The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-03-31
FIancee of Mike Collins Zs Described by Her Cousin iu O. s. Studying Design
Described As "Young, Love ly, Stately, With Blond Hair and Blue Eyes"
By IMAGERY REX
Written for International News
 Service.

New York, March 31 - 'I knew her when"-
 How often we hear people say this proudly of someone who is a we'll known figure of the day!
 We have really found someone who knows a great deal about the young woman who is engaged to marry one of the great political per sonages of the hour, Michael Collins, head of the Provisional Government of Ireland. Recently the engagement was announced of the popular Irish leader and Miss Kitty Kiernan, of Granard, County Longford.
 Our find is Miss Kathleen de Rohan, cousin of Miss Kiernan and a resident of New York city for the present while she pursues her Rohan, an attractive, fair haired young woman, discussed her cousins romance, that has blossomed through the turbulent winds that past few years.
 Prettier Than Pictures.
 What is she Hke?" Miss de Rohan repeated after us. ''Wen. not very you've probably seen. Tall, stately. with wonderful blond hair and blue eyes. She's young and lovely, but 9o the pictures ni9n make her appear so
 Collins met her first in 1919, al- though their families had been ac- quainted for a long time. He's the likab1e, brilliant type the Irish call or seven, he has fought every bit of his way ahead in life and conquered oppression.
 "They have been engaged almost lins referred as the woman he loved when he answered the sarcas- tic taunt of the Countess Marhie- wicz that Michael Collins will prob fT oy-v-,r TO,-i1o now
 Her parents died when Kitty was about thirteen. Later one of her sis ters died in Switzerland. Her people Granard, and controlled a good DOT tion of the business in the town, in cludfng a prosperous grocery and provision store.
 Family Property Destroyed.
 'In 1920 District Inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary was shot in the hotel. The Sim F'einers were suspected. and the inn was burned everything else the Kiernans owned Still Kitty has some money of her own and is, I believe, wen-to-do-
 ''I remember our happy days to- gether when she went to the convent in Granard. We both studied Gaelic and were wrapped up in love of country, just as we have been dur ing the past few years to an even
 
 Irish White Cross, the nurses branch of Sim Fein.
 "Our first cousin, Paul Cusack, 8 rebel and hunger striker. was re- leased from prison in 1919. We used to laugh a lot about the way boys and girls were distributed in our families. Mrs. Kiernan, I<itty's moth CT, had six girls and one boy, and her sister, Mrs. Cusack, had six boys and one girl.
 Discussing fashions for Irish women, Miss de Rohan said:
 '.Women Don't Get Chance"
 Some of our towns are so remote that women don't get the chance to buy themselves the kind of clothes they would like. There is a demand for reasonably priced, good look ing dresses that the wholesalers in Amercia make
 '' A company is forming to meet part in it. I am studying design, so that I will understand what our de- signers are doing and to see that the best styles, combining beauty and a tasteful simplicity, will be offered our women. Their clothes have been in the English mode. which consists of either sports suits or evening dresses. All tailored suits we see at home look as if they were cut from one pattern
 Ireland's young people seem to be her leaders in every line at present This is surely youths day in Erin. Collins, leader, and Finance Minis ter of the Dali Eireann. is not yet hirty. Probably he doesn't think the women of his isle need any SartOr1al enhancements for their beauty, but the introduction of a great industry won't be at all a, bad thing for busi- ness and will interest the feminine