Micheline Kerney Walsh (21 October 1919 – 8 May 1997) was an Irish archivist and historian.

Early life and family

Micheline Kerney Walsh was born in

La Celle-Saint-Cloud La Celle-Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the Yvelines department of the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a western suburb of Paris, from the center. Population Transport La Celle-Saint-Cloud is served by two stations on th ...

near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 21 October 1919. Her parents were

Leopold H. Kerney Leopold H. Kerney (11 December 1881 – 8 June 1962) was the first Irish Minister Plenipotentiary to be appointed to Spain and remained at this post from 1935 until his retirement in 1946. He could be termed a "diplomat by accident" as he be ...

and Raymonde (née Élie) from Bordeaux. She had two brothers, John and Eamon. She attended the Cross and Passion Convent, Kilcullen, County Kildare, Loreto College, Madrid, and Loreto College, St Stephen's Green, Dublin. She entered

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(UCD) in 1938, graduating with a BA in languages in 1941. On 30 September 1941 she married Richard Brazil Walsh (18 October 1914 - 1992). They had three sons and three daughters, Terence, Micheline, Aideen, Monique, Ronan and Michael.

Career

Kerney Walsh joined the staff of the Overseas Archives in UCD in 1954 when it was established by Professor Patrick McBride. She published ''The O'Neills in Spain'' and ''The McDonnells of Antrim on the Continent'' in 1960, along with the first in her four-volume ''Spanish knights of Irish origin'' with the subsequent volumes appearing in 1965, 1970, and 1978. Her research focused on individuals, such as her contributions to on the women of the Wild Geese, Irishmen in the imperial service, and on Hugh O'Neill in ''The'' ''Irish Sword'', journal of the

Military History Society of Ireland The Military History Society of Ireland promotes the study of military history, and in particular the history of warfare in Ireland and of Irishmen in war. The Honorary Patron is the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. The society was form ...

. She was elected to the council of the Military History Society in 1980, and became the society's first woman vice-president in 1986. She published 11 articles with the journal of Cumann Seanchais Ard Mhacha, ''Seanchas Ard Mhacha'', on the O'Neills and other Irish–Spanish connections. The society published her book in 1986, ''Destruction by peace: Hugh O'Neill after Kinsale''. At a welcoming ceremony for the king and queen of Spain at St Patrick's College, Maynooth in July 1986, Kerney Walsh presented a copy of her book to King Juan Carlos. For her work on the historic links between Spain and Ireland, in 1988 she was the first Irish woman to be awarded the decoration

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

. She was conferred with a doctorate of literature on published work in 1988 by the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

Death and legacy

She died at her family home, 20 Elm House, Mespil Estate, Dublin, on 8 May 1997. She bequeathed her personal collection of overseas archives to the Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Memorial Library and Archive, Armagh, which was opened on 8 May 1999. The remaining portion of her overseas archives were donated to the library and archive of UCD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Micheline Kerney 1919 births 1997 deaths Writers from Dublin (city) Alumni of University College Dublin 20th-century Irish historians 20th-century Irish writers Irish archivists Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic People educated at Loreto College, St Stephen's Green