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The Meaning of Life

2009–Present18 Seasons117 Episodes

The Meaning of Life is an Irish television programme, the first series of which was broadcast on RTÉ One in 2009. It is presented by the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Each episode involves Byrne interviewing a well-known public figure. The series is broadcast each Sunday night at 22:20. In 2010 The Meaning of Life returned for both a second and, later, a third series. Interviews with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and actors Gabriel Byrne and Brenda Fricker during the second series attracted media attention when they spoke of their religious habits and child sexual abuse respectively. Gay Byrne appeared on The Late Late Show on 18 December 2009 to discuss the programme. A fourth series soon followed. Then a fifth series from January 2012. And a sixth in October 2012. And a seventh in January 2013.

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About The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life is an Irish television programme, the first series of which was broadcast on RTÉ One in 2009. It is presented by the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Each episode involves Byrne interviewing a well-known public figure. The series is broadcast each Sunday night at 22:20. In 2010 The Meaning of Life returned for both a second and, later, a third series. Interviews with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and actors Gabriel Byrne and Brenda Fricker during the second series attracted media attention when they spoke of their religious habits and child sexual abuse respectively. Gay Byrne appeared on The Late Late Show on 18 December 2009 to discuss the programme. A fourth series soon followed. Then a fifth series from January 2012. And a sixth in October 2012. And a seventh in January 2013.

Network / Platform
RTÉ One
First Aired
19/Apr/2009
Language
English
Schedule
Sunday

Latest Episodes

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S18 E10Olwen Fouéré26/Jan/2025 • 30m
S18 E9Ronan Tynan19/Jan/2025 • 35m
S18 E8Mary McEvoy12/Jan/2025 • 30m
S18 E7Sonia O'Sullivan05/Jan/2025 • 30m
Next Air TimeNot announced

Air-time details have not been announced.

