Personal Life
"Kathleen Watkins" redirects here.Byrne is married to Kathleen Watkins, formerly a well-known harpist. Byrne first met Kathleen Watkins, a native of Saggart, Co. Dublin, in 1957. They married in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saggart, in 1964. The couple have two daughters (both adopted). They are called Suzy and Crona. The Byrne family lived on Howth Head in Dublin but have, in recent years, lived in Sandymount in Dublin. Byrne became a grandfather on 15 September 2004 when Suzy gave birth to a boy at Holles Street Hospital.
Byrne relied on an accountant friend, Russell Murphy, to manage his finances, and was personally distraught when upon the accountant's death in 1986, it was found that most of his savings had been squandered, and this had been hidden from him.
His interests include jazz. He continues to play the jazz on radio during his "retirement".
He is a qualified private pilot.
Read more about this topic: Gay Byrne
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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