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. References 1879 births 1956