was announced by her son-in-law, media gardener Diarmuid Gavin. She is survived by her children Jane, Madeleine and Justine; her son Tim died in 2004. One of her granddaughters, Holly Carpenter, was Miss Ireland in 2011.

References

External links

The Times - Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, Terry 1939 births 2008 deaths Irish columnists Sunday Independent (Ireland) people