# Elizabeth Cronin > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elizabeth_Cronin > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elizabeth_Cronin.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cronin > Source revision: 1285375107 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Irish singer (1879–1956)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Use Irish English|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Elizabeth Cronin | native_name = Eibhlís Uí Chróinín | native_name_lang = ga | image = Image reproduced by permission of the National Folklore Collection, University Dublin.jpg | birth_name = Eibhlís Ní Iarlaithe | birth_date = {{birth date|1879|05|29|df=y}} | birth_place = [Ballyvourney](/source/Ballyvourney), County Cork, Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|1956|06|02|1879|05|29|df=y}} | death_place = [Macroom](/source/Macroom), County Cork, Ireland | known_for = [Sean-nós singing](/source/Sean-n%C3%B3s_singing) | children = 5, including [Donncha Ó Cróinín](/source/Donncha_%C3%93_Cr%C3%B3in%C3%ADn) | relatives = [Dáibhí Ó Cróinín](/source/D%C3%A1ibh%C3%AD_%C3%93_Cr%C3%B3in%C3%ADn) (grandson) }} '''Elizabeth "Bess" Cronin''' ({{langx|ga|'''Eibhlís Uí Chróinín'''|italic=no}}; 29 May 1879{{snd}}2 June 1956){{cite web|title=UÍ CHRÓINÍN, Eibhlís (1879–1956)|url=https://www.ainm.ie/Bio.aspx?ID=0714|website=Ainm.ie|language=ga}} was an influential singer of [Irish traditional music](/source/Irish_traditional_music) in the [sean-nós](/source/Sean-n%C3%B3s_singing) style.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/the-muskerry-queen-of-song-1.1121858|title=The Muskerry Queen of Song|last1=The Irish Times|date=19 December 2000|work=The Irish Times|access-date=23 November 2018|publisher=The Irish Times}} She sang hundreds of songs which she learnt as a youth, half of which were in the [Irish language](/source/Irish_language), which was her [first language](/source/first_language). She was visited and recorded by prominent collectors of traditional music including [Alan Lomax](/source/Alan_Lomax), [Jean Ritchie](/source/Jean_Ritchie), [Peter Kennedy](/source/Peter_Kennedy_(folklorist)) and [Seamus Ennis](/source/S%C3%A9amus_Ennis). Some of her songs inspired popular recordings, such as her version of ''[Siúil a Rún](/source/Si%C3%BAil_A_R%C3%BAn)'', which was covered by [Clannad](/source/Clannad) and [Celtic Women](/source/Celtic_Woman). ==Early life and family== Elizabeth Cronin was born on 29 May 1879 in Rath West ({{langx|ga|An Ráth Thiar}}), in the civil parish of [Ballyvourney](/source/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'.{{cite book |last1=Ó Cróinín |first1=Dáibhí |title=The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, Irish Traditional Singer |date=2000 |publisher=Four Courts Press |location=Dublin}} 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](/source/County_Cork)-[Kerry](/source/County_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](/source/Irish_language) as their first language and worked to promote it,{{cite journal|last1=Russell|first1=Ian|date=2003|title=Reviewed work: The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, Irish Traditional Singer|journal=Folk Music Journal|volume=8|issue=3|pages=372–374|jstor=4522696}} and her mother was a professor of the language.left|thumb|Ballyvourney Churchyard thumb|Baile Mhic Íre (Ballymakeera) 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 Seán Ó Croinin, she moved to Carraig an Adhmaid, [Baile Mhic Íre (Ballmakeera)](/source/Ballymakeera) to the Cronin family farm which was known as 'The Old Plantation'. She remained in the [Baile Bhuirne](/source/Ballyvourney) area her whole life. ==Music== Cronin sang songs both in [English](/source/English_language) and in her local dialect of the [Irish language](/source/Irish_language), which particularly interested collectors. She made her first public appearance in 1899 at the age of 20 in a [Feis](/source/Feis) in [Macroom](/source/Macroom), {{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} singing two [sean-nós](/source/Sean-n%C3%B3s_singing) songs in [Irish](/source/Irish_language). Her career as a youth involved singing at weddings and parties, whilst also singing to pass the time when milking cows.