17 Facts About Kathleen Behan

Kathleen Behan was an Irish republican and folk singer, and mother of Irish authors Brendan, Brian and Dominic.

Kathleen Behan was born Kathleen Kearney on either the 18 or 19 September 1889 at 49 Capel Street, Dublin.

Kathleen Behan was the fifth child and youngest daughter of pork butcher and grocer, John Kearney, and his wife Kathleen Kearney.

Kathleen Behan's father had a business on Lower Dorset Street, with a grocery, pub and a row of houses.

Kathleen Behan was there from 1898 to 1904 where she became an avid reader.

Kathleen Behan's oldest sibling, Peadar Kearney, was an ardent republican who wrote the lyrics to the song that would become the Irish national anthem, "The soldier's song".

Kathleen Behan was an active member of Cumann na mBan, and served as a courier to the General Post Office, Dublin and other outposts during the Easter Rising 1916.

Sean was born six month's after Kathleen Behan was widowed when Furlong died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.

Kathleen Behan lived with her mother-in-law, who was a republican and seamstress who made Irish Volunteer uniforms.

Kathleen Behan was arrested for running an IRA safe house.

Kathleen Behan worked for a short time for Maud Gonne as a housekeeper, where she met W B Yeats and Sarah Purser.

Brendan was born while his father was imprisoned during the Irish Civil War, and Kathleen Behan claimed that Michael Collins gave her money while she was pregnant.

Kathleen Behan attempted to claim a pension as her first husband had served in 1916, but her application was rejected.

Kathleen Behan had said the exposure to flour had effected Furlong's lungs negatively.

Kathleen Behan often travelled to London to see their plays, eventually appearing on British and Irish television and cultivating her own following.

Kathleen Behan was badly injured when she was struck by a motorcycle, a day before Stephen's death in 1967.

Kathleen Behan died in the nursing home in Raheny on 26 April 1984, and is buried in Deans Grange Cemetery.