Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Maria Doyle Kennedy
birthname	Maria Josephine Doyle
birth date	September 25, 1964
Birth place	Clontarf, Dublin
occupation	ActorSinger
years active	1980s–present (Singer)1991–present (Actress)
website	http://www.mariadoylekennedy.com
othername	Maria Doyle
spouse	Kieran Kennedy (1988–present)

Maria Doyle Kennedy (born Maria Josephine Doyle on September 25, 1964) is an award-winning Irish actress and singer. She is possibly best known for her roles as Queen Katherine of Aragon in ''The Tudors'', the title character's wife Frances in ''The General'' and as Sonya in ''Dexter''.

Biography

Early life

She is an honours graduate of Trinity College Dublin (Joint Honours Politics and Business) faculty of E.S.S.

Musical career

In 2001, Maria released music on Mermaid Records, a label she founded herself. Her debut solo album ''Charm'' was released in 2001. She coordinated ''Sirens'' which is a compilation album of female artists and which was released in 2003. She released an album ''Skullcover'' consisting of cover versions in 2005, and ''Mütter'' in 2007. Maria’s new album with her husband Kieran is called The Storms Are On the Ocean. A collection of Appalachian standards dressed in darned gowns, its spiritual siblings are Plant's Band of Joy, PJ's White Chalk and Gillian Welch's stark daguerreotypes. Here are courtly tunes, murder ballads, child ballads and death fugues all backlit by Kieran Kennedy's acoustic guitar, banjo and piano. Both of her solo albums have been nominated for Meteor awards and her forthcoming project sees her teamed with U.S. country music legend John Prine Damien Rice and Paul Brady.

Musical History

Maria joined a band while still in college in the mid-80s. They formed originally to enter a Slogadh competition (which they won) but music quickly became a motivating force in her life. She has spent the best part of 20 years performing live all over the world to audiences ranging from the many thousands who have enjoyed her show at festivals (Glastonbury, Oxegen, Cambridge Folk Festival etc.) to the more intimate theatre concerts.

One must include in Maria Doyle's musical history her appearance as Natalie, one of a trio of backup singers in the 1991 film the Commitments. The Commitments documents the rise and fall of an Irish "Soul" band in Dublin, a classic, funny, and moving story. The musical performances of 60s and 70s American soul music are remarkable, and Natalie's force and presence in the band are remarkable.

Maria released her first album “When Justice Came” in 1989 with The Black Velvet Band. Recorded in Los Angeles in 1989 It reached No.4 in the Irish charts and is ranked among the best Irish albums of the Late 1980s. She then united with producers Clive Langer and Allen Winstanley to record her second Black Velvet Band album "King Of Myself" in 1992. Irish music magazine Hot Press later called her "The finest voice this country has ever produced."

'The Lady Sings The Blues' a compilation Album featuring Maria alongside Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Annie Lennox, followed and proved to be a best selling album in 1994. It also established Maria in new markets in Europe the US and Japan. Touring Europe for the first time, she got rave reviews from The Guardian, The Times and others.

Maria produced a documentary -Golden Boy- based on the life and work of Irish artist Patrick Scott and has appeared as a broadcaster on Irish television filling in for John Kelly on his Mystery Train show and for Tom Dunne on Pet Sounds.

Acting career

In 2007 and 2008, Maria played Queen Katherine of Aragon (King Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary I of England) on ''The Tudors''. She was rumoured to have returned as Katherine of Aragon in a dream sequence to ''The Tudors'' for the fourth and final season in mid 2010,and this was confirmed when the first promotional picture of the season showed Katherine (along with King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr) on the cover. Kennedy will appear on Irish screens early in 2011 on TG4's ''Corp & Anam'' in her first Irish language acting role. Kennedy portrayed Sonya, a nanny to Dexter Morgan's son Harrison in the fifth season of Dexter. It was announced on February 18th, 2011 that Kennedy had signed on for series 2 of ITV period drama ''Downton Abbey'', appearing as Vera Bates.

Personal life

In 1988, she married musician Kieran Kennedy, with whom she has four sons, Louis, Jesse James, Daniel and Salvador. Kennedy speaks fluent Irish.

