Gerald Kean
Encyclopedia
Gerald Kean is an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 celebrity solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

 from County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

. He is regularly the subject of social columns, particularly in the Sunday newspapers which have reported his lavish spending sprees and sun holidays involving his wife and other people, with The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

once describing him as having a "celestial aura". He has appeared in numerous television shows including Prime Time
Prime Time
Prime Time is an Irish news analysis, current affairs and politics programme. It is broadcast on RTÉ One on Tuesday and Thursday nights between 21:30 and 22:10. It is currently presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, who has presented the programme since its commencement in 1996...

, Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight is an Irish chat show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired for five series on RTÉ One between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews , audience participation and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...

, The Afternoon Show
The Afternoon Show
The Afternoon Show was Raidió Teilifís Éireann's live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon programmes 4 Daily presented by Maura Derrane and The Daily Show hosted by...

, The Podge and Rodge Show
The Podge and Rodge Show
The Podge and Rodge Show is an Irish chat show, broadcast and produced by RTÉ, featuring the popular Podge and Rodge as hosts...

, The Restaurant
The Restaurant (Irish TV series)
The Restaurant is a successful Irish reality television programme broadcast on RTÉ One. The seventh series began on 16 November 2008, running on Sundays at 20:30. In each episode a celebrity head chef takes on the culinary challenge of producing a top class, three-course meal with two...

and The Panel and on radio shows such as The Marian Finucane Show
The Marian Finucane Show
The Marian Finucane Show is an Irish radio programme, presented by Marian Finucane. It airs Saturday - Sunday at 11:00 to 13:00. It is the highest-rating weekend radio show in Ireland....

.

Kean competed in the first season
Celebrity Bainisteoir (season 1)
The first season of Celebrity Bainisteoir was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One from 23 March 2008. It was won by the radio and television presenter Marty Whelan who replaced Fianna Fáil TD Mary O'Rourke as bainisteoir of Maryland, County Westmeath, during the series...

 of Celebrity Bainisteoir
Celebrity Bainisteoir
Celebrity Bainisteoir is a prime-time reality programme produced for Radio Telefís Éireann, which was produced by Animo Television/Kite Entertainment...

, finishing second to Marty Whelan
Marty Whelan
Martin 'Marty' Whelan is a Jacob's Award-winning Irish radio and television personality currently working for Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Frequently seen and heard on RTÉ radio and television, he has presented a variety of shows...

. He later wrote a book about his experience. The book features several photos of Kean, with the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 association footballer Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

 being employed to write the foreword.

Early life

Kean grew up in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

 following his birth there in 1957. He is from a relatively wealthy background; his father was a member of Ireland's police force (Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

), his now-dead uncle Liam Hamilton
Liam Hamilton
Liam Hamilton was an Irish lawyer and judge. He was educated at C.B.S. Mitchelstown, University College Dublin and King's Inns. He was called to the Bar in 1956 and to the Inner Bar in 1968....

 was a former chief justice and two other uncles were also members of the legal profession. At twelve years of age Kean moved to County Wicklow
County Wicklow
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...

. His parents began a bed and breakfast to pay his college fees to attend University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

 (UCD). At UCD Kean encountered his wife, Clodagh. He began his first job with the late solicitor Michael Martin on Dublin's Capel Street, earning a starting salary of IR£7,000 per annum, but had left to set up his own practice by the late 1980s. Through his cousin, the late English musician Wally Nightingale
Wally Nightingale
Wally Nightingale, born Warwick Alan Nightingale in West Kensington, was an English musician. He was best known as the guitarist and founder of the band that eventually became the Sex Pistols. According to guitarist Steve Jones, Nightingale left the band in 1975 after Malcolm McLaren agreed to...

, and through acquaintances made in the course of speaking at lunches in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, he met a number of musicians and informed them of Ireland's tax exemptions for artists. Kean credits this with boosting his fledgling career.

Career

Kean set up his solicitor's practice, Kean and Co., over fifteen years ago. He has represented a number of people in the entertainment industry, legally acting of behalf of musicians Jim Kerr
Jim Kerr
James "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...

