Monaghan Town's Seán Rocks dies unexpectedly

The popular RTÉ arts presenter came from Monaghan Town and a family of 'outgoing people' - Cllr Seamus Treanor

Monaghan-born RTÉ broadcaster and actor, Seán Rocks, has passed away at the age of 63.

His unexpected death has shocked the arts world and his loyal fanbase as Seán last presented his popular Arena RTÉ Radio 1 show on Friday evening signing off with “I’ll see you on Monday”.

He died in Dublin last night following a brief illness and is survived by his wife, Catherine; and sons, Morgan and Christian.

Seán grew up in Monaghan Town, where his parents Philly (née Mulligan) and Paddy, ran Rocks grocery shop on Dawson Street. Paddy Rocks was also an accountant with a premises in Park Street in the town.

Seán grew up with his two brothers and two sisters with brother Ciaran following in his father’s footsteps becoming an accountant with a practice in Monaghan Town and his sister, Grainne, running Rocks of Monaghan stationery shop, in the same Dawson Street premises where their parents used to operate their grocers’ business.

Monaghan County Councillor and Monaghan Town resident, Seamus Treanor, said Seán Rocks was “a people’s person”.

“Seán and all the Rocks family were great outgoing people,” Cllr Treanor told the Celt, “They were involved in local musicals and drama – just full of flare and full of confidence. It’s no surprise that Seán followed the path he took in life.”

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, one of his brothers 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.

Announcing the 63-year-old’s passing, a tribute by RTÉ said: “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.”

Seán Rocks can count literary greats such as Salman Rushdie, Edna O'Brien, Roddy Doyle and John Banville and actors Rupert Everett, Martin Sheen and Brendan Gleeson among his guests.

Seán Rocks would have turned 64 on Wednesday, August 6.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.