Gay Byrne is one of the most well-known television personalities in Ireland

Gay Byrne hosted RTÉ’s flagship talk show, the Late Late Show, for 37 years from its first broadcast in 1962. Byrne was a major catalyst in the transformation of Irish society, riffing on abortion, contraception and homosexuality.

The Late Late Show featured an owl on its opening credits, hence the owl’s appearance on Byrne’s freedom of the city award. Byrne retired in 1999, but still pops up on Irish television.

With thanks to Gay Byrne