Kitty Kiernan

Catherine Brigid (Kitty) Kiernan (1892 – 1945) was an Irish woman best known as the fiancée of assassinated Irish revolutionary leader and Chairman of the Provisional Government Michael Collins. Image File history File links Kkiernan. ... Image File history File links Kkiernan. ... Year 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Assassin and Assassins redirect here. ... The Chairman of the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland was a transitional post established in January 1922, lasting until the creation of the Irish Free State in December 1922. ... Michael John (Mick) Collins (Irish: ; 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance in the Irish Republic, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, both as Chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander...

Early life

Kitty Kiernan was born in Granard, County Longford and educated in Loreto Convent, County Wicklow. Hers was a very comfortably-off merchant family with five sisters and one brother. Her parents, Bridget and Peter Kiernan, enjoyed a happy marriage, and life in the Kiernan home was joyous until Kitty reached her teens. In 1907 one of her twin sisters died in her late teens, followed in 1908 by the deaths of both her parents within a couple of months of each other. The family was to be further devastated by the death in 1909 of the remaining twin sister. The Kiernan family owned the Greville Arms Hotel in the town, as well as a grocery shop, a hardware store, a timber and undertaking business and also a bar. Around the corner from the hotel they operated a bakery which supplied the town and most of the surrounding countryside. All the family worked in one capacity or another. Granard (Irish: ) is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland and has a traceable history going back to 236 A.D.. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne. ... Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Longford Code: LD Area: 1,091 km² Population (2006) 34,361 Website: www. ... Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Wicklow Code: WW Area: 2,024 km² Population (2007) 114,676 Website: www. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Relations with Michael Collins

Kiernan met Michael Collins in May 1917 when he stayed at the Greville Arms with Harry Boland, his friend and fellow worker, during the by-election campaign in Co Longford. Both Collins and Boland were smitten by the charming and vivacious Kitty, but it was to Collins to whom she became engaged. Michael Collins, one of the principal founders of the independent Irish state, became a regular visitor to Granard between 1917 and 1922. Michael John (Mick) Collins (Irish: ; 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance in the Irish Republic, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, both as Chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander... Harry Boland Harry Boland (1887–1922) was an Irish nationalist of the early Twentieth Century. ...

Later life and death

In 1925, Kitty married Felix Cronin, who was Quartermaster General in the National Army; they had two sons, the second of whom they called Michael Collins Cronin. A Quartermaster general is the staff officer in charge of supplies for a whole army. ... The National Army was the combined conscript and volunteer force that was was formed by the United States War Department in 1918 to fight in World War I. The National Army was formed from the old corps of the United States Army, augmented by units of the United States National...

She died of Bright's disease (as did all of her siblings) on July 24, 1945, and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, not far from where Collins lies. Felix joined her there 19 years later. Brights disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. ... is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Glasnevin Cemetery The round tower (centre) stands over the tomb of Daniel OConnell Glasnevin gravestones Glasnevin Cemetery, also known as Prospect Cemetery, is the main Catholic cemetery in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. ... For other uses, see Dublin (disambiguation). ...

Correspondence

Kitty Kiernan and Michael Collins kept up a lengthy correspondence and while Collins was in London during the Treaty negotiations, he wrote to her every day. These letters are the subject of a book written by Leon O'Broin entitled "In Great Haste". Kitty's worst fears were realized when Collins was assassinated at the age of 31 near Beal na mBlath, County Cork, on August 22, 1922. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Cross on the bend in the road commemorating where Michael Collins, leader of the Irish Republican Army, was killed in the autumn of 1922. ... Statistics Province: Munster County Town: Cork Code: C (CK proposed) Area: 7,457 km² Population (2006) 480,909 (including City of Cork); 361,766 (without Cork City) Website: www. ... is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 2000, some of the 300 letters sent by Kiernan and Collins to each other went on permanent display at the Cork Public Museum. These letters give a great insight into Kitty's attitude to life and into the political events of this time.

Former Fine Gael minister Peter Barry donated his collection of historic letters to the Lord Mayor of Cork, on behalf of the municipal museum. The collection, purchased from the Cronin family in 1995, was transferred to Marshes Library in Dublin, where the letters were catalogued. The Peter Barry collection contains letters from Harry Boland, a friend of Collins and former suitor of Kitty Kiernan. Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party, usually referred to as Fine Gael (IPA: , though often anglicised to ; approximate English translation: Family/Tribe of the Irish, is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland with a membership of over 34,000, and is the largest opposition party in... Peter Barry (Irish: ; born August 10, 1928) is a retired Irish Fine Gael politician and businessman. ... This article is about the city in the Republic of Ireland. ...

There are also a number of letters to Collins from various individuals and to Kiernan from others. The bulk of the letters between Collins and Kiernan were written between 1919 and 1922, and through their almost daily contact emerges a picture of the dreams and aspirations of the man often called Ireland’s "lost leader" and the woman with whom he wanted to share a "normal" life.

"Their correspondence represents a unique and revealing portrait of a remarkable man and an ordinary woman made extraordinary by tragic circumstances," said a museum spokesperson.

Trivia

In the 1996 film Michael Collins Kitty Kiernan was played by American actress Julia Roberts. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning American film actress and former fashion model. ...

There is an Irish pub in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York named "Kitty Kiernan's". Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Bay Ridge is located in the southwest corner of Brooklyn, New York. ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... This article is about the state. ...

See also

Michael Collins (Irish leader) Michael John (Mick) Collins (Irish: ; 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance in the Irish Republic, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, both as Chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander...