Background
Keane was born in Youghal, County Cork, on 15 September 1951.
Keane was born in Youghal, County Cork, on 15 September 1951.
He attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Mod., Master of Arts
Further postgraduate studies were undertaken at Georgetown University, Washington District of Columbia, where he received an Master of Arts in Economics. He joined the Irish national broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann, in 1977, where he initially worked as a television journalist. He co-presented the weekly investigative series Public Account with Pat Kenny, and he worked as a reporter on the current affairs programme Today Tonight.
In the early 1980s, Keane moved to RTÉ Radio 1, where he worked as a reporter, presenter, producer and series producer.
Among his documentary subjects was former Manchester United football player George Best. He also produced and presented A Belfast Game, profiling the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the experiences of the Ardoyne Kickhams Under-16 football team
This programme would later inspire the Andrew Lloyd Webber West End production, The Beautiful Game. Colm’s radio presentation work included Studio 10, which he co-presented with future President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.
Having retired from broadcasting in 2003, Keane embarked on a career as a full-time author and was responsible for the national bestsellers Going Home (No1), We’ll Meet Again (No1), Heading for the Light (No1), The Distant Shore and Forewarned.
Most of the content of these books was based on research with survivors of near-death experiences. He also wrote two national Number.1 bestsellers on the Italian saint Padre Pio – Padre Pio: The Irish Connection and Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses. Married to RTÉ newsreader Úna O"Hagan, the couple"s only son Seán Keane died in 2007.
In 2008, he set up the publishing company Capel Island Press.
The company’s first book was written by Colm and called The Beatles Irish Concerts. Since its inception, it has published four Number.1 bestsellers.
He currently lives in County Waterford.
In Economics and Political Science. As a radio producer, he compiled and presented documentaries based on interviews with legendary musical figures including Burt Bacharach, Cat Stevens, Davy Jones of the Monkees, Dave Davies of the Kinks, Chubby Checker, Engelbert Humperdinck, Pete Seeger, Val Doonican, Glen Campbell, Neil Sedaka and more than 140 other performers and musicians.