The Complete Collection                                                
edited by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín  

Elizabeth (Bess) Cronin, 'The Queen of Irish Song', as Séamus Ennis called her, is probably the best-known Irish female traditional singer of our time. Her reputation was such that collectors came from far and near to hear and record her singing. Seamus Ennis collected her songs for the Irish Folklore Commission in the mid-1940s, and again, with Brian George, for the BBC in the early 1950s. American collectors also recorded her: Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress, in 1951, Jean Ritchie and George Pickow, in 1952, and Diane Hamilton, in 1956. Over eighty of her songs are captured on tape, but only a few of these have ever been available to the public. Now for the first time, this new publication offers the complete Bess Cronin collection (in Irish and English), with the texts of all the songs, and a biographical essay. Accompanying the book is a complete set of re-mastered recordings, from public and private collections, illustrating the wide range of her repertoire, which included Child Ballads, songs in Irish and English, and children's songs.

The author, a grandson of Bess Cronin, brings to this publication a unique range of qualifications: access to Bess Cronin's own autograph song-lists; transcriptions of her songs made by his uncle, Seán Ua Cróinín; notes and comments by Bess Cronin recorded by the author's father, Donnacha Ó Cróinín; and photographic material not previously seen. This personal, family material is combined with unique access to the BBC, IFC, and privately recorded American material to offer a comprehensive account of an extraordinary singer and her distinctive singing style.

Dáibhí Ó Cróinín lectures in history at University College Galway and is the author of An Cuigiu Diochlaonadh (1994), Early Medieval Ireland 400-1400 (1995) and is editor of Peritia, a journal of Celtic and medieval history

297 x 210mm; First edition; Portrait; Music
ISBN 1-85182-259-3 240pp paperback £24.95