Elizabeth Cronin
Elizabeth "Bess" Cronin (; 29 May 18792 June 1956) was an influential singer of Irish traditional music in the sean-nós style. She sang hundreds of songs which she learnt as a youth, half of which were in the Irish language, which was her first language. She was visited and recorded by prominent collectors of traditional music including Alan Lomax, Jean Ritchie, Peter Kennedy and Seamus Ennis. Some of her songs inspired popular recordings, such as her version of "Siúil a Rún", which was covered by Clannad and Celtic Women. Early life and family. Elizabeth Cronin was born on  29 May 1879 in Ballyvourney, County Cork. Her name at birth was Eibhlis Ní Iarlaithe, but she was nicknamed ‘Bess’, and later ‘The Muskerry Queen of Song’ and 'The Queen of Irish Song'. Cronin was the eldest daughter of Maighréad Ní Thuama and Seán ‘Máistir’ Ó hIarlaithe, who was a village headmaster in a school of Barr d’Ínse (hence ‘Máistir'), in the Fuithirí area of West Cork, near the Cork-Kerry border. Cronin had five other siblings, four sisters: Mary Anne (b. 1882), Johanna (b. 1885), Nora (b. 1890) and Ellie (b. 1891), one brother: Tom (b. 1888) and two  half-brothers: Dan and Tim, from her father's first marriage. The entire Cronin family, including Elizabeth, spoke Irish as their first language and worked to promote it, with her mother in fact being a professor of the language. She spent her teenage years on a nearby farm owned by her childless aunt (her mother's sister) and uncle, Tomás Ó hIarfhlaithe (Tomás Bheirty). She learnt many of her songs and stories as a young teenager from farm servants who came and went for periods of five to six months, as well as others from her mother, cousins and friends . Due to Cronin's father being a teacher and her grandfather and uncle having a big interest in books, she was exposed to literature and the written word more than most would have been at the time. After she married her husband Seán Ó Croinin, she moved to Carraig an Adhmaid, Baile Mhic Íre (Ballmakeera) to the Cronin family farm which was known as ‘The Old Plantation’. She remained in the Baile Bhuirne area her whole life. Music. Cronin sang songs both in English and in her local dialect of the Irish language, which particularly interested collectors. She made her  first public appearance in 1899 at the age of 20 in a Feis in Macroom, singing two Sean-nós songs in Irish. Her career as a youth involved singing at weddings and parties, whilst also singing to pass the time when milking cows. She was visited and recorded by The Irish Folklore Commission, Seamus Ennis and Marie Slocombe (both with the BBC), Peter Kennedy, Jean Ritchie / George Pickow, Diane Hamilton, Brian George, Robin Roberts, and the famous ethnomusicologist and folklorist Alan Lomax. Lomax included her songs in the Irish volume of his 18-volume "Columbia World Library of Folk and  Primitive Music," which he edited whilst in London during the 1950s. Over 80 of Cronin's songs are on tape, however many are not available to the public but confined to her private collection. She never received a recording contract from her career in Irish traditional music. Her sons Donncha and Sean assisted in the physical recording of many of their mother's songs, and her grandson Daibhi O Croinin, a professor of early medieval history, compiled a book of 200 of her songs. Towards the latter-end of Cronin's life, her music was grouped together into a collection  called "The Commercial Recordings". There is a version of "Lord Gregory" (The Lass of Roch Royall) by Cronin on the Cultural Equity website. Illness and death. Suggested through the listening of several recorded collections, including "The Bonny Blue-Eyed Lassie" recorded by Diane Hamilton in 1955, it is evident that she has become exhausted and struggles to sing. Cronin fell ill to the blood-related diseases toxaemia and anaemia, and she died on 2 June 1956 at the age of 77. Legacy. Séamus Ennis referred to Cronin as the "Muskerry Queen of Song". She created some records during her life  which are still to this day widely available in the Irish traditional music archive. Most of her songs covered the topics of home and family, including "The Little Pack of Tailors", "Pussy Cats Party", "The Good Ship Kangaroo" and "Uncle Rat". The tune and the lyrics of her version of "Siúil a Rún" were the foundation of many subsequent recordings, including those of Clannad and Celtic Women. Cronin also influenced Irish singers such as Christy Moore and Martin Carthy and Seamus Ennis. Her songs are still played on RTE radio and are currently available on YouTube and Spotify. Her continued  use of the local Irish dialect galvanised her local community.