TimeScore33%Skip It
Binge Meter48%Slow Burn
Episode PulseQuiet40% activity
Drop Rate0%Very Low
Progress and ratings use your EpisodeTime account
Season 180 / 10 watched
S18 E1Sinéad Burke20/Oct/2024 • 45m
Not rated
S18 E2Bryan Dobson27/Oct/2024 • 30m
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S18 E3Ricky Tomlinson03/Nov/2024 • 30m
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S18 E4Fintan O'Toole10/Nov/2024 • 30m
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S18 E5David Norris17/Nov/2024 • 30m
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S18 E6Catherine Joyce Collins24/Nov/2024 • 30m
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S18 E7Sonia O'Sullivan05/Jan/2025 • 30m
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S18 E8Mary McEvoy12/Jan/2025 • 30m
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S18 E9Ronan Tynan19/Jan/2025 • 35m
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S18 E10Olwen Fouéré26/Jan/2025 • 30m
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Season 170 / 8 watched
S17 E1Archbishop Diarmuid Martin03/Sep/2023 • 45m
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S17 E2Johnny Logan10/Sep/2023 • 45m
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S17 E3Alice Taylor17/Sep/2023 • 45m
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S17 E4Tolu Makay24/Sep/2023 • 45m
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S17 E5Jason Smyth01/Oct/2023 • 45m
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S17 E6Adi Roche08/Oct/2023 • 45m
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S17 E7Tony Holohan15/Oct/2023 • 45m
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S17 E8Naomi Long22/Oct/2023 • 45m
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Season 160 / 8 watched
S16 E1An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin02/Mar/2023 • 45m
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S16 E2Cait O Riordan09/Mar/2023 • 45m
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S16 E3Paul Mc Kenna16/Mar/2023 • 45m
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S16 E4Liz Nugent23/Mar/2023 • 45m
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S16 E5Alastair Campbell30/Mar/2023 • 45m
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S16 E6Joan Freeman06/Apr/2023 • 45m
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S16 E7Ardal O' Hanlon13/Apr/2023 • 45m
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S16 E8Valerie Mulcahy20/Apr/2023 • 45m
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Season 150 / 8 watched
S15 E1Jane Seymour20/Jun/2022 • 45m
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S15 E2Eamonn Holmes27/Jun/2022 • 45m
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S15 E3Mary Coughlan04/Jul/2022 • 45m
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S15 E4Rupert Everett11/Jul/2022 • 45m
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S15 E5Eamon McCann18/Jul/2022 • 45m
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S15 E6Michael Harding25/Jul/2022 • 45m
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S15 E7Sr Collette02/Aug/2022 • 45m
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S15 E8Mairead McGuinness08/Aug/2022 • 45m
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Season 140 / 6 watched
S14 E1Blindboy Boatclub17/May/2021 • 45m
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S14 E2Vicky Phelan24/May/2021 • 45m
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S14 E3Mary Lou McDonald31/May/2021 • 45m
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S14 E4Harry Crosbie14/Jun/2021 • 45m
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S14 E5Nathan Carter21/Jun/2021 • 45m
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S14 E6Catherine Corlass28/Jun/2021 • 45m
Not rated
Season 130 / 6 watched
S13 E1John Sheahan16/Oct/2016 • 29m
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S13 E2Garry Hynes23/Oct/2016 • 27m
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S13 E3André Rieu30/Oct/2016 • 46m
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S13 E4Joanne O'Riordan06/Nov/2016 • 27m
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S13 E5Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri13/Nov/2016 • 27m
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S13 E6Archbishop Charles John Brown20/Nov/2016 • 28m
Not rated
Season 120 / 6 watched
S12 E1Ruby Wax10/Jan/2016 • 26m
Not rated
S12 E2Anna May McHugh17/Jan/2016 • 27m
Not rated
S12 E3Dolores Keane24/Jan/2016 • 27m
Not rated
S12 E4Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks07/Feb/2016 • 27m
Not rated
S12 E5Eoin Colfer14/Feb/2016 • 27m
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S12 E6Peter Sutherland06/Mar/2016 • 27m
Not rated
Season 110 / 6 watched
S11 E1Hozier27/Sep/2015 • 26m
Not rated
S11 E2Joan Burton04/Oct/2015 • 27m
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S11 E3Diarmuid Gavin11/Oct/2015 • 27m
Not rated
S11 E4Richard Dawkins18/Oct/2015 • 32m
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S11 E5Sister Stanislaus Kennedy25/Oct/2015 • 27m
