He was also among the UCD students who signed a letter of protest that was published in the Freeman's Journal on 10 May 1899, which objected to the portrayal of the Irish as "a loathsome brood of apostates" in W. B. Yeats' The Countess Cathleen.
He joined the national health insurance office in 1912 as a divisional inspector, and in 1922 was he was transferred to the Department of Defence where he oversaw the dependants’ claim section.
He was trained at the BBC in London, and persuaded Douglas Hyde to give the opening address at the launch of the station on 1 January 1926.
He ran the station for the next 8 years, in the face of severe staff and budgetary constraints, and while receiving criticism from journalists and politicians.
In 1926, 2RN was the first radio station in Europe to broadcast the live commentary on a field game, the 1926 All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway.
It was described as "a grave injury ... to Ireland's reputation in the field of folk music" by Donal O'Sullivan in the Irish Statesman (19 November 1927).
His comments led Clandillon and Ní Annagáin to bring a libel action against O'Sullivan, George W. Russell, and the Irish Statesman Publishing Co.
In January 1935, he was reappointed to the Department of Local Government and Public Health, later moving to Galway where he worked in the civil service until 1943.