I'm old enough that I remember when it started up :)
Raidió na Gaeltachta was founded in 1972 (before my time), I think people often confuse or conflate the history of the two.
What's super confusing is the naming.
There were two stations at the time - rte1 and network2 (really just rte2). The Irish language channel launched as "T na G" or "Telifis na Gaeltacht" in 1996. Then TV3, an independent station, launched in 1998. Later TnaG rebranded as TG4, even though it predated Tv3, which itself has since rebranded as Virgin Media One.
Raidió na Gaeltachta was founded in 1972 (before my time), I think people often confuse or conflate the history of the two.
What's super confusing is the naming.
There were two stations at the time - rte1 and network2 (really just rte2). The Irish language channel launched as "T na G" or "Telifis na Gaeltacht" in 1996. Then TV3, an independent station, launched in 1998. Later TnaG rebranded as TG4, even though it predated Tv3, which itself has since rebranded as Virgin Media One.
So in chronological order our channels go 1,2,4,1