[1] He was managing director of Éamon de Buitléar Ltd., a company which specialised in wildlife filming and television documentaries.
[2][3] He was born on 22 January 1930 in Renmore Barracks, County Galway, one of seven children of Colonel Éamon de Buitléar, an army officer of Clanbrassil Street, Dublin, and his wife Nóra (née O'Brien), originally of Passage East, County Waterford.
[4] His father was later an aide-de-camp to the President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde, he grew up in a house of Irish language speakers in Wicklow.
[5] He began his working career in Garnett and Keegan's and Helys, selling fishing gear and shotguns.
His work includes directing films based on his books, and he received commissions from RTÉ, BBC and other stations.