Filmography

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
		Natalie Murphy
	''Nothing Personal''	Ann
		Alice
	''A Further Gesture''	Roisin
	Sarah Kelly
	''Father Ted''	Patsy	TV series (1 episode: "Night of the Nearly Dead")
	Frances
	''I Could Read the Sky''	Maggie
''Gregory's Two Girls''	Bel
	Christine
	Emma Pearson	TV series (2 episodes)
	Irish Shop Assistant	TV mini-series (1 episode: "Wherein It Is Shown How Oliver Twist Came to Be Born in Such Sad Circumstances")
	Marie Threepwood/Marie Jones	TV series (2 episodes: 1999-2000)
	''Queer as Folk 2''	Marie Jones	TV movie
	''J.J Biker''
	''No Tears''	Kitty Fogarty	TV mini-series
''Home for Christmas''	Cora Quirke	TV movie
	''Thursday the 12th''	Nina Bannister	TV movie
''Mystics''	Foxy
	''Spin the Bottle''	Anastasia
	Rosemary
	''Hide & Seek''	Emma Holden	TV series
	Roisin	TV series (6 episodes)
	''The Tudors''		TV series (18 episodes: 2007-2010) IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Television 2008 IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Television 2009 Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series
	''(She Owns) Every Thing''	Object of Affection	''short''
	Sonya	TV series (8 episodes)
	''Corp & Anam''	Mairéad Mhic Iarnáin	TV series
''Albert Nobbs''		''completed''
''Downton Abbey''	Vera Bates	TV series ''filming''

Awards and nominations

In 2003, Maria Doyle Kennedy was nominated for the IFTA award.

In 2008, Maria Doyle Kennedy won both the Gemini award and the IFTA award.

In 2009, Maria Doyle Kennedy won the IFTA award.

Notes

External links

Maria Doyle Kennedy - her official website

Category:Irish film actors Category:1964 births Category:People from County Dublin Category:Living people Category:Music from Dublin (city) Category:Irish-language singers

de:Maria Doyle es:Maria Doyle Kennedy fr:Maria Doyle Kennedy ga:Maria Doyle Kennedy it:Maria Doyle Kennedy nl:Maria Doyle Kennedy pl:Maria Doyle Kennedy pt:Maria Doyle Kennedy

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	George Stroumboulopoulos
birth date	August 16, 1972
birth place	Malton, Ontario, Canada
birthname	George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos
othername	Strombo }}

George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos (; born August 16, 1972) is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television's ''George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight'' (formerly ''The Hour''; a talk show about the world's current events) and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic. Stroumboulopoulos studied Radio Broadcasting at Toronto's Humber College.

Family background

He was born in Malton, Ontario, Canada, to a Greek father from Egypt and a Ukrainian mother. He was raised in Toronto primarily by his mother, and a close-knit extended family.

Career

Radio broadcasting

In the second quarter of 1993, Stroumboulopoulos worked at rock radio in Kelowna, B.C., for a few months before getting a job offer at the Toronto radio station Fan 590 AM, working in talk radio for about four years before moving to MuchMusic.

MuchMusic

From 2000–2004, Stroumboulopoulos worked at MuchMusic as producer and host of ''The Punk Show'', then host of ''The NewMusic'', ''MuchLOUD'' and ''MuchNews''.

''The Greatest Canadian''

Prior to joining ''The Hour'' Stroumboulopoulos was featured on CBC television's ''The Greatest Canadian'' series as the advocate for Tommy Douglas. More than 1.2 million votes were cast over six weeks, as each of 10 advocates made their case for the Top 10 nominees. Stroumboulopoulos made a personal and passionate case for Tommy Douglas, Canada's "father of medicare,", who was later named winner of said contest.

''Strombo Show''

Stroumboulopoulos has hosted a long-running Sunday night talk radio show, ''The Strombo Show''. Originally aired as a talk show on CFRB in Toronto and CJAD in Montreal, the show moved to the Corus network in November 2007 and the format changed to one of mainly music. ''The Strombo Show'' broadcast from 102.1 The Edge's Toronto studio and on other radio stations in the Corus Entertainment network, including CFOX-FM in Vancouver, Power 97 in Winnipeg, FM96 in London and Y108 in Hamilton.

The show moved to CBC Radio 2 on November 8, 2009.

''The Hour / George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight''

On January 17, 2005, the first episode of ''The Hour'' went to air. Currently in its seventh season, ''The Hour'' is a hybrid of news and celebrity and covers everything from politics, pop culture, the environment, human rights, entertainment, sports and more. Airing nationally at 11:00 pm on CBC, ''The Hour'' is Canada's only late-night talk show. It has won eight Gemini Awards. Stroumboulopoulos and ''The Hour'' have hosted a range of guests from world leaders to celebrities and politicians.

For the 7th season of the talk show, CBC announced that beginning September 20, 2010, the show was being renamed and shortened into a daily half-hour show called ''George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight''; the revised program is broadcast weeknights at 11:05 pm local time, 11:30 pm in Newfoundland.

