[1] Kay Keohane-O'Riordan was born Catherine Keohane on Convent Road, Clonakilty, County Cork on 22 September 1910.
Her maternal grandfather went on to establish an egg dealing business in Clonakilty, which still exists as Shannonvale Foods.
On their honeymoon in England, they visited Irish republicans in Parkhurst prison, who were imprisoned for taking part in the 1939 IRA bombing campaign.
In February 1946, they moved from Cork to Dublin, living at 37 Victoria Street, South Circular Road, Portobello.
She negotiated being both a devout Catholic and a communist, having to seek out a priest, in Whitefriars Street Carmelite church, who was a sympathetic confessor.
She was a gifted singer and played the Irish harp, performing on Radio Éireann and at the Abbey Theatre.