Then & Now

Theresa Lowe

THINGS WERE SIMPLER before we all got caught up in the property boom. Between 1989 and 1996, Irish people’s chief concern was location, location, location, but we weren’t thinking about a des res in Dublin 4. We were wrestling with the weekly questions on Ireland’s top-rated quiz show, Where in the World.

For many Irish families, the Sunday night ritual of Where in the World followed by Glenroe was almost as sacred as Mass. Sunday nights just weren’t complete without half an hour in the company of perm-haired Theresa Lowe, and we watched in envy as contestants won exotic breaks away.

Back in the prehistoric days of quiz shows, women presenters were a rarity. Quiz shows were almost always fronted by middle-aged men and, if a young woman was lucky to be on the show, she usually had to dress in a spangly outfit and do little more than smile and point at the prizes. With Where in the World, RTÉ broke with tradition.

Lowe, a graduate of UCD, began working as a continuity announcer (remember them?) on RTÉ in 1983, but when Where in the World put her on the celebrity map, she found the work falling into her lap. She presented such prestigious TV events as the Jacob’s Awards and Tops of the Towns, and did the honours for several St Patrick’s Day parades. She also became a fixture on radio, presenting kids’ show The Breakfast Club on 2FM and a grown-up show called Theresa Lowe’s Love Songs.

She was RTÉ’s golden girl, but in 1997 she disappeared from our screens, prompting many a pub pundit to ask: “Where in the world is Theresa Lowe?”

Since 1993, however, Lowe had been working behind the scenes in preparation for a career change. With the support of her husband, former Late Late Show musical director Frank McNamara, she studied for the bar at the King’s Inns.

She graduated in 1997, and since then has been working as a full-time barrister, specialising in High Court bails, criminal law, personal injuries and mediation. She and McNamara have four children.

Not that Lowe has fallen completely out of the public eye. She does regular public-speaking engagements, often talking about her transition from broadcasting to the bar. And in January this year, her presenting skills were on show on RTÉ Radio 1 in a pilot episode of a news panel show called What’s the Story?. We don’t know what’s the story about a full series, but keep your ears open.

Earlier this month, Lowe and her husband joined a host of legal eagles at the opening night of Legally Blonde, The Musical. She’s no longer sporting the perm, but she is legal and blond.