''The One: Making a Music Star''

In July 2006, George Stroumboulopoulos hosted an American reality television talent show, ''The One: Making a Music Star'' that aired on ABC in the United States, and CBC Television in Canada. It was advertised as a similar show to ''American Idol'' and ''Rock Star'' but with the twist that contestants would "live together in a fully functioning music academy", with their actions documented similar to the ''Big Brother'' format.

Reportedly the most expensive summer series in the history of the ABC network, its first episode, on July 18, 2006, scored a low audience of 3.08 million viewers. Subsequent episodes had even fewer viewers. The series was cancelled after just two weeks (four episodes) with the final results undecided on July 27, 2006, with no plans for any further episodes. Stroumboulopoulos returned to ''The Hour'' after the failure of the reality television show ''The One''.

Charity and public awareness

George Stroumboulopoulos and ''The Hour'' sponsored the "One Million Acts of Green" Internet Website challenge, calling on Canadians to register environmental acts they've done. The campaign registered over 1.6 million acts on the website. Stroumboulopoulos and his family have been devoted to this cause also supported by Dr. David Suzuki.

Stroumboulopoulos has also been involved with numerous charitable initiatives, such as hosting the 'HipHop4Africa' Mandela Children's Fund Canada and CapAids February 2006 Toronto benefit. He has traveled to the Arctic for a special on literacy, youth culture and the loss of Inuit identity. He has been to Sudan with War Child Canada, and Zambia for a World AIDS Day special documentary. He also supports Make Poverty History. He joined other prominent Canadians in sharing views on global issues in the March 2010 issue of Upstream Journal magazine.

He was co-host of ''Canada for Haiti'' television with Cheryl Hickey and Ben Mulroney to help the humanitarian crisis in Haiti after a devastating earthquake.

Stroumboulopoulos became the first Canadian Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme in March 2011. Since then his network has fed more than 3,000 hungry kids through the WeFeedback campaign and donated over 7 million grains of rice through Freerice.com.

He also presented at Vancouver's EPIC Expo in May 2011 where he showed support for Fair Trade and the work of the non-profit organization, Fair Trade Vancouver.

Awards

''The Hour'' has won six Gemini Awards.

*In 2006 – Viewers Choice Award – Best Host

*In 2007 – Best Talk Series – Best Host – Best Production/Design

*In 2008 – Best Host

Stroumboulopoulos was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws, from the University of Calgary on November 13, 2007.

He was also awarded an honourary degree in Communications from Humber College in June 2009.

He was selected by the United Nations World Food Programme as an official ambassador in March 2011.

References

External links

George Stroumboulopoulos site on CBC

Strombo.com, his personal website

George Stroumboulopoulos's Myspace

Recap of ''The Hour'': Season One, including highlights of clips in the shows video archive.

Recap of ''The Hour'': Season Two, features highlights from the second season of the show.

Category:1972 births Category:Canadian game show hosts Category:Canadian radio sportscasters Category:Canadian people of Greek descent Category:Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Category:Canadian talk radio hosts Category:Canadian television talk show hosts Category:Humber College alumni Category:Living people Category:MuchMusic personalities Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Participants in Canadian reality television series Category:People from Mississauga Category:People from Toronto Category:CBC Radio hosts

fr:George Stroumboulopoulos ga:George Stroumboulopoulos no:George Stroumboulopoulos

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Catherine of Aragon
succession	Queen consort of England
reign	11 June 1509 – 23 May 1533
reign-type	Tenure
coronation	24 June 1509
spouse	Arthur, Prince of WalesHenry VIII of England
issue	Henry, Duke of CornwallMary I of EnglandOthers
house	House of Trastámara ''(by birth)''House of Tudor ''(by marriage)''
father	Ferdinand II of Aragon
mother	Isabella I of Castile
birth date	16 December 1485
birth place	Archbishop's Palace, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid
death date	January 07, 1536
death place	Kimbolton Castle, Cambridgeshire
religion	Roman Catholic
signature	Catherine of Aragon Signature.svg }}

Catherine of Aragon (Spanish: ''Catalina de Aragón'') (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536), also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. She had previously been styled Princess of Wales as the wife of Arthur, Prince of Wales. (Arthur died shortly after their wedding, and Catherine subsequently married Henry, who was Arthur's younger brother.) In 1507, Catherine also held the position of Ambassador for the Spanish Court in England when her father found himself without one, becoming the first female ambassador in European history. For six months, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English won the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part. The controversial book (''The Education of Christian Women'') by Juan Luis Vives, which claimed women have the right to an education, was dedicated to and commissioned by her. Such was Catherine's impression on people, that even her enemy, Thomas Cromwell, said of her "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History." William Shakespeare described her as "The Queen of Earthly Queens", and during her early years as queen consort she was described as "The most beautiful creature in the world." She successfully appealed for the lives of the rebels involved in the Evil May Day for the sake of their families. Furthermore, Catherine won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor. She was also a patron of Renaissance humanism, and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Saint Thomas More.

