Michael Viney MRIA (6 February 1933 – 30 May 2023) was a British-born Irish artist, author, broadcaster and journalist. Best known for his writings on nature, he contributed to ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' from 1962.

Early life and beginning of career

Michael Viney was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, England on 6 February 1933, to parents who operated a cafe. Although interested in art as a career, he began work with the '' Brighton and Hove Herald'' at the age of 16, before stints at the '' Evening Argus'', '' The Star'', and '' Today''. In 1962, he took a career break and moved to Tully Cross in

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

, and eventually decided to stay in Ireland, performing freelance assignments for ''

'', later becoming a staff journalist.

Career

The Irish Times and RTÉ

In the 1960s Viney wrote for ''The Irish Times'' about social issues such as the fate of people in institutional care. His articles were later incorporated into the Ryan Report on institutional abuse of children in Ireland. Viney began working at RTÉ Television as a presenter in programmes aimed at social and consumer affairs and with items on household and family matters. He took training there as a TV director and became a production editor in 1976.

Move to Mayo

Viney left Dublin in 1977 with his wife, Ethna, and daughter for a simpler life in County Mayo, at their holiday home on one acre at Thallabawn, Murrisk, near the coast south of Louisburgh.

Nature writing

Viney published "Another Life", a weekly column in ''The Irish Times'', from 1977. Over the years the focus of the column shifted from sustainability to natural history. His last column was published in February 2023.

Personal life

Viney married Ethna McManus in 1965, and they had a daughter. He was an atheist. Viney died on 30 May 2023, at the age of 90.

Recognition

In 1966, Viney won a Jacob's Award for his RTÉ Television

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''Too Many Children''. Viney was a member of Aosdána, Ireland's academy or affiliation of distinguished creative artists. He was elected to the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

in May 2017.

Bibliography

Viney's books include: * ''Ireland: A Smithsonian Natural History''. 2003Paul Clement
"Our precious stake in a fragile world"
, ''Fortnight magazine'', January 2004 * ''Ireland's Ocean'' (co-written with Ethna Viney) * 'A Year's Turning' 1996, The Blackstaff Press' 3 Galway Park, Dundonald, Belfast BT16 OAN.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viney, Michael 1933 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Irish journalists 21st-century Irish journalists Aosdána members Irish atheists Irish columnists Irish environmentalists Irish nature writers Jacob's Award winners Members of the Royal Irish Academy Writers from Brighton Sustainability advocates The Irish Times people Writers from County Mayo