Bess Cronin: Celebrating the gentle voice of Muskerry's Queen of Song 

The 'miraculous' survival of an old copybook led to the rediscovery of songs from a Co Cork singer whose remarkable repertoire has been republished in a new collection

Elizabeth 'Bess' Cronin at the door of The Plantation, Baile Mhic Íre, Co Cork, in 1951. Picture: Robin Roberts

Accepting brown envelopes from strangers has traditionally been regarded as the preserve of politicians, rather than history lecturers. Two decades ago, however, at the launch of his grandmother’s song collection, Dáibhí Ó Cróinín found himself in receipt of an envelope containing not banknotes but an old copybook that once belonged to his late father Donncha. On its pages were the words of songs sung by his grandmother Elizabeth (Bess) Cronin, in her own handwriting.

These have now been included in Ó Cróinín’s newly-published second edition of The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, a compendium of around 200 of the songs in Irish and English which drew song-collectors from Ireland, Britain, and America to visit Bess at her home in the Cork village of Baile Mhic Íre.