Catherine Brigid Cronin (; 26 January 1892 – 25 July 1945) was an Irish woman widely known as the fiancée of Irish revolutionary leader and

Chairman of the Provisional Government The Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State was a transitional post established in January 1922, lasting until the creation of the Irish Free State in December 1922. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 was passed by th ...

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

Early life

Catherine Bridget ‘Kitty’ Kiernan was born on 26 January 1892 in

Granard Granard () is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland, and has a traceable history going back to AD 236. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne, at the point where the N55 nationa ...

County Longford County Longford ( gle, Contae an Longfoirt) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,6 ...

to Peter Kiernan and Bridget née Dawson. She was educated at Loreto Convent,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

. Hers was a very comfortably-off merchant family with five sisters and one brother. Her parents enjoyed a happy marriage, and life in the Kiernan home was joyous until Kitty reached her teens. On 27 November 1907 her sister, Elizabeth Mary (a twin), died aged eighteen of pulmonary tuberculosis, while Elizabeth’s twin sister, Rose, would seem to have died the same year in Davos, Switzerland–which would also indicate tuberculosis as a cause of death. Her mother Bridget died on 29 November 1908 of apoplexy, while her father, Peter, died almost exactly a year later, on 9 November 1909, of pneumonia. The Kiernan family owned the Greville Arms Hotel in the town, as well as a grocery shop, a hardware store, a timber and undertaking business and also a bar. Around the corner from the hotel they operated a bakery which supplied the town and most of the surrounding countryside. All the family worked in one capacity or another.

Relationship with Michael Collins

Michael Collins, one of the principal founders of the independent Irish state, was introduced to the vivacious Kiernan sisters by his cousin

Gearóid O'Sullivan Gearóid O'Sullivan (28 January 1891 – 25 March 1948) was an Irish teacher, Irish language scholar, army officer, barrister and Sinn Féin and Fine Gael politician. Early life and education Jeremiah O'Sullivan was born in Coolnagurrane near ...

, who was already dating Maud Kiernan. Collins initially fell for the captivating Helen Kiernan, but she was already engaged to someone else. He then turned his interests to Kitty, who had already captured the interest of Collins' friend

Harry Boland Harry Boland (27 April 1887 – 1 August 1922) was an Irish republican politician who served as President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood from 1919 to 1920. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1922. He was elected at the 1918 ...

. However, it was Collins to whom Kitty became engaged, with plans to marry Collins in a November 1922 double ceremony to include the nuptials of Maud and Gearóid. Collins' death four months earlier resulted in a single wedding taking place.

Later life and death

On 10 June 1925, Kitty married Felix Cronin, who was Quartermaster General in the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The Ar ...

. They had two children, their first born son, Felix junior (d. 21 November 1999), and their second son, Michael Collins Cronin (b. 20 December 1929, d. 5 January 2021). Felix junior and his son Rex (d. 25 November 1986, aged 23) are interred with his parents Kitty and Felix in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Ghlas Naíon) is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasne ...

. Kitty died, aged 52, of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on 24 July 1945, and her grave is close to that of Collins. Felix Cronin died suddenly on 22 October 1961 while playing golf at Woodbrook Golf Club and is also buried in Glasnevin.

Bright’s Disease

Several sources, for example, a 1996 piece from the ''Irish Times'' entitled ‘Life after Mick’, state that Kitty Kiernan plus several of her siblings died of

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

– what we would class today as chronic nephritis. Her sisters Maud (2 October 1895–28 October 1940) who married Gearóid O'Sullivan on 18 October 1922 and Helena Josephine (22 September 1894–28 May 1940) who married solicitor Paul McGovern on 5 October 1921 both have chronic nephritis registered as their cause of death. While the cause of death for Kitty is registered as a cerebral hemorrhage, the suggestion is that she suffered from ill-health for several years before her death. Her only brother, Laurence Dawson Kiernan (22 Jan 1892–22 December 1948), of the Greville Arms Hotel, died of cirrhosis of the liver. Her twin sisters, Lizzie and Rose, both died in 1907 of tuberculosis–one in Granard and one in Switzerland. Her sister, Christina Margaret (b. 9 December 1890), married Thomas Magee on 22 June 1921 in Dublin. Kitty was a witness. Christina died on 3 February 1953 in Castlebar.

Correspondence

Kitty Kiernan and Michael Collins kept up a lengthy correspondence and while Collins was in London during the

Treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

negotiations, he wrote to her every day. These letters are the subject of a book written by Leon O'Broin entitled "In Great Haste". Kitty's worst fears were realized when Collins was killed in action at the age of 31 near

Béal na Bláth Béal na Bláth or Béal na Blá (anglicised Bealnablath or Bealnabla)"Béal na Blá/Bealnablath"

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, on 22 August 1922. In 2000, some of the 300 letters sent by Kiernan and Collins to each other went on permanent display at the

Cork Public Museum Cork Public Museum ( ga, Músaem Poiblí Chorcaí) is a city museum in Cork, Ireland. Housed in a mid-19th century building within Fitzgerald Park in the Mardyke area of the city, the museum's exhibits focus mainly on the history and archaeolo ...

. These letters give a great insight into Kitty's attitude to life and into the political events of this time. Former

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

minister Peter Barry donated his collection of historic letters to the Lord Mayor of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, on behalf of the municipal museum. The collection, purchased from the Cronin family in 1995, was conserved at the Delmas bindery at

Marsh's Library Marsh's Library, situated in St. Patrick's Close, adjacent to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland is a well-preserved library of the late Renaissance and early Enlightenment. When it opened to the public in 1707 it was the first public li ...

in Dublin: the letters were also catalogued and then returned to the Cork Public Museum. The Peter Barry collection contains letters from Harry Boland, a friend of Collins and former suitor of Kitty Kiernan. There are also a number of letters to Collins from various individuals and to Kiernan from others. The bulk of the letters between Collins and Kiernan were written between 1919 and 1922, and through their almost daily contact emerges a picture of the dreams and aspirations of the man often called Ireland's "lost leader" and the woman with whom he wanted to share a "normal" life. "Their correspondence represents a unique and revealing portrait of a remarkable man and an ordinary woman made extraordinary by tragic circumstances," said a museum spokesperson.

In popular culture

In the 1996 film ''

'' Kitty Kiernan was played by American actress

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...

though some reviewers were critical of the character's development. A number of Irish pubs are named in memory of Kitty Kiernan, such as one in

Donnycarney Donnycarney () is a Northside suburb in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council. It is mostly residential, around from the centre of Dublin. Dublin GAA's home stadium, Parnell Park, is located here. Location ...

, Dublin,

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, in the

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...

section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. A similar pub in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

was closed in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiernan, Kitty 1892 births 1945 deaths People of the Irish War of Independence People from County Longford Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Deaths from nephritis Women in war 1900–1945 Women in war in Ireland