Seamus Breathnach, who died on March 18th, aged 84, was one of Ireland's longest-serving radio drama producers.
He began work in Radio Eireann in 1947 and was appointed a producer in 1953. Ten years later, he was promoted to the post of senior producer, becoming senior drama and variety producer in 1968. He retired in 1980.
Seamus Breathnach was born in Galway on December 30th 1915, one of five children of a strongly republican family. His father, Micheal, the proprietor of the Old Malt House, was a member of both the Gaelic League and the IRA. As a child, Seamus Breathnach was subjected to a terrifying ordeal when, together with the other members of his family, he was forced to witness the brutal murder of his father by the Black and Tans. He rarely spoke of this traumatic event in later life.
After serving his time as a dress designer, he developed an interest in acting through his association with the Irish-language theatre, An Taibhdhearc. He spent much of the 1930s and 1940s touring Ireland as an actor/producer with the "fit ups", most notably the Louis Dalton Company.
In 1946, Seamus Breathnach joined the Irish Players, a touring company directed by Sheelagh Richards and Lennox Robinson which toured the provinces as well as playing the London stage. The company included Daphne Carroll, T. St John Berry and Wilfrid Brambell who was later to star in the BBC television series, Steptoe and Son.
Seamus Breathnach worked as an organiser for Comhdhail Naisi unta na Gaeilge before joining Radio Eireann. He was associated with the Radio Eireann Players (the Rep) from their inception. The Rep included many highly talented actors, among them Pegg Monahan, Neasa Ni Annrachain, Brendan Cauldwell, Eamonn Kelly, Brendan O Duill and Niall
Toibin. Cyril Cusack and Siobhan McKenna were occasional guest actors with the Rep.
Radio plays at that time (and up until the 1970s) were broadcast live; there was no room for mistakes.
The players proved equal to the task and broadcast a wide range of material from T. S. Eliot to kitchen comedy. The Sunday Night Play was rivalled in popularity only by Micheal O'Hehir's Gaelic games commentaries and Hospitals' Requests. His forte was the well-achieved Abbey play although he was equally at home with the classics as with adaptations of Canon Sheehan's novels. He also produced children's programmes in Irish and was responsible for the weekly Drama an tSathairn. A highlight of his career was a co-production with W. Bridges Adams of the BBC of Othello with Micheal MacLiammoir and Hilton Edwards playing the lead roles.
Not all drama was to Seamus Breathnach's taste. Once, after a reading of a Russian play, he remarked with a sigh, "Well, I suppose it means something to the Russians, but it means nothing to me." The cast was equally baffled.
His most famous saying in rehearsal was, "Will ye stop acting and get on with the bloody play." This could have come straight from the mouth of Sam Goldwyn, but where an actor was over-acting or camping it up, it made perfect sense.
His favourite production was The Foley Family, a long-running comedy series set in a fictional Dublin suburb. He was particularly proud of selecting George Green to play the role of Tom Foley, an unlikely but inspired piece of casting
Seamus Breathnach was known for encouraging actors to take risks and go beyond the conventions of the day. He greatly enjoyed his work and sought to make it enjoyable for his colleagues.
He was deeply committed to radio which he considered to be a unique medium. He encouraged writers to explore its possibilities to the full.
Seamus Breathnach is remembered as an extremely kind man and a cheerful and loyal friend. He was a generous host and his flat in Herbert Street was open house for relatives, colleagues and a wide variety of friends. An animal lover, dogs were his constant companions. His heart was rooted in his native Galway to where he retired.
Seamus Breathnach was predeceased by his three brothers and a sister.
Seamus Breathnach: born 1915; died March, 2000.