It was in 1949 that the Government of the Republic of Ireland first convened a commission to look into the feasibility of establishing a national, public television service. It took ten whole years of careful consideration, given the country's precarious economic condition at the time, for the Government to finally give the go-ahead.

By 1959, a well-known Irish-speaking actor of Dublin's world-famous Abbey Theatre, name of Éamonn Ó Guallaí - better known to the public under his more anglicised stage name, Eddie Golden - had come up with what became the Irish-language term for television, soon after he had witnessed an experimental TV outside broadcast of a speech in Dublin by the then Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Seán Lemass, which was only being carried in closed circuit via cable into the Abbey Theatre's auditorium. This inspired Eddie to put the dynamics of Irish to good use, by taking the Greek prefix 'tele-' (meaning 'from afar') with 'fís', which is the Irish for 'a vision'. Thus the word 'telefís' (which can also be spelt as 'teilifís') was then suggested to Government. This was the term adopted in preference to the much more contrived suggestion of 'cian-amharc', which similarly means 'a sight from afar'.

Plans were set in motion for the television counterpart of the long-established national public radio network, Radio Éireann, with pilot transmissions from the big mast on Mount Kippure in Co. Wicklow starting in mid-1961. By then, the powerful symbol of the cross of Saint Brigid was first suggested as the emblem for the new service, by the network's first head of women's programmes, Édith Cusack. Her own representative design of the traditional reed- or rush-constructed cross was tried out. Due to the tendency for this type of design to cause strobing, when it appeared on a black-and-white TV screen using the 405-line definition system, it was deemed unsuitable for use initially.

Then came Dick Butterworth, who also worked in the new network's design department, at the newly-built Television Centre complex, near Montrose House in Donnybrook, on the south side of Dublin. It was Dick who produced a more stylised version of the Saint Brigid's Cross. It was this form which became the standard symbol, both on screen and as the corporate logo of the new Telefís Éireann when it officially opened with a special evening of programmes to launch the service, on New Year's Eve, December 31 1961. The traditional form was also used on air, however, albeit occasionally, and in spite of its tendency to strobe. The then President of Ireland, Éamon DeValera, officially opened the new network, with an additional address by the then Taoiseach, Seán Lemass.

Further versions of the Saint Brigid's Cross emblem were introduced at intervals by designer Jim Jones. First in December 1963…

...and then in July 1966, when the statutory organisation Radio Telefís Éireann (Radio-Television Ireland) was formed, joining both the senior and infant broadcast mediums together. A 'pointed' Saint Brigid's Cross design was used on its own in some on-air situations. However, it more usually preceded the letters 'R', 'T' and 'E' in black, on four white squares. This is the classic 'Comhartha na Cheithre Bhosca' - the 'Four Boxes' emblem - which marked the July 1966 arrival of RTÉ Television.