{"id":366882,"date":"2026-03-26T21:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/366882\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T21:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:56:13","slug":"he-shone-the-brightest-at-home-proud-sons-tribute-at-michael-lysters-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/366882\/","title":{"rendered":"He \u2018shone the brightest at home\u2019 \u2013 proud son\u2019s tribute at Michael Lyster\u2019s funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

A stalwart of RT\u00c9\u2019s The Sunday Game, he was described by his family as someone who \u201clived more presently than anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the Victorian Chapel at Mount \u00adJerome in Dublin, his son Jack spoke about the man behind the public persona, saying his father \u201cshone the brightest\u201d when his family was his only audience.<\/p>\n

He shared the memories that shaped their life together, saying: \u201cI remember handbrake turns in the snow and how much he loved his Ford Mondeo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember him kissing mum in the kitchen. I remember how his \u00adfavourite meal was his own terrible cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember how much he loved us all and how much it meant to him that we loved him too. I remember kissing him on the cheek as a child leaving for school and I\u2019ll always remember the last one I gave him on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope from these memories it\u2019s clear that our dad was someone who lived more presently than perhaps anyone I know and perhaps anyone I ever will.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The cortege arrives at Mount Jerome, Dulin.;Photo: Collins<\/p>\n

Lyster, who died at the age of 71 last weekend, was a formidable presence on The Sunday Game, presenting 77 All-Ireland finals. He is survived by his wife Anne and children Mark, Rebecca, Ellen and Jack and his sister Anne.<\/p>\n

In a tribute to him, GAA pundit and lawyer Joe Brolly described him as an \u201ceffortless broadcaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael understood that this was about entertainment and we were brought in to entertain. The fun, the fury, everybody talking about it,\u201d the Sunday Independent columnist said.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Lyster. Photo: Gerry Mooney<\/p>\n

Today’s News in 90 Seconds, Thursday March 26<\/p>\n

Mourners heard there had been an outpouring of \u201chundreds of condolen\u00adces\u201d from members of the public, former colleagues and public figures, including President Catherine Connolly, who was represented at the funeral by her aide-de-camp.<\/p>\n

Originally from Dungarvan, Co \u00adWaterford, Lyster grew up in Co \u00adGalway and had his start in journalism with the Tuam Herald.<\/p>\n

He moved in the late 1970s to RT\u00c9, where he began as a newsreader and then became anchor of The Sunday Game in 1984 until his retirement in 2018.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Cork hurler Tom\u00e1s Mulcahy, former RT\u00c9 producer Paul Byrnes and Joe Brolly at Michael Lyster’s funeral. Photo: Collins<\/p>\n

Symbols brought up to his coffin by his children included a Led Zeppelin \u00adalbum, a hurley, rally gloves and a \u00adCorgi collectible Monkeemobile.<\/p>\n

His friend, journalist Vincent Hog\u00adan, spoke of the 12 years they spent rally driving together, Lyster\u2019s health scare over 10 years ago and his strength of character.<\/p>\n

The pair were playing golf together in Galway in June, 2015, and later that day Lyster had a heart attack.<\/p>\n

Hogan described his friend as exuding positivity and fun, even in the most challenging circumstances, even greeting him with a \u201cHow are you boss?\u201d after the scare.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, there was a far more important thread running through every single sentence that I read and for Anne, for Mark, Rebecca, Ellen and Jack, for Michael\u2019s sister, Anne, too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt spoke above all of an easy likeability, of a decency with people, of a complete absence of self-\u00adimportance. It spoke of someone who was just endlessly, unbreakably sound and in this fulminating world we live in, that\u2019s no small thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A stalwart of RT\u00c9\u2019s The Sunday Game, he was described by his family as someone who \u201clived more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,898,112],"class_list":["post-366882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news-ticker","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}