Terry Wogan - Early Life

Early Life

Wogan, the son of a grocery store manager in Limerick City, was educated at the Jesuit school of Crescent College from the age of eight. He experienced a strongly religious upbringing, later commenting that "There were hundreds of churches, all these missions breathing fire and brimstone, telling you how easy it was to sin, how you'd be in hell. We were brainwashed into believing." Despite this, he has often expressed his fondness for the city of his birth, commenting on one occasion that "Limerick never left me, whatever it is, my identity is Limerick."

At the age of 15, after his father was promoted to general manager, Wogan moved to Dublin with his family. While living in Dublin, he attended Crescent College's sister school, Belvedere College. He participated in amateur dramatics and discovered a love of Rock and roll. After leaving Belvedere in 1956, Wogan had a brief career in the banking profession, joining the Royal Bank of Ireland. While in his twenties, he later joined the national broadcaster of Ireland, RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) as a newsreader and announcer, after seeing an advert in a newspaper advertising announcer positions. He later revealed on BBC television show Would I Lie To You? that during his time at RTÉ, he would play pranks on his colleagues by burning their scripts while they were live on air.