In her mid-teens she went to live with her father's brother and his wife who, being childless, needed help with the family farm. Bess first learned songs from her mother, Maighread Tuomey, and the family servants. Her father, John Herlihy, was a school teacher who made enough to employ household servants. Bess came from a solidly middle class family. This, in turn, encouraged a revival of older Irish language songs, the composition of new ones, and the presence of collectors, whose interest in the region (and later in Bess) would be significant in her career.Įnglish and Irish language singing was in the air in Ballyvourney and in the Herlihy household. Cork into a center of Irish language revival. The Gaelic League was prominent in the area, transforming the West Muskerry region of Co.

Cork, Bess Cronin (nee Herlihy) was shaped by cultural changes taking place around her.

So much so that Seamus Ennis (piper, singer, storyteller,collector and broadcaster) referred to her simply as The Queen of Irish Song.īorn in the village of Ballyvourney, Co. In Elizabeth Cronin, mid-20th century Irish music found a perfectly ordinary woman who, for many, embodied what traditional singing was all about.

Folk music collector 1950s