The Meaning of Life is an Irish television programme, the first series of which was broadcast on RTÉ One in 2009. It is presented by the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Each episode involves Byrne interviewing a well-known public figure. The series is broadcast each Sunday night at 22:20.
In 2010 The Meaning of Life returned for both a second and, later, a third series. Interviews with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and actors Gabriel Byrne and Brenda Fricker during the second series attracted media attention when they spoke of their religious habits and child sexual abuse respectively.
Gay Byrne appeared on The Late Late Show on 18 December 2009 to discuss the programme.
A fourth series soon followed. Then a fifth series from January 2012. And a sixth in October 2012. And a seventh in January 2013.
| Title | Air Date | Duration | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Episode 1 | Colin Farrell | 2009-04-19 | 45 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 2 | Gerry Adams | 2009-04-26 | 45 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 3 | Maeve Binchy | 2009-05-03 | 45 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 4 | Ronan Keating | 2009-05-10 | 45 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 5 | Sinéad O'Connor | 2009-05-17 | 45 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 6 | Neil Jordan | 2009-05-24 | 45 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 1 | Gabriel Byrne | 2010-01-17 | 45 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 2 | Tommy Tiernan | 2010-01-24 | 45 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 3 | Brenda Fricker | 2010-01-31 | 45 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 4 | Bertie Ahern | 2010-02-07 | 45 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 5 | Mary Robinson | 2010-02-14 | 45 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 6 | Edna O'Brien | 2010-02-21 | 45 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 1 | Terry Wogan | 2010-09-26 | 45 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 2 | Fionnula Flanagan | 2010-10-03 | 45 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 3 | Deepak Chopra | 2010-10-10 | 45 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 4 | Ian Paisley | 2010-10-17 | 45 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 5 | Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh | 2010-10-24 | 45 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 6 | Dana Rosemary Scallon | 2010-11-07 | 45 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 1 | Michael Parkinson | 2011-03-06 | 45 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 2 | Brendan O'Carroll | 2011-03-13 | 45 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 3 | Mark Patrick Hederman | 2011-03-20 | 45 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 4 | Brian Cody | 2011-03-27 | 45 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 5 | Martin Sheen | 2011-04-03 | 45 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 6 | Ben Dunne | 2011-04-10 | 45 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 1 | Andrea Corr | 2012-01-08 | 45 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 2 | Paddy Moloney | 2012-01-15 | 45 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 3 | Fr. Shay Cullen | 2012-01-22 | 45 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 4 | Richard Branson | 2012-01-29 | 45 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 5 | Bob Geldof | 2012-02-05 | 45 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 6 | Mary Byrne | 2012-02-12 | 45 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 1 | Mary McAleese | 2012-10-07 | 45 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 2 | Noel Gallagher | 2012-10-14 | 45 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 3 | Sean Gallagher | 2012-10-21 | 45 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 4 | Niall Quinn | 2012-10-28 | 45 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 5 | Norah Casey | 2012-11-04 | 45 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 1 | Colm Tóibín | 2013-01-06 | 45 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 2 | J. P. Donleavy | 2013-01-13 | 45 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 3 | John Lonergan | 2013-01-20 | 45 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 4 | Maureen Gaffney | 2013-01-27 | 45 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 5 | Maria Doyle Kennedy | 2013-02-03 | 45 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 6 | Christina Noble | 2013-02-10 | 45 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 7 | Bono | 2013-06-22 | 45 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 1 | Colm Wilkinson | 2013-10-06 | 45 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 2 | Emily O'Reilly | 2013-10-13 | 45 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 3 | Fr Peter McVerry | 2013-10-20 | 45 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 4 | Celine Byrne | 2013-10-27 | 45 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 5 | Imelda May | 2013-11-03 | 45 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 