Meet the Weekend quizmaster: ‘Four decades later, with 42,000 questions, it’s still here’

Noel Welch gives his personal account of 40 years compiling our Weekend quiz

Quizmaster Noel Welch has been compiling the weekly quiz in ‘Weekend’ for 40 years. Picture: Larry Cummins

Looking back at my schooldays in Deerpark Secondary School in Cork, now Coláiste Éamann Rís, two of my favourite subjects were Geography and History. Studying capital cities and researching important dates in history were the seeds that sparked my keen interest in quizzes and research.

Over the years, I realised that to truly broaden my general knowledge, my information base had to be expanded, and consuming media was the perfect recipe. A visit to the Cork City Library remains a great source for research and ideas for questions, as well as watching various news channels and quiz shows.

One of the earliest TV quizzes on RTÉ I enjoyed was Quicksilver, presented by Bunny Carr, which ran from 1965 to 1981. Contestants, picked from the live audience, competed for small monetary prizes by answering a series of trivia questions.

But the “daddy” of all quiz shows came along in 1972 in the form of BBC’s  Mastermind, presented by Icelandic-born host Magnus Magnusson. The format was specialist subjects and general knowledge, and I would take note of various questions and answers from the programme. 

A visit to the Cork City Library remains a great source for research and ideas for questions. Picture Larry Cummins

Other game shows I watched over the years were RTÉ’s Where in the World, Murphy’s Micro Quiz-M, and in recent years, ITV’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Tipping Point, and The Chase. All are great shows to test my general knowledge. Also, while listening to radio, I might hear a certain song, and straight away I’d write down the singer and use it as a quiz question.

So, it’s with great joy that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the weekly quiz for Weekend. Just to put it in context: In 1985, Patrick Hillery was our sixth President; Everton had won the then First Division; and Rhythm of the Night, by American family group DeBarge, was the year’s big hit. Recalling the very first 20 questions for the paper that year, the picture quiz featured India-born singer Engelbert Humperdinck, whose real name is Arnold George Dorsey.

However, my first venture into compiling quiz questions was volunteering my services as a quizmaster for the Guinness All-Ireland Rehab Quiz, a pub quiz fund-raiser organised by the charity Rehab Group in the 1980s. Travelling around the country hosting quiz nights was an enjoyable experience and helped raise money for a worthy cause. The final was most often held in Athlone. The questions were usually compiled in Dublin, but I had poetic licence to change them as I saw fit.

Quizmaster Noel Welch who has been running the weekly quiz for 40 years. Picture: Larry Cummins

At that time, I was a sub-editor in the Examiner office on Academy St, and upon hearing that the newspaper was about to publish a new weekend supplement,
Weekend, I quickly approached the then editor, Billy Crosbie, and asked if he would be interested in a weekly quiz. Four decades later, and with over 42,000 questions, it’s still appearing today.

Over those years, I have learnt a great deal about researching questions and answers, and the response from readers has been very positive. So today, wherever there is a quiz night, I’m the first to join a team and share my general knowledge, whether at home or abroad.

There was a popular song from 1972 by Johnny Nash entitled There Are More Questions Than Answers, but here in  Weekend magazine, there are answers to all the questions.

Some of the most popular categories of questions come in the form of music, sport, history, film, and literature. And here’s to 2026, for which I have already compiled new questions for the year ahead for the whole family to enjoy and compete against each other.