At the age of three Catherine was betrothed to Prince Arthur, heir to the English throne, and they married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later. Catherine subsequently married Arthur's younger brother, the recently-succeeded Henry VIII. By 1525 Henry was infatuated with his mistress Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter, the future Mary I of England, as heiress presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England's break with the Roman Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters. In 1533 their marriage was declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the Pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England and considered herself, as did most of England and Europe, the King's rightful wife and Queen until her death. Now acknowledged by Henry only as Dowager Princess of Wales, she lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, and died there on 7 January 1536.

Early life

Catherine was born at the Archbishop's Palace in Alcalá de Henares near Madrid, on the night of 16 December 1485. She was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. Catherine was quite short in stature with long golden auburn hair, wide blue eyes, a round face, and a fair complexion. She was descended, on her maternal side, from the English royal house as her great-grandmother Catherine of Lancaster, after whom she was named, and her great-great-grandmother Philippa of Lancaster, were both daughters of John of Gaunt and granddaughters of Edward III of England. Consequently she was third cousin of her father-in-law, Henry VII, and fourth cousin of her mother-in-law Elizabeth of York.

She was educated by a tutor, Alessandro Geraldini, who was a clerk in Holy Orders. Catherine was able to read, speak, and write in Latin and Spanish and also spoke English, Flemish, French, and Greek. She studied canon and civil law, the classics, genealogy, heraldry, Latin histories, mathematics, philosophy, and religion. She had a strong religious upbringing and developed a faith that would play a major role in later life. She was taught domestic skills, such as art, dancing, embroidery, household management, lace-making, music, needlepoint, spinning, and weaving. The great scholar Erasmus would later say that Catherine "loved good literature which she had studied with success since childhood". Catherine was also taught games such as cards, chess, and dice as well as archery, falconry, horseback riding, and hunting.

At an early age, she was considered a suitable wife for Arthur, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Henry VII of England and heir to the throne, due to her overwhelmingly prominent English ancestry inherited from her mother Queen Isabella I of Castile. By means of her mother, Catherine had a stronger legitimate ancestry to the English throne via the two first wives of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster; Blanche of Lancaster and the Spanish Infanta Constance of Castile, by whom John had hoped to claim the Crown of Castile. On the other hand Henry VII was the descendant of Gaunt's third marriage to Katherine Swynford, whose children were born out of wedlock and only legitimized after the death of Constance and the marriage of John to Katherine. The children of John and Katherine, while legitimized, were barred from ever inheriting the English throne. Because of this, the Tudor monarchy was not accepted by all the European kingdoms. At the time, the house of Trastámara was the most prestigious, due to the great rule of the Catholic Monarchs, so the alliance of Catherine and Arthur validated the House of Tudor in the eyes of European royalty and also strengthened the Tudor claim to the English throne via Catherine of Aragon's ancestry. It would also have given a male heir an indisputable claim to the throne. The two were married by proxy on 19 May 1499, and corresponded in Latin until Arthur turned fifteen and it was decided that they were old enough to be married.

As wife and widow of Arthur

The couple later met on 4 November at Dogmersfield in Hampshire. Little is known about their first impressions of each other, but Arthur did write to his parents-in-law that he would be "a true and loving husband" and told his parents that he was immensely happy to "behold the face of his lovely bride". Unfortunately, the couple found that they were unable to speak to each other since they had learned different pronunciations of Latin. Ten days later, on 14 November 1501, they were married at Old St. Paul's Cathedral.

Once married, Arthur was sent to Ludlow Castle on the borders of Wales, to preside over the Council of Wales and the Marches, as was his duty as Prince of Wales, and his bride accompanied him. The couple stayed in Castle Lodge, Ludlow. A few months later, they both became ill, possibly with the sweating sickness which was sweeping the area. He died on 2 April 1502, and Catherine recovered to find herself a widow.

At this point, Henry VII faced the challenge of avoiding returning her dowry to her father. To avoid complications, it was agreed she would marry Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York, who was five years younger than she was. However, the death of her mother meant that Catherine's 'value' in the marriage market decreased. Castile was a much larger kingdom than Aragon and it was inherited by Catherine's mentally unstable elder sister, Joanna. Ostensibly, the marriage was delayed until Henry was old enough, but Henry VII procrastinated so much about Catherine's unpaid dowry that it was doubtful if the marriage would ever take place. She lived as a virtual prisoner at Durham House in London. Some of her letters to her father, complaining of her treatment, have survived. In one of these letters she tells him that "I choose what I believe, and say nothing. For I am not as simple as I may seem." She had little money and struggled to cope, as she had the wellbeing of her ladies-in-waiting to maintain as well as her own. In 1507 she served as the Spanish Ambassador for England, thus becoming the first female ambassador in European history. While Henry VII and his councillors expected her to be easily manipulated, Catherine went on to prove them wrong.

