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Irish Independent
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Obituary: Seán Rocks, actor and broadcaster who became an authentic voice of the arts scene on ‘Arena'
The host of Arena, RTÉ Radio 1's nightly weekday arts and culture magazine show, didn't need to bang his own drum to make people notice him. Rather, with an authoritative lilt in his voice and a sometimes impish gleam in his eye, he would ask questions and dive into a range of topics that defined Arena as Ireland's must-hear radio programme for arts-adjacent matters and establish Rocks as an authentic, informed voice. Such voices are rare, but he knew what he was talking about. And if he didn't love the more far-flung, daunting and esoteric areas of the arts, he did a great job at making you believe that he at least thought seriously about them. Born in 1961, Rocks grew up in Drumbear, close to Monaghan town, within a business-oriented family. His parents, Philly and Paddy, ran Rocks' grocery shop on the town's Dawson Street. His father also operated one of the town's accountancy practices. On leaving school, Rocks trained to be a teacher. Although throughout his childhood he and other family members were involved in local choirs, musicals and plays, it was at teacher training college that he became more seriously involved with amateur dramatics. Throughout his seven years as a teacher, his nights and weekends were taken up with part-time acting. An avid book-lover, Rocks embraced the world of theatre, reading a broad range of playwrights' works before he decided to take a career break to pursue acting. Towards the end of this sabbatical, however, it was through the work of another Monaghan man and former teacher), author/playwright Pat McCabe, that Rocks' career as an actor began in earnest. Adapted from McCabe's 1992 novel, The Butcher Boy, the play Frank Pig Says Hello was first performed at the 1992 Dublin Theatre Festival. A two-hander featuring Rocks as Frank and David Gorry as Piglet, the play's success pivoted not only on McCabe's words, but also on the acting. In an interview with the Irish Times in 2021, Longford-born author Adrian Duncan recalled seeing the play as a 15-year-old in Bog Lane Theatre, Ballymahon: 'I remember Seán Rocks played all of the other characters in the play, and this amazed me. I recall one innovation… where Seán played at once both Mrs Nugent and her son, Philip. Seán stalked comedically across the stage as Mrs Nugent snootishly avoided Frank Pig and his pig-toll tax, all the while on Rocks' upturned fist, held at shoulder height beside him, sat bobbing Phillip Nugent's public-schoolboy cap.' Rocks would subsequently feature in plays by Joe O'Byrne (The Last Potato, 1994), Marina Carr (Portia Coughlan, 1996), Mark O'Rowe (From Both Hips, 1997), Declan Hughes (Halloween Night, 1997), Tom Murphy (The Wake, 1998) and Mike Finn (The Quiet Moment, 2002). Roles on television put paid to thoughts of returning to teaching, with appearances on Glenroe (1992), Family (1994), The Bill (1999) and Proof (2005). He turned an initially tough gig into a show that you continued to listen to Alongside acting, he ventured into radio work, initially with Lyric FM, with which he started broadcasting in 2000. Producing and presenting documentaries eventually led to being tasked, in 2009, with fronting Arena, a new nightly arts magazine show on RTÉ Radio 1. Under his stewardship, and diligent work by a small team of researchers and producers, he turned an initially tough gig (the broadcast time of 7pm, when most people are either settling down to watch television or going out for the night) into a show that you continued to listen to. ADVERTISEMENT Within a year, Arena became the national broadcaster's hidden gem, bolstered not only by an increasing reputation for featuring an expansive range of arts topics, but also by the man behind the microphone. Rocks quickly came into his own as a presenter: from regular listening, you knew that he was more than comfortable with the brief. Seán Rocks was able to guide a multitude of panellists and guests away from verbal rabbit holes. He was also a presenter who listened to the people he interviewed or the panel he moderated. Unlike some presenters, he could calmly veer away from the questions list if someone said something that prompted a different line of inquiry. In company, he was never someone whose thoughts or opinions got caught like a rabbit in headlights. I consider myself fortunate to have been in the Arena studio with him on many occasions from around the summer of 2015 to the Covid spring of 2020. Visiting to discuss mostly albums and music books, there wasn't one time I can remember that he made me feel anything less than a valued contributor. It helped that as the months and years passed, we settled into something that could safely be termed a groove. We each became aware of each other's conversational tics, tell-tale raised eyebrows and, at times, cynical glances. Quite often, my review slot would be timed in the show's final 15 minutes, which meant we would both walk out of the radio centre to our cars, chatting to each other, not always inconsequentially. That book or album, he would query, referring to a just-reviewed item. 'I know you said you liked it, but would you buy it?' He would have a grin in his eye, put his head to one side, and then he would be off home. In my experience of him as a person, all of the tributes to him and everything you have read about him over the past few days hold true. 'The story of my life does not fit into neat chapters,' Seán Rocks told the Irish Examiner in 2014. 'It's more like a post-modernist sprawling mess.' Maybe, maybe not. But what a book it was. Seán Rocks is survived by his wife, Catherine, his sons Christian and Morgan, and his siblings.