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S11 E6Eckhart Tolle01/Nov/2015 • 27m
Not rated
Season 100 / 6 watched
S10 E1Cecelia Ahern25/Jan/2015 • 26m
Not rated
S10 E2Stephen Fry01/Feb/2015 • 39m
Not rated
S10 E3Barry McGuigan08/Feb/2015 • 27m
Not rated
S10 E4Mary Black15/Feb/2015 • 27m
Not rated
S10 E5Earl Charles Spencer22/Mar/2015 • 27m
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S10 E6Archbishop Rowan Williams01/Mar/2015 • 27m
Not rated
Season 90 / 6 watched
S9 E1Majella O'Donnell04/May/2014 • 29m
Not rated
S9 E2Rory O'Neill11/May/2014 • 27m
Not rated
S9 E3Sean O'Sullivan01/Jun/2014 • 27m
Not rated
S9 E4Eamon Dunphy08/Jun/2014 • 27m
Not rated
S9 E5David Puttnam15/Jun/2014 • 27m
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S9 E6Enda Kenny22/Jun/2014 • 39m
Not rated
Season 80 / 5 watched
S8 E1Colm Wilkinson06/Oct/2013 • 45m
Not rated
S8 E2Emily O'Reilly13/Oct/2013 • 45m
Not rated
S8 E3Fr Peter McVerry20/Oct/2013 • 45m
Not rated
S8 E4Celine Byrne27/Oct/2013 • 45m
Not rated
S8 E5Imelda May03/Nov/2013 • 45m
Not rated
Season 70 / 7 watched
S7 E1Colm Tóibín06/Jan/2013 • 28m
Not rated
S7 E2JP Donleavy13/Jan/2013 • 26m
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S7 E3John Lonergan20/Jan/2013 • 26m
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S7 E4Maureen Gaffney27/Jan/2013 • 27m
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S7 E5Maria Doyle03/Feb/2013 • 27m
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S7 E6Christina Noble10/Feb/2013 • 27m
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S7 E7Bono25/Jun/2013 • 45m
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Season 60 / 5 watched
S6 E1Mary McAleese07/Oct/2012 • 47m
Not rated
S6 E2Noel Gallagher14/Oct/2012 • 27m
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S6 E3Sean Gallagher21/Oct/2012 • 27m
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S6 E4Niall Quinn28/Oct/2012 • 27m
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S6 E5Norah Casey04/Nov/2012 • 28m
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Season 50 / 6 watched
S5 E1Andrea Corr08/Jan/2012 • 27m
Not rated
S5 E2Paddy Moloney15/Jan/2012 • 27m
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S5 E3Fr. Shay Cullen22/Jan/2012 • 27m
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S5 E4Richard Branson29/Jan/2012 • 27m
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S5 E5Bob Geldof05/Feb/2012 • 31m
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S5 E6Mary Byrne12/Feb/2012 • 29m
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Season 40 / 6 watched
S4 E1Michael Parkinson06/Mar/2011 • 27m
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S4 E2Brendan O'Carroll13/Mar/2011 • 28m
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S4 E3Abbot Mark Patrick Henderman20/Mar/2011 • 27m
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S4 E4Brian Cody27/Mar/2011 • 27m
Not rated
S4 E5Martin Sheen03/Apr/2011 • 39m
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S4 E6Ben Dunne10/Apr/2011 • 27m
Not rated
Season 30 / 6 watched
S3 E1Terry Wogan26/Sep/2010 • 27m
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S3 E2Fionnuala Flanagan03/Oct/2010 • 27m
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S3 E3Deepak Chopra10/Oct/2010 • 26m
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S3 E4Ian Paisley17/Oct/2010 • 27m
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S3 E5Micheal O'Muircheartaigh24/Oct/2010 • 27m
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S3 E6Dana07/Nov/2010 • 27m
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Season 20 / 6 watched
S2 E1Gabriel Byrne17/Jan/2010 • 27m
Not rated
S2 E2Tommy Tiernan24/Jan/2010 • 26m
Not rated
S2 E3Brenda Fricker31/Jan/2010 • 26m
Not rated
S2 E4Bertie Ahern07/Feb/2010 • 26m
Not rated
S2 E5Mary Robinson14/Feb/2010 • 27m
Not rated
S2 E6Edna O'Brien21/Feb/2010 • 27m
Not rated
Season 10 / 6 watched
S1 E1Colin Farrell19/Apr/2009 • 44m
Not rated
S1 E2Gerry Adams26/Apr/2009 • 27m
Not rated
S1 E3Maeve Binchy03/May/2009 • 26m
Not rated
S1 E4Ronan Keating10/May/2009 • 27m
Not rated
S1 E5Sinéad O'Connor17/May/2009 • 27m
Not rated
S1 E6Neil Jordan24/May/2009 • 27m
Not rated

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Ratings & Reviews

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Production Details & External Links

Database information and official source references.

Status
Continuing
Country
IE
Runtime
60 min
External
TMDb · TVMaze · IMDb
Full cast and crew
Gay ByrneSelfSinéad O'ConnorSelfColin FarrellSelfGerry AdamsSelfMaeve BinchySelfRonan KeatingSelfNeil JordanSelfGabriel ByrneSelfTommy TiernanSelfBrenda FrickerSelfBertie AhernSelfMary RobinsonSelfEdna O'BrienSelfTerry WoganSelfFionnula FlanaganSelfDeepak ChopraSelfIan PaisleySelfMícheál Ó MuircheartaighSelfDanaSelfMichael ParkinsonSelfBrendan O'CarrollSelfMark Patrick HendermanSelfBrian CodySelfMartin SheenSelfGay ByrnePresenterMarion CreelyDirector, ProducerNigel PowerDirector, ProducerRoger ChildsDirector, Executive Producer
Contributors and edit history

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