Marriage to Arthur's brother depended on the Pope granting a dispensation because canon law forbade men to marry their brother's widows. Catherine testified her marriage to Arthur was never consummated, as also according to canon law, a marriage is not valid until consummated. The matter was considered of minor importance at the time, as the Pope had the power to overrule any objections, whether or not they were for religious reasons.

Queen of England (1509–1533)

Catherine's second wedding took place on 11 June 1509, seven years after Prince Arthur's death. She married the then recently succeeded Henry VIII in a private ceremony at Greenwich Church. She was 23 years of age. The king was just days short of his 18th birthday.

Coronation

On Saturday 23 June, the traditional eve-of-coronation procession to Westminster was greeted by a large and enthusiastic crowd. As was the custom, they spent the night before their coronation at the Tower of London. On Midsummer's Day, Sunday, 1509, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon were anointed and crowned together by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The coronation was followed by a banquet in Westminster Hall. Many new Knights of the Bath were created in honour of the coronation.

Pregnancies and children

On 31 January 1510, Catherine gave birth prematurely to a stillborn daughter. A son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall, was born on New Year's Day 1511. He lived for only 52 days. In 1513, Catherine was pregnant again. Henry appointed her regent when he went to France on a military campaign. Catherine wrote to Wolsey that while Henry approached the Siege of Thérouanne near Calais, she was encumbered with war in England; they were all very glad "to be busy with the Scots, for they take it for (a) pastime. My heart is very good to it, and I am horribly busy with making (of) standards, banners, and badges." When the Scots invaded, they were defeated at the Battle of Flodden Field, with Catherine addressing the army, and riding north in full armour with some of the troops, despite being heavily pregnant at the time. She sent a letter to Henry along with the bloodied coat of the King of Scots, James IV, who died in the battle.

!Name!!Birth!!Death
Stillborn Daughter	31 January 1510
Henry, Duke of Cornwall	1 January 1511
Stillborn Son	c. October 1513
Henry, Duke of Cornwall	December 1514
Mary I, Queen of England	18 February 1516
Unnamed Daughter	10 November 1518

Catherine had lost another son when Henry returned from France. He was either stillborn or died shortly after birth. In December 1514, she had another son, Prince Henry. On 18 February 1516, Catherine delivered a healthy girl. She was named Mary and christened three days later with great ceremony at the Church of Observant Friars. In 1518, Catherine became pregnant for the last time. She gave birth to a daughter on 10 November, but the child was weak and lived either only a few hours or at most a week. Catherine was pregnant six times altogether.

Catherine's religious dedication increased as she aged, as did her interest in academics. She continued to broaden her knowledge and provide training for her daughter. Education among women became fashionable, partly because of Catherine's influence. She also donated large sums of money to several colleges. Henry, however, still considered a male heir essential. The Tudor dynasty was new, and its legitimacy might still be tested. A long civil war (1135–54) had been fought the last time a woman, (Henry I of England's daughter, Empress Matilda), had inherited the throne. The disasters of civil war were still fresh in living memory from the Wars of the Roses.

In 1520, Catherine's nephew Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, paid a state visit to England, and she urged Henry to enter an alliance with Charles rather than with France. Immediately after his departure, she accompanied Henry to France on the celebrated visit to Francis I, the so-called Field of the Cloth of Gold. Within two years, war was declared against France and the Emperor was once again welcome in England, where plans were afoot to betroth him to Catherine's daughter Mary. It is a common belief that Catherine was indeed related to Clement VII.

The King's great matter

In 1525, Henry VIII became enamoured of Anne Boleyn, a maid-of-honour to Queen Catherine who was between 10 and 17 years younger than Henry (Anne's exact year of birth is unknown). Henry began pursuing her. By this time Catherine was no longer able to bear children. Henry began to believe that his marriage was cursed and sought confirmation from the Bible, which he interpreted to say that if a man marries his brother's wife, the couple will be childless. Even if her marriage to Arthur had not been consummated (and Catherine would insist, to her dying day, that she had come to Henry's bed a virgin), Henry's interpretation of that biblical passage meant that their marriage had been wrong in the eyes of God. Whether the Pope at the time of Henry and Catherine's marriage had had the right to overrule Henry's claimed scriptural impediment would become a hot point in Henry's campaign to wrest an annulment from the present Pope. It is possible that the idea of annulment had been suggested to Henry much earlier than this, and is highly probable that it was motivated by his desire for a son. Before Henry's father, Henry VII, ascended the throne, England was beset by civil warfare over rival claims to the English crown, and Henry may have wanted to avoid a similar uncertainty over the succession.

