McAuley, Anthony Gerard (Tony)

by Linde Lunney

McAuley, Anthony Gerard (Tony) (1939–2003), broadcaster, television producer and expert on folksongs, was born 24 October 1939 in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, one of two sons and five daughters of William John McAuley, who owned a chemist’s shop on James Street. His mother Ita (née MacMahon), was from Cookstown, but his father was a native of the Glens of Antrim, an elder brother of the celebrated artist Charles McAuley (1910–99), and the McAuley children spent a lot of time in the Co. Antrim countryside. Tony McAuley attended St Patrick’s College, Armagh, and then Queen’s University, Belfast, where his friends included Stewart Parker (qv), Seamus Heaney and Phil Coulter. In the university Glee Club, founded by Coulter, McAuley made a name for himself as a singer of the traditional songs of mid‐Ulster and north Antrim. He taught for a short time in St Patrick’s College, Bearnageeha, in north Belfast, and then in the late 1960s joined the BBC to work in the Schools Broadcasting Unit. He produced scores of programmes such as the series ‘Ulster in focus’ which introduced children from catholic and protestant backgrounds to aspects of their shared history and of folklife which were often unfamiliar to them. His work in mainstream broadcasting, sometimes along with David Hammond (1928–2008), was equally valuable; series such as ‘As I roved out’ showcased the work of new singers and musicians in the folk tradition, among them Clannad and Paul Brady, and helped to foster the wider interest in folk music which developed in the 1960s. He worked with internationally known musicians, including The Chieftains and Van Morrison, and was himself a talented and enthusiastic performer. In 1995, he led a group of traditional musicians who entertained Ulster and American politicians at a reception in Washington, DC, part of a major conference to encourage investment in Ireland. He researched and presented programmes introducing to large audiences the connections and derivations between Ulster music and the music of the Appalachians and Canada.

McAuley was the producer of a television series based on Frank Delaney’s book The Celts (1986); his choice of the young Donegal singer ‘Enya’ to write and perform the accompanying music introduced her work to an international audience. He produced a number of well received arts programmes, including ‘Hidden ground’, a series on Irish literary figures, and also a profile of the artist Derek Hill (qv). He also published a walkers’ guide to the landscape and heritage of the Glens of Antrim, Tony McAuley’s Glens (2000). He continued to present a radio folk programme after his retirement and even while struggling with cancer for the last two years of his life. He died at his home in Cushendall, in the Glens of Antrim, on 7 June 2003, and was buried in Cushendall after a funeral mass in St Mary’s church. He was survived by his wife Anne and their two sons, and by his mother.