Shane Redmond obituary: Entrepreneur and entertainer who helped bring Pele to Dalymount Park

Shane Redmond

Eugene Masterson

May 02 2021 02:30 AM

Shane Redmond, who has died at the age of 86, lived a wonderfully colourful life which spanned the world of business, sport, entertainment and religion and left an indelible mark on those varied areas and more.

The Meath man was managing director of the Shane Redmond Group, with offices in Swords, Navan, Kells, Trim and London.

A proud Navan man, he was educated at the former De La Salle Brothers School, and St Patrick’s Classical School in the town.

He flourished in Gaelic football, playing for Navan O’Mahonys as a youth, and was also a talented boxer, winning a provincial boxing title with St Patrick’s.

His lifelong love of boxing saw him travel to bouts abroad and he breathlessly gave the result of one top fight live on air from America on the phone to Pat Kenny on Kenny Live nearly 30 years ago.

During, the 1960s the name Shane Redmond was synonymous with the light entertainment industry; he was a noted compere and comedian and appeared in many popular theatre shows on TV and radio.

In fact, one of his claims to fame was that he was the first comedian to appear on RTÉ television.

He carved out a very successful career for himself in the insurance and property industries, as a leading estate agent and like his father went into insurance, initially with Irish Life Assurance Company and the National Mutual of Australasia.

In 1981, a commercial insurance plan developed by Shane Redmond was chosen for nationwide introduction by the GAA.

He was a member of the Irish Chapter of the International Real Estate Federation, and represented Ireland at many real estate congresses throughout the world.

The company, Redmond Property, run by his son, Alan, today operates in Swords, and has been at the forefront of the growth of Swords and its surrounding area.

In 1972, Shane bought Red Island Holiday Camp in Skerries and ran it successfully as a holiday camp and entertainment centre for many years.

He tried his hand as an impresario and band manager and was instrumental in bringing live music to Clontarf Castle and among those who paid tribute to him last year in a special video message for his 60th wedding anniversary was the musician Paddy Cole.

He was a founder member and vice-president of Naomh Mearnóg GAA Club in Portmarnock, the north Dublin coastal suburb he made his home since the early 1970s.

He was a lifelong Meath GAA supporter and familiar figure at association fixtures and meetings in Meath and the surrounding counties.

He often acted as master of ceremonies at functions organised by the Royal Meath Association of Dublin.

He was a former director of St Patrick’s FC and is credited with helping to bring Brazilian side Santos, including superstar Pele, to Dublin in 1971, a year after Brazil won the World Cup, to play a Drumcondra/Bohemian selection in Dalymount park.

Shane also had a strong devotion to Padre Pio, was a founding member of its Irish association and brought comfort to many by allowing relics from the saint to be brought to the sick and the dying.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mary; children Morgan, Peter, Brian, Grainne, Niamh and Alan; siblings, Brenda, Dolores and Aidan; sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great- grandchildren, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

Shane met his wife Mary when they were both aged 16 and there was not a dry eye in St Anne’s church in Portmarnock when his coffin was carried shoulder high to his final resting place to the strains of When You Were S weet Sixteen by the Furey Brothers.

Sunday Independent