It soon became the one absorbing object of Henry's desires to secure an annulment. Catherine was defiant when it was suggested that she quietly retire to a nunnery, saying "God never called me to a nunnery, I am the King's true and legitimate wife". He set his hopes upon an appeal to the Holy See, acting independently of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, whom he told nothing of his plans. William Knight, the King's secretary, was sent to Pope Clement VII to sue for an annulment, on the grounds that the dispensing bull of Pope Julius II was obtained by false pretences.

As the Pope was, at that time, the prisoner of Catherine's nephew, Emperor Charles V, following the Sack of Rome in May 1527, Knight had difficulty in obtaining access to him. In the end, Henry's envoy had to return without accomplishing much. Henry now had no choice but to put his great matter into the hands of Thomas Wolsey, and Wolsey did all he could to secure a decision in Henry's favour. Wolsey went so far as to convene an ecclesiastical court in England, with a representative of the Pope presiding, and Henry and Catherine herself in attendance. The Pope had no intention of allowing a decision to be reached in England, and his legate was recalled. (How far the pope was influenced by Charles V is difficult to say, but it is clear Henry saw that the Pope was unlikely to annul his marriage to the Emperor's aunt.) The Pope forbade Henry to marry again before a decision was given in Rome. Wolsey had failed and was dismissed from public office in 1529. Wolsey then began a secret plot to have Anne Boleyn forced into exile and began communicating with the Pope, to that end. When this was discovered, Henry ordered Wolsey's arrest and, had he not been terminally ill and died in 1530, he might have been executed for treason. A year later, Catherine was banished from court, and her old rooms were given to Anne Boleyn. When Archbishop of Canterbury William Warham died, the Boleyn family's chaplain, Thomas Cranmer, was appointed to the vacant position.

When Henry decided to annul his marriage to Catherine, John Fisher became her most trusted counsellor and one of her chief supporters. He appeared in the legates' court on her behalf, where he shocked people with the directness of his language, and by declaring that, like John the Baptist, he was ready to die on behalf of the indissolubility of marriage. Henry was so enraged by this that he wrote a long Latin address to the legates in answer to Fisher's speech. Fisher's copy of this still exists, with his manuscript annotations in the margin which show how little he feared Henry's anger. The removal of the cause to Rome ended Fisher's role in the matter, but Henry never forgave him. Other people who supported Catherine's case included Thomas More, Henry's own sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France, Maria de Salinas, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Pope Paul III and Protestant Reformers Martin Luther and William Tyndale.

Later years

Upon returning to Dover from a meeting with King Francis I of France in Calais, Henry married Anne Boleyn in a secret ceremony. Some sources speculate that Anne was already pregnant at the time, but others testify that Anne (who had seen her sister Mary Boleyn taken up as the king's mistress and summarily cast aside) refused to sleep with Henry until they were married. Henry defended the legality of their union by pointing out that Catherine had previously been married. If she and Arthur had consummated their marriage, Henry by canon law had the right to remarry. On 23 May 1533, Cranmer, sitting in judgment at a special court convened at Dunstable Priory to rule on the validity of Henry's marriage to Catherine, declared the marriage illegal, even though Catherine testified she and Arthur had never had physical relations. Cranmer ruled Henry and Anne's marriage valid five days later, on 28 May 1533.

Until the end of her life, Catherine would refer to herself as Henry's only lawful wedded wife and England's only rightful queen, and her servants continued to address her by that title. However, Henry refused her the right to any title but "Dowager Princess of Wales", in recognition of her position as his brother's widow.

In 1535 she was transferred to Kimbolton Castle. There, she confined herself to one room (which she left only to attend Mass), dressed only in the hair shirt of the Order of St. Francis, and fasted continuously. While she was permitted to receive occasional visitors, she was forbidden to see her daughter, Mary. They were also forbidden to communicate in writing but sympathizers discreetly ferried letters between the two. Henry offered both mother and daughter better quarters and permission to see each other if they would acknowledge Anne Boleyn as his new Queen. Both refused.