RTÉ News
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Broadcaster and actor Seán Rocks dies aged 63
Broadcaster and actor Seán Rocks, the voice of Arena on RTÉ Radio 1, has died aged 63. He was on air as recently as last Friday and his sudden death has come as a shock to his loyal listeners, members of the arts community, his friends and colleagues. Mr Rocks began presenting programmes on RTÉ Lyric FM in 2000, before moving on to produce and present documentaries and arts programming on RTÉ Radio 1, including 'Soul of Ireland', an award winner at the New York Festival of Radio. He also regularly hosted important national literary and arts events, and compered a multitude of events at the National Concert Hall and other major venues nationwide. He was a popular choice for public interviews amongst the artistic community, and counted authors Salman Rushdie, Edna O'Brien, Roddy Doyle and John Banville and actors Rupert Everett, Martin Sheen and Brendan Gleeson among his guests. There were also studio interviews with composer Steve Reich, authors Anne Enright and Richard Ford, filmmakers David Putnam and Lenny Abrahamson, playwright Tom Murphy and singer-songwriters Barry Manilow and Damien Dempsey. Mr Rocks was a familiar voice at State occasions too, and was the MC at notable events at Áras an Uachtaráin over the years, including the State Banquet for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland. Bhí an-ghrá aige don Ghaeilge agus d'úsáid sé go minic í agus é ag craoladh. Mr Rocks had a lifelong passion for the arts and in 2014 told the Irish Examiner that "the arts are important because ultimately they give a richness to our culture which feeds into everything else and helps to improve our society". Born on 6 August 1961, Seán Rocks was raised in Monaghan town with his brother and two sisters. After leaving school, he trained as a teacher and taught in schools for seven years, before moving on to a career in acting. Speaking to the Irish Examiner in 2014, Mr Rocks said that he did not "set out to be an actor", but that when he was in college, he got involved in amateur dramatics doing concerts and plays. This led to him acting at night, but finding that his voice was getting tired, his brother, who is a singer and was training at the College of Music at the time, suggested that the Drama department there might help with voice training. Mr Rocks said that it was during that time that he learned about voice projection and began reading a wide variety of plays and became "more and more interested in acting", before deciding to take a career break from teaching to embark on a career on the stage. In the final year of that career break, he was cast in Pat McCabe's highly acclaimed show 'Frank Pig Says Hello', describing the experience as "my big break as an actor and opened a lot of doors." He went on to have a busy career as a professional actor for many years and appeared on stage at The Abbey, Peacock and Gate theatres, as well as in several TV and film projects, including The Bill, Glenroe, Fair City, Dear Sarah and Go Now. Well-known to listeners all over Ireland and the world, Mr Rocks presented RTÉ Radio 1's nightly arts and culture magazine, Arena, since its inception in 2009. He died in Dublin last night and is survived by his beloved Catherine, his sons Morgan and Christian and his wide circle of family and friends. RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst expressed his sympathies to Mr Rocks' family and said that not only is radio the poorer for his passing, "but so too has Ireland lost one of its most passionate advocates for the arts, and one of its most informed and versatile voices." RTÉ's Director of Audio Patricia Monaghan said Mr Rock's passion for radio and the arts was infectious and he "was interested in everyone's point of view and had a great ability to command an audience's attention. He was never more at home than when he was on stage."
