Áine Ní Cheanainn (1907–1999) was

headmistress A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

and co-founder of Cumann Scannán na nÓg. Ní Cheanainn was born in Derryvea, Kiltimagh,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, daughter of a shopkeeper. She was taught locally before attending Carysfort Training College from 1925 to 1927, graduating with a qualification for primary level. She later studied at UCD, where she obtained an M.A. in education. She taught at Scoil Mhuire in

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...

from 1927, and became principal of Scoil Eoin Baiste girls' school in Clontarf in 1941. By the 1950s, Scoil Eoin was one of the most prestigious in Dublin. The following decade she introduced audio-visual equipment, years before their official introduction as part of the curriculum in 1974. Ní Cheanainn was actively involved in many areas of education, such as the Eigse Raifteri summer school, the Comoradh Mhic Eil, the Irish branch of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, the Irish-German society, and Corfheile na Scoileanna. She was a co-founder of Cumann Scannán na nÓg, which was merged with the

Irish Film Institute The Irish Film Institute (IFI; ), formerly the Irish Film Centre, is both an arthouse cinema and a national body that supports Irish film heritage. The IFI presents film festivals, retrospectives and curated seasons, along with independent, ...

to form the Irish Film Centre. She was the only woman appointed to the

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

authority, serving from 1960 to 1965, but was disappointed not to be asked to serve a second term. It was at her insistence that the authority's name was changed to

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

in 1966. She published a biography of John MacHale in 1983. Áine Ní Cheanainn remained unmarried. She spent the last years of her life at Grove Nursing Home,

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent seaside resort and suburb in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It lies south of neighbouring Dalkey, east of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Churc ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. She died in June 1999 and was buried in Kiltimagh, survived by one sister.

References

* ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', pp. 911–12, Cambridge, 2010.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ni Cheanainn, Aine 1907 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Irish people Irish-language writers Irish writers People from County Mayo Irish schoolteachers