In late December 1535, sensing her death was near, Catherine made her will, and wrote to her nephew, the Emperor Charles V, asking him to protect her daughter. She then penned one final letter to Henry, her "most dear lord and husband":

She died at Kimbolton Castle, on 1536. The following day, news of her death reached the King. There were rumours at the time that she was poisoned, possibly by Gregory di Casale. According to the chronicler Edward Hall, Anne Boleyn wore yellow for the mourning, which has been interpreted in various ways; Polydore Vergil interpreted this to mean that Anne did not mourn. However, Chapuys reported that it was actually King Henry who decked himself in yellow, celebrating the news and making a great show of his and Anne's daughter, Elizabeth, to his courtiers. This was seen as distasteful and vulgar by many. Another theory is that the dressing in yellow was out of respect for the late queen-princess dowager as yellow was said to be the Spanish colour of mourning. Certainly, later in the day it is reported that Henry and Anne both individually and privately wept for her death. On the day of Catherine's funeral, Anne Boleyn miscarried a son, which led to her execution a few months later. Rumours then circulated that Catherine had been poisoned by Anne or Henry, or both, as Anne had threatened to murder both Catherine and Mary on several occasions. The rumours were born after the apparent discovery during her embalming that there was a black growth on her heart that might have been caused by poisoning. Modern medical experts are in agreement that her heart's discolouration was due not to poisoning, but to cancer, something which was not understood at the time.

Catherine was buried in Peterborough Cathedral with the ceremony due to a Dowager Princess of Wales, not a queen. Henry did not attend the funeral and refused to allow Mary to attend either.

Faith

Catherine was a member of the Spanish order of Observant Franciscans and was punctilious in her religious observations, integrating without demur her necessary duties as queen with her personal piety. The outward celebration of saints and holy relics formed no part of her personal devotions, which she rather expressed in mass, prayer, confession and penance. Privately, however, she was aware of what she identified as the shortcomings of the papacy and church officialdom. Her doubts about church improprieties certainly did not extend so far as to support the allegations of corruption made public by Martin Luther in Wittenberg in 1517, which were soon to have such far-reaching consequences in initiating the Protestant Reformation: In 1523 Fray Alfonso de Villa Sancta, a learned friar of the Observant Franciscans and friend of the king's old advisor Erasmus, dedicated to the queen his book ''De Liberio Arbitrio adversus Melanchthonem'' denouncing Philipp Melanchthon, a supporter of Luther. Acting as her confessor, he was able to nominate her as a "Defender of the Faith" for denying Luther's arguments.

Appearance

Catherine was of a very fair complexion, had blue eyes, and had a hair colour that was between reddish–blonde and auburn; these were typical in members of the Trastámara family who were descendants of Peter I of Castile. During her lifetime she was described as "The most beautiful creature in the world", and that there was "Nothing lacking in her that the most beautiful girl should have." Saint Thomas More would reflect later in her lifetime that in regards to her appearance "There were few women who could compete with the Queen [Catherine] in her prime."

Legacy, memory, and historiography

In the reign of her daughter, Mary I of England, Catherine's marriage to Henry VIII was declared "good and valid." Her daughter Queen Mary I also had several portraits commissioned of Catherine, and it would not by any means be the last time she was painted. After her death, numerous portraits were painted of her, particularly of her speech at the Legatine Trial, a moment accurately rendered in Shakespeare's play about Henry VIII. Because of her long-suffering adherence to her faith, some saw her as a martyr.

Her tomb in Peterborough Cathedral can be seen and there is hardly ever a time when it is not decorated with flowers or pomegranates, her heraldic symbol. It bears the title ''Katharine Queen of England''.

In the 20th century, George V's consort, Queen Mary had her grave upgraded and there are now banners there denoting Catherine as a Queen of England. Every year at Peterborough Cathedral there is a service in her memory. There are processions, prayers, and various events in the Cathedral including processions to Catherine's grave in which candles, pomegranates, flowers and other offerings are placed on her grave. On the service commemorating the 470th anniversary of her death, the Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom attended. During the 2010 service a rendition of Catherine of Aragon's speech before the legatine court was read by Jane Lapotaire. There is a statue of her in her birthplace of Alcalá de Henares, as a young woman holding a book and a rose.

Catherine has remained a popular biographical subject to the present day. The American historian Garrett Mattingly was the author of a popular biography ''Katherine of Aragon'' in 1942. In 1966, Catherine and her many supporters at court were the subjects of ''Catherine of Aragon and her Friends'', a biography by John E. Paul. In 1967, Mary M. Luke wrote the first book of her Tudor trilogy, ''Catherine the Queen'' which portrayed her and the controversial era of English history through which she lived. thumb|Grave of Katherine of Aragon in Peterborough Cathedral. In recent years, the historian Alison Weir covered her life extensively in her biography ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII'', first published in 1991. Antonia Fraser did the same in her own 1992 biography of the same title; as did the British historian David Starkey in his 2003 book ''Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII''. Giles Tremlett's biography "Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII" came out in 2010, and Julia Fox's biography of Catherine of Aragon will be released in 2011.

