Ciaran MacMathuna
| Ciarán Mac Mathúna | |
|---|---|
| Born |
26 November 1925 Limerick |
| Died | 11 December 2009 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Folklorist, Broadcaster |
| Known for | Collecting music; Mo Cheol Thú |
Ciarán Mac Mathúna, (26 November 1925 – 11 December 2009) was an Irish broadcaster and music collector. He was a recognised authority on Irish music and lectured extensively on the subject. He travelled around Ireland, England, Scotland and America collecting music.
According to Sam Smyth in the Irish Independent, Mac Mathúna was "on a mission to collect songs and stories, music, poetry and dance before they were buried under the coming tsunami of pop music".
He presented Mo Cheol Thú for 35 years. Upon his retirement in 2005, MD of RTÉ Radio Adrian Moynes described Mac Mathúna as "inseparable from RTÉ Radio". Upon his death in 2009, the Irish Independent described him as "a national treasure".
Mac Mathúna was born in Limerick, spending his early years in Mulgrave Street. He was schooled at CBS Sexton St, and later graduated from University College, Dublin with a BA in modern Irish and Latin. Subsequently, he completed a MA in Irish.
After college Mac Mathúna worked as a teacher and later at the Placenames Commission. In 1954, he joined Radio Éireann where his job was to record Irish traditional musicians playing in their own locales. This entailed visiting such places as Sliabh Luachra, County Clare and County Sligo, and the resulting recordings featured in his radio programmes:
Director-General of RTÉ Cathal Goan later recalled that Mac Mathúna interviewed him for his first job at the station. Goan assisted in the organisation of Mac Mathúna's music collection for the RTÉ Libraries and Archives.
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