, Simon Le Bon
Simon Le Bon
Simon John Charles Le Bon is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia.-Early life:...

, Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...

, George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...

, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

 and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

. His company specialises in sporting law and represents over forty Premier League footballers. Kean appeared on the twenty-fourth episode of the third season of The Podge and Rodge Show, alongside the ballerina Monica Loughman
Monica Loughman
Monica Loughman is an Irish ballet dancer, writer, and television personality. She has featured on Ballet Chancers, a 2008 television series which saw her attempt to train six young people, schooled in hip hop, to appreciate the art of ballet. Loughman has also co-written a book on her experiences...

 on 11 February 2007. He appeared on the first episode of the previous to now series of The Restaurant, earning four stars. He & his partner, Lisa Murphy, also appearead on Podge n Rodge together.

In Celebrity Bainisteoir, Kean managed Mayfield GAA
Mayfield GAA
Mayfied GAA Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Mayfield area of Cork city, Ireland. Teams are fielded in Gaelic football, hurling, and Ladies' Football. The club participates in Cork GAA competitions and in Seandún board competitions....

. In the first quarter-final in episode two he defeated model Glenda Gilson
Glenda Gilson
Glenda Gilson is an Irish model and television presenter.-Career:In August 2006, Gilson embarked on a presenting career, appearing as the face of Irish music channel Bubble Hits hosting the news and entertainment show Glenda's Showbiz Gossip...

's Crumlin GAA
Crumlin GAA
Crumlin GAA Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland.-Origins of the game in Crumlin:As far back as the 1740s Hurling was to be seen in Crumlin. The village was bordered by an area of “Common Land”...

 in front of a home crowd of 4,000, having notably used his legal connections to convince Shay Given
Shay Given
Séamus John James "Shay" Given is an Irish footballer who plays for Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland national team as a goalkeeper. He won the PFA's Player of the Year in 2002....

 and Gordon Strachan
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan OBE is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently without a club, having last managed Middlesbrough. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. Prior to Middlesbrough,...

 to assist in his preparations. In the first semi-final in episode six, he defeated Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin
Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin
Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin is an Irish schoolteacher, television personality, and singer from County Mayo, who won the 2005 Rose of Tralee contest. Ní Shúilleabháin graduated with a first-class honours degree in theoretical physics from University College Dublin in 2005 and won the Mayo Rose...

's Kiltimagh GAA, after All Star
GAA All Stars Awards
The All Stars Awards, currently sponsored by Vodafone, are given annually since 1971 by the Gaelic Athletic Association to the best player in each of the fifteen positions in Gaelic football and Hurling in Ireland. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as the player of the year...

 Cork player Niall Cahalane
Niall Cahalane
Niall Cahalane is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior football with Cork in the 1980s and 1990s.-Biography:...

 took a training session with the team and another training session took place at Páirc Uí Rinn
Páirc Uí Rinn
Páirc Uí Rinn is a stadium in Cork owned by the Gaelic Athletic Association . It was formerly Flower Lodge, a soccer ground home to several Cork teams in the 20th century, named after a Big House on whose grounds it was built.-Flower Lodge:...

 with Cork players James Masters
James Masters (Gaelic footballer)
James Masters is an Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Nemo Rangers and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 2005 until 2010.-Biography:...

 and Donncha O'Connor and a special yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...

 class was given to the team. In the final in the eighth and final episode, Kean was defeated by Marty Whelan's Maryland GAA. The two were later reunited when Kean appeared on The Panel on 20 November 2008 as a guest on the episode Whelan hosted.

He has also been noted for attending social functions such as the launch of Franc Wedding Secrets, a magazine, at the Westbury Hotel on 19 August 2009.

Personal life

Kean has recently spoken of his concerns over his health. Since 2009 he has lost a considerable amount of weight and has taken up a strict exercise regime. He was recently quoted in the Evening Herald as saying, "when I reached fifty, I realised that I had to do something about my steady weight gain. I had been putting on a couple of pounds a year and I was in danger of becoming seriously overweight. I have altered by diet radically, taken up exercise and I have lost three stone quite easily".
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