The evening RTÉ threw a light on Ireland

On this day, December 31, 1961 at 7pm RTÉ came on air, broadcasting from the Kippure transmitter on the Dublin Wicklow border.

The first colour transmission was in 1968.

Its first director general was the Irish American Edward Roth, who had worked on television in the United States before coming to Ireland. 

Eamonn Andrews was the chairman of the Television Authority on the evening the station opened.

Happy new year to all readers of this blog.