1 | Majella O'Donnell | 2014-05-04 | 45 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 2 | Rory O'Neill | 2014-05-11 | 45 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 3 | Sean O'Sullivan | 2014-06-01 | 45 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 4 | Eamon Dunphy | 2014-06-08 | 45 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 5 | David Puttnam | 2014-06-15 | 45 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 6 | Enda Kenny | 2013-06-22 | 45 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 1 | Cecila Ahern | 2015-01-25 | 45 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 2 | Stephen Fry | 2015-02-01 | 45 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 3 | Barry McGuigan | 2015-02-08 | 45 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 4 | Mary Black | 2015-02-15 | 45 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 5 | Earl Spencer | 2015-03-22 | 45 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 6 | Dr Rowan Williams | 2015-03-01 | 45 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 1 | Hozier | 2015-09-27 | 45 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 2 | Joan Burton | 2015-10-04 | 45 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 3 | Diarmuid Gavin | 2015-10-11 | 45 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 4 | Prof. Richard Dawkins | 2015-10-18 | 45 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 5 | Sr Stanislaus Kennedy | 2015-10-25 | 45 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 6 | Eckhart Tolle | 2015-11-01 | 45 min |
| Season 12 | Episode 1 | Ruby Wax | 2016-01-10 | 45 min |
| Season 12 | Episode 2 | Anna May McHugh | 2016-01-17 | 45 min |
| Season 12 | Episode 3 | Dolores Keane | 2016-01-24 | 45 min |
| Season 12 | Episode 4 | Eoin Colfer | 2016-02-14 | 45 min |
| Season 12 | Episode 5 | Jonathan Sacks | 2016-02-07 | 45 min |
| Season 12 | Episode 6 | Peter Sutherland | 2016-03-06 | 45 min |
| Season 13 | Episode 1 | John Sheahan | 2016-10-16 | 45 min |
| Season 13 | Episode 2 | Garry Hynes | 2016-10-23 | 45 min |
| Season 13 | Episode 3 | André Rieu | 2016-10-30 | 45 min |
| Season 13 | Episode 4 | Joanne O'Riordan | 2016-11-06 | 45 min |
| Season 13 | Episode 5 | Shaykq Al Quadri | 2016-11-13 | 45 min |
| Season 13 | Episode 6 | Archbishop Charles J. Brown | 2016-11-20 | 45 min |
| Season 14 | Episode 1 | Blindboy Boatclub | 2021-05-17 | 45 min |
| Season 14 | Episode 2 | Vicky Phelan | 2021-05-24 | 45 min |
| Season 14 | Episode 3 | Mary Lou McDonald | 2021-05-31 | 45 min |
| Season 14 | Episode 4 | Harry Crosbie | 2021-06-14 | 45 min |
| Season 14 | Episode 5 | Nathan Carter | 2021-06-21 | 45 min |
| Season 14 | Episode 6 | Catherine Corlass | 2021-06-28 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 1 | Jane Seymour | 2022-06-20 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 2 | Eamonn Holmes | 2022-06-27 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 3 | Mary Coughlan | 2022-07-04 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 4 | Rupert Everett | 2022-07-11 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 5 | Eamon McCann | 2022-07-18 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 6 | Michael Harding | 2022-07-25 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 7 | Sr Collette | 2022-08-02 | 45 min |
| Season 15 | Episode 8 | Mairead McGuinness | 2022-08-08 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 1 | An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin | 2023-03-02 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 2 | Cait O Riordan | 2023-03-09 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 3 | Paul Mc Kenna | 2023-03-16 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 4 | Liz Nugent | 2023-03-23 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 5 | Alastair Campbell | 2023-03-30 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 6 | Joan Freeman | 2023-04-06 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 7 | Ardal O' Hanlon | 2023-04-13 | 45 min |
| Season 16 | Episode 8 | Valerie Mulcahy | 2023-04-20 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 1 | Archbishop Diarmuid Martin | 2023-09-03 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 2 | Johnny Logan | 2023-09-10 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 3 | Alice Taylor | 2023-09-17 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 4 | Tolu Makay | 2023-09-24 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 5 | Jason Smyth | 2023-10-01 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 6 | Adi Roche | 2023-10-08 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 7 | Tony Holohan | 2023-10-15 | 45 min |
| Season 17 | Episode 8 | Naomi Long | 2023-10-22 | 45 min |
| Season 18 | Episode 1 | Sinéad Burke | 2024-10-20 | 45 min |
| Season 18 | Episode 2 | Bryan Dobson | 2024-10-27 | 30 min |
| Season 18 | Episode 3 | Ricky Tomlinson | 2024-11-03 | 30 min |
| Season 18 | Episode 4 | Fintan O'Toole | 2024-11-10 | 30 min |
| Season 18 | Episode 5 | David Norris | 2024-11-17 | 30 min |
| Season 18 | Episode 6 | Catherine Joyce Collins | 2024-11-24 | 30 min |
