Kate Walsh O'Beirne (September 23, 1949 – April 23, 2017) was the former president of National Review Institute and the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

editor of ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

''. Her column, "Bread and Circuses," covered

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, politics, and U.S. domestic policy. O'Beirne was a regular contributor on

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's Saturday night political round-table program, '' Capital Gang'', along with

Al Hunt Albert Reinold Hunt Jr. (born December 4, 1942) is an American journalist, formerly a columnist for Bloomberg View (from which he retired at the end of 2018), the editorial arm of Bloomberg News (which is a subsidiary of Bloomberg L.P.). Hunt ho ...

Mark Shields Mark Stephen Shields (May 25, 1937 – June 18, 2022) was an American political columnist, advisor, and commentator. He worked in leadership positions for many Democratic candidates' electoral campaigns. Shields provided weekly political anal ...

Robert Novak Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...

, and Margaret Carlson. O'Beirne and Novak typically argued the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

viewpoint, and Hunt, Shields, and Carlson provided the liberal viewpoint. She also served as a substitute host on CNN's ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

'', a commentator for ''

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'', and a political analyst for

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's '' Hardball''.

Early life and education

O'Beirne was born Kate Monica Walsh in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She grew up in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is an affluent Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. It is co ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. She was raised in a traditional

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

family. O'Beirne's father was Matthew (Matty) Walsh, longtime owner of famed Manhattan saloon Jimmy Ryan's where dozens of jazz legends played, including Sidney Bechet, Ben Webster, and Coleman Hawkins. She attended St. Mary's High School, graduating in 1967, and then attended Good Counsel College, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

women's school in

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

, where she majored in English and journalism.

Career

While at Good Counsel College, O'Beirne took a leave of absence to work on the successful 1970

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

campaign of

Conservative Party of New York State The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running only on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to ...

member James Buckley. She returned to his office as an aide after graduation. In 1976, she graduated from St. John's University School of Law in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, and in the same year married James O'Beirne, an infantry officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

who served as

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

liaison to

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. For the next ten years, she traveled with him and raised their two sons. In 1986, the family moved to

, where O'Beirne served as deputy assistant secretary for legislation at the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

until 1988. She then became deputy director of domestic policy studies at

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

, where she supervised studies in the area of health care, welfare, education, and housing and later served as the foundation's vice president of government relations. She was responsible for keeping Washington policymakers abreast of Heritage proposals and research findings in all areas of the foundation's study. She simultaneously served as a contributing editor for ''

''. In 1992,

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

named her to the Presidential Commission on Women in the Armed Forces. In 1995, she began work as a part time contributing editor for ''National Review'', and was soon appointed the magazine's Washington, D.C. editor. Her work on the magazine led to her invitation to join ''Capital Gang'' and other television opportunities. She received an honorary degree from St. John's University in 1997. O'Beirne was president of National Review Institute, a nonprofit public policy organization.

Personal

O'Beirne was married to Army Lt. Col. James O'Beirne. O'Beirne had two sons, Philip O'Beirne and John O'Beirne. In 2016, O'Beirne was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. On April 23, 2017, she died at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

in Washington, D.C.

Writings

* ''Women Who Make the World Worse: and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports'', Sentinel HC, 2005.

References

External links

Kate O'Beirne's
''National Review'' profile
Column archive
''National Review'' * *
Profile: "Living By Words Alone," ''St. John's Alumni Magazine,'' Fall/Winter 2002, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 4–8

Obituary
Murphy Falls Church Funeral Home in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obeirne, Kate 1949 births 2017 deaths American columnists American newspaper editors American political commentators American television personalities American women television personalities The Heritage Foundation people American people of Irish descent People from Manhasset, New York National Review people American women columnists American women newspaper editors 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers Female critics of feminism 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists Journalists from New York (state)