{{cite web|last1=Brennan|first1=Christopher|date=2016|title=Biographies of Famous Singers|url=http://irishrochester.weebly.com/biographies-of-famous-singers.html|access-date=23 November 2018|website=Comhaltas Rochester Irish Music Association|publisher=Christopher Brennan}} She was visited and recorded by The Irish Folklore Commission, [Seamus Ennis](/source/S%C3%A9amus_Ennis) and [Marie Slocombe](/source/Marie_Slocombe) (both with the [BBC](/source/BBC)), [Peter Kennedy](/source/Peter_Kennedy_(folklorist)), [Jean Ritchie](/source/Jean_Ritchie) / [George Pickow](/source/George_Pickow), [Diane Hamilton](/source/Diane_Hamilton), Brian George, Robin Roberts, and the [ethnomusicologist](/source/Ethnomusicology) and folklorist [Alan Lomax](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Early_Middle_Ages) 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".{{Cite web|title=The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin|url=https://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/cronin.htm|access-date=2021-06-30|website=www.mustrad.org.uk}} There is a version of "Lord Gregory" ([The Lass of Roch Royall](/source/The_Lass_of_Roch_Royall)) by Cronin on the Cultural Equity website.{{Cite web|title=Lord Gregory|url=http://research.culturalequity.org/rc-b2/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordingId=7364|access-date=14 February 2018|website=Cultural Equity|archive-date=27 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327131916/http://research.culturalequity.org/rc-b2/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordingId=7364|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=Lord Gregory (conclusion)|url=http://research.culturalequity.org/rc-b2/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordingId=7366|access-date=14 February 2018|website=Cultural Equity|archive-date=27 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327131918/http://research.culturalequity.org/rc-b2/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordingId=7366|url-status=dead}} == Illness and death == Suggested through the listening of several recorded collections, including "The Bonny Blue-Eyed Lassie" recorded by [Diane Hamilton](/source/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](/source/Bacteremia) and [anaemia](/source/anaemia),{{fact|date=July 2021}}. She died in hospital in [Macroom](/source/Macroom) on 2 June 1956, at the age of 77. ==Legacy== [Séamus Ennis](/source/S%C3%A9amus_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](/source/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](/source/On_Board_the_Kangaroo)" and "[Uncle Rat](/source/Frog_Went_a-Courting)". The tune and the lyrics of her version of ''[Siúil a Rún](/source/Si%C3%BAil_A_R%C3%BAn)'' were the foundation of many subsequent recordings, including those of [Clannad](/source/Clannad) and [Celtic Women](/source/Celtic_Woman). Cronin also influenced Irish singers such as [Christy Moore](/source/Christy_Moore) and [Martin Carthy](/source/Martin_Carthy) and [Seamus Ennis](/source/S%C3%A9amus_Ennis). Her songs are still played on [RTÉ Radio](/source/RT%C3%89_Radio) and are available on [YouTube](/source/YouTube) and [Spotify](/source/Spotify).{{fact|date=May 2023}} Her continued use of the local Irish dialect "galvanised her local community". Many of Bess Cronin's songs are regularly performed in her native Baile Mhuirne and further afield. Among those who sing songs associated with Bess is celebrated singer Iarla Ó Lionáird - who is a grand-nephew of Bess' - grandson of Eibhlín Ní Iarfhlaithe (Uí Shúilleabháin), of Gort na Scairte, Baile Mhuirne. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Elizabeth}} Category:1879 births Category:1956 deaths Category:19th-century Irish women singers Category:20th-century Irish women singers Category:Musicians from County Cork Category:Sean-nós singers Category:People from Ballyvourney Category:1890s in Irish music Category:1900s in Irish music Category:1910s in Irish music Category:1920s in Irish music Category:1930s in Irish music Category:1940s in Irish music Category:1950s in Irish music --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elizabeth Cronin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cronin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cronin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.