Gay Byrne and Kathleen Watkins have been happily married for 52 years, and still going strong. The beloved Irish couple have two children, and five grandchildren together, and both have achieved great success in their respective careers. In fact, they continue to.
At the age of 82 Kathleen has just become a first time author, after recently releasing her children’s book, Pigín of Howth; while Gay continues to be one of the nations most well-known broadcasters.
In this month’s VIP Magazine the legendary couple open up about their marriage, and how they’ve managed to make it, despite their hectic schedules. Kathleen revealed that while there is no secret to a happy marriage, they had their system and it worked for them.
“Do you want to know the secret? There is none! You just get on with living and you keep busy. Also we have always done things singly and together. I think there’s a freedom in that.
“The house is my domain, and always has been. If we were entertaining people, he’d come home from RTE and everything would be done. The wine would be uncorked even. And it’s still a bit like that, but he’s now a bit better at filling and emptying the dishwasher.
“He never had to do anything. He was never involved. He was gone at 7:15am and back at 7:15m and we had to be highly organised. There’s a right and wrong way for everybody. I hope I did it the right way.
“Well, there’s no sign of divorce- yet! But you never know,” Kathleen said.
You can catch the full interview with Gay Byrne and Kathleen Watkins in this month’s VIP Magazine, on shelves today.
