{"id":367532,"date":"2026-03-27T05:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T05:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367532\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T05:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T05:56:14","slug":"michael-lyster-remembered-as-magic-in-human-form-at-emotional-memorial-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367532\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Lyster remembered as \u2018magic in human form\u2019 at emotional memorial service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Lyster was remembered as \u201cmagic in human form\u201d and a \u201cnational treasure\u201d at a special memorial service that concluded with Led Zeppelin\u2019s Whole Lotta Love.<\/p>\n

His son Jack was among a number of speakers who fondly shared memories of the 71-year-old former host of The Sunday Game<\/a>, rock fan, and former rally driver.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cMichael may have been to everyone, someone worthy of praise and respect for his achievements and career, a great man with a great soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the truth is, he was so much more. He was magic in human form.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of his memories of him, he said: \u201cI remember the car journeys with the music loud enough to hurt your ears, and watching him turn the volume up slowly, thinking no one was watching. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the stories he would tell over and over again at the dinner table, he’d still find a way to make them funny every time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember his mischievous grin. I remember how much he loved Galway and how he felt the further west he could go, the better, all the way into the sea if he could.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the warmth of his hugs, and him watching himself on TV every Sunday night, followed by the music channels at an inconsiderately loud volume. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember him standing in the garden at night with his binoculars, staring up for ages and then excitedly announcing he’d found the International Space Station going by. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember his head nearly hitting the ceiling when Man United won the Champions League.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he also remembered him dancing when he thought no one was watching, and dancing harder when someone was.<\/p>\n

Jack remembered kissing his father on the cheek as a child leaving for school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll always remember the last one I gave him on Saturday,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was, without question, an amazing father, and he will live on strong in the hearts of each of his children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JoeJoe Brolly, right, former RTE produder, Paul Byrnes, centre and former Cork hurler, Tom\u00e1s Mulcahy pictured this evening at the funeral of former RT\u00c9 radio and TV broadcaster, Michael Lyster at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome, Dublin. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin.<\/p>\n

His long-time friend and fellow journalist Vincent Hogan described him as one of Ireland\u2019s national treasures, telling mourners: \u201cHe was one of the nation’s greatest broadcasters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did become, to all intents and purposes, that strange phenomenon we like to call a national treasure.\u201d <\/p>\n

He also paid tribute to his \u201ceasy likeability, decency with people\u201d and \u201ccomplete absence of self-importance\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added he was \u201cjust endlessly unbreakably sound and in this fulminating world we live in, that’s no small thing you\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA small crowd of close friends and family pictured this evening at the funeral of former RTE radio and TV broadcaster, Michael Lyster at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome, Dublin. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin.<\/p>\n

Broadcaster Shay Byrne was the celebrant at the service, which celebrated his life at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome Crematorium.<\/p>\n

As it was for friends and family only, it was streamed live online.<\/p>\n

He died last Saturday after a long illness<\/a>, with his family by his side at St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital in Dublin.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his wife Anne, sons Mark and Jack, daughters Rebecca and Ellen, and his sister Anne.<\/p>\n

Galway-born Michael, who joined RT\u00c9 in 1979, presented The Sunday Game for more than three decades. He became the programme\u2019s anchor in 1984, presenting both highlights and live coverage on Sunday afternoons.<\/p>\n

He retired in 2018, three years after he suffered a heart attack at his Dublin home.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe remains are brought into chapel as a small crowd of friends and family look on pictured this evening at the funeral of former RT\u00c9 radio and TV broadcaster, Michael Lyster at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome, Dublin. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin.<\/p>\n

As his coffin was carried up the aisle of the crematorium at 4pm, Fleet Foxe’s 2008 debut single White Winter Hymnal was played.<\/p>\n

Just after the beginning of the hour-long service, after which there was a standing ovation for him, members of his family brought up symbols from his life.<\/p>\n

They included his son Mark who brought up Led Zeppelin’s 1969 self-titled debut studio album as a tribute to his love of music.<\/p>\n

Daughter Rebecca brought up his hurley, to symbolise his love of the GAA.<\/p>\n

They also included the gloves he wore during the 12 years he spent rally driving with Vincent Hogan, who he used to share a house with in Dublin in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

As mourners were about to leave, the last song played was Whole Lotta Love from one of his favourite rock bands, Led Zeppelin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Lyster was remembered as \u201cmagic in human form\u201d and a \u201cnational treasure\u201d at a special memorial service…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4365,1965,42,43,6085,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-367532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-gaelic-football","tag-hurling","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-rte","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367532","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=367532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}