Mná na hEireann celebrated in Berne
Irish Ambassador Eamon Hickey and the Irish Embassy were thrilled to host a reception to honour the achievements of Irish women involved in the creative arts in Switzerland.
During the week, they gathered together musicians, poets, sculptors, writers, designers & others in celebration of Saint Brigid’s Day!
Among those talented ladies was Catherine Shortall Cronin, who performed a specially written piece for the evening.
Catherine is from Cellarstown in Kilkenny and is daughter of Geraldine and Pat Shortall.
Cronin is a writer, currently based in Switzerland.
A proud Kilkenny native, Ireland is never far from her mind or her work.
She is a former Loreto Secondary School student, and studied Humanities at Carlow College before gaining Master’s Degree at NUI Galway and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick in the fields of Philosophy and Literature.
After a decade working in education in Zurich, a cancer diagnosis pushed her to seriously follow her passion for writing.
She wrote and submitted her first play, “Håber Undone”, to Druid Theatre company, Galway and was chosen to be part of their Druid Debuts rehearsed readings programme for 2021.
Catherine’s second play is a one-woman piece called “Orphan Disease” and was premiered in Zurich last August, before it was staged at the Watergate in Kilkenny.
Kilkenny writing connections
Catherine regularly contributes to her dad’s programme ‘Sunday Serendipity ‘ on Community radio Kilkenny city 88.7fm.
Her work has also appeared in various poetry collections including with The Involvement Centre and The Recovery Kilkenny.
In 2021 and 2022 Catherines short stories were featured in The Kilkenny Observer.
Today, Catherine continues her treatment for cancer but thanks to an excellent medical team and a life enriched by following her passion for writing, the prospects for a longer, healthier life are now much more realistic than back in 2018.
