1. Catherine Ita Ahern was an Irish Fianna Fail politician who served as a Teachta Dala for the Kerry North constituency from 1977 to 1981 and a Senator from 1964 to 1977.
25 Facts About Kit Ahern
1. 2.
Kit Ahern was the first woman to hold several political offices, such as first woman to chair Kerry County Council.
3.
Kit Ahern's Parthian shot was to defect to the newly created Progressive Democrats in 1985, a splinter party from Fianna Fail filled with many of Haughey's opponents.
4.
Kit Ahern was born in Athea, County Limerick, the eldest of eight children.
5.
Kit Ahern grew up in a politically conscientious household: Her father, Patrick Liston, was known as "the Painter" because he painted banners for Parnellite rallies while her grandmother Kate McAuliffe had been involved in the Ladies' Land League.
6.
Kit Ahern's uncle Owen McAuliffe was a member of the Limerick IRA and was imprisoned for his activities.
7.
Kit Ahern was educated locally and at the College of Art in Dublin, and went on to work as a teacher at Colaiste Mhuire in Abbeyfeale, County Limerick.
8.
Kit Ahern became involved with the Irish Countrywomen's Association, becoming the organisation's president in 1961, and she served on the board of Bord Failte.
9.
Kit Ahern contested the Dail elections of 1965,1969 and 1973, but was unsuccessful on all three occasions.
10.
Labour's Evelyn Owens was elected as Leas-Chathaoirleach, but Kit Ahern won the support not just of her Fianna Fail colleagues but of Mary Robinson then an independent senator.
11.
Kit Ahern became a member of Kerry County Council in 1967, and from 1977 to 1978 she was the council's first woman Cathaoirleach.
12.
Dail success came for Kit Ahern following Fianna Fail's landslide victory at the 1977 general election, when she was elected as a TD for Kerry North.
13.
Kit Ahern only served one term as in Dail Eireann, as she lost her seat at the 1981 general election.
14.
When Haughey didn't nominate her for the Seanad after the February 1982 Irish general election, it was clear his position had been cemented and that Kit Ahern was now frozen out within Fianna Fail.
15.
Kit Ahern felt embittered, believing that over the course of her 13 years in the Seanad she had built up considerable new support for Fianna Fail in Kerry, only for her to be simply discarded by Haughey due to internal politics.
16.
Not seeing a future for her political career, Kit Ahern retired from national politics.
17.
Nonetheless, in 1985 Kit Ahern joined the Progressive Democrats, a splinter party from Fianna Fail led by an Haughey archrival Desmond O'Malley.
18.
Kit Ahern was a lifelong supporter of the Irish language and an active member of Conradh na Gaeilge.
19.
Kit Ahern was able to successfully use her presidency as a stepping stone into political office, despite the fact that the ICA's constitution forbid members from engaging in politics.
20.
Kit Ahern retorted that it would be hypothetical for her to reject a nomination to the Seanad having previously advocated for women to become more politically active.
21.
On her entry to the Seanad, Kit Ahern declared she took the role "as a tribute to the women of Ireland, as a tribute to myself and to try to create a base for a new North Kerry Fianna Fail TD".
22.
Kit Ahern opposed the creation of creches for women in politics, and instead advocated that women should give up politics to become full-time mothers if they became pregnant.
23.
Kit Ahern died in Tralee in December 2007, aged almost 93.
24.
Kit Ahern was a lifelong promoter of the Irish language and the aunt of Kerry Gaelic footballer Eoin Liston.
25.
Kit Ahern was President of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society.