Places and statues

In Alcalá de Henares, the place of Catherine's birth, a statue of Catherine as a young woman holding a rose and a book can be seen in the Archbishop's Palace.

Peterborough is twinned with the Castilian city of Alcalá de Henares. Children from schools in the two places have learned about each other as part of the twinning venture, and artists have even come over from Alcalá de Henares to paint Catherine's tombstone.

Aragon Road in Ampthill is named after Catherine, there is also in Ampthill a statue of a cross named "Queen Catherine's Cross" in her honour.

Spelling of her name

Her baptismal name was "Catalina", but "Catherine" was soon the accepted form in England after her marriage to Arthur. Catherine herself signed her name "Katherine", "Katherina", "Katharine" and sometimes "Katharina". In a letter to her, Arthur, her husband, addressed her as "Princess Katerine". Her daughter Queen Mary I called her "Quene Kateryn", in her will. Rarely were names, particularly first names, written in an exact manner during the sixteenth century and it is evident from Catherine's own letters that she endorsed different variations. Loveknots built into his various palaces by her husband, Henry VIII, display the initials "H & K", as do other items belonging to Henry and Catherine, including gold goblets, a gold salt cellar, basins of gold, and candlesticks. Her tomb in Peterborough Cathedral is marked "Katharine Queen of England".

Titles, styles and arms

[[Image:Coat of Arms of Catherine of Aragon.svg|thumb|right|upright|250px|Catherine of Aragon's arms while queen ]]

16 December 1485 – 14 November 1501: Infanta Catherine of Castile and Aragon

14 November 1501 – 2 April 1502: The Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Countess of Chester 2 April 1502 – 11 June 1509: The Dowager Princess of Wales, Dowager Duchess of Cornwall, Dowager Countess of Chester

11 June 1509 – 23 May 1533: ''Her Grace'' The Queen of England

c. 1519 – 23 May 1533: ''Her Majesty'' The Queen of England

23 May 1533 – 7 January 1536: The Dowager Princess of Wales, Dowager Duchess of Cornwall, Dowager Countess of Chester

In art and media

Over the years, numerous artistic and cultural works have been dedicated to her, written about her, or mentioned her, including some by her husband Henry VIII, who wrote "Grene growth the holy" about and for her, and Juan Luis Vives, who dedicated "The Education of Christian Women" to her.

Catherine of Aragon has been portrayed in film, television, plays, books, and other forms many times, and as a result she has stayed very much in popular memory. There has never been a film or television series where she is the main character although an arguable exception is the first episode of ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' which is told from her point of view and where she is portrayed by Annette Crosbie. There are also many novels, songs, and poems written about her. Shakespeare's play ''Henry VIII'' is tremendously successful in recreating, with great accuracy, Catherine's statement about the legitimacy of her marriage at the court in Blackfriars before King Henry, and Catherine's portrayal is very sympathetic therein. However, most of the rest of the play is an attempt to absolve many, especially Henry VIII, and the timing of key incidents (including Catherine's death) are changed and other events are avoided (the play makes Henry nearly an innocent pawn in the hands of a dastard Cardinal Wolsey, and the play stops short of Anne Boleyn's execution).

Although Catherine is often portrayed in film and on stage as having possessed the stereotypical Spanish traits of dark hair and eyes and an olive complexion, existing portraits and contemporary descriptions depict her as having had blue eyes, fair skin, and reddish-blonde hair, not uncommon for Spaniards from the northern regions of Spain, such as those from her father's land of Aragon. Furthermore, she was part English, through her ancestors, Katherine of Lancaster and Philippa of Lancaster, who were both daughters of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster.

She is often played with a Spanish accent; from most reports, this is accurate, as she never fully mastered the English language.

Music and rhymes

Rick Wakeman recorded the piece "Catherine of Aragon" for his 1973 album ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII''.

The song "Green Groweth the Holly" is said to have been written for her by Henry VIII.

In the children's nursery rhyme "I Had a Little Nut Tree" she is the "King of Spain's daughter".

She is remembered in a street ballad, for vouching for the rioters, on behalf of their wives and children, after the Evil May Day.

Books

Catherine is the main character in:

''Katharine, The Virgin Widow'', ''The Shadow of the Pomegranate'', and ''The King's Secret Matter'' (later published in an omnibus ''Katharine of Aragon'') by Jean Plaidy

''The King's Pleasure'', by Norah Lofts;

''The Constant Princess'', by Philippa Gregory (a novel about Catherine's younger years);

''Patience, Princess Catherine'' by Carolyn Meyer (young adult novel);

''Isabella's Daughter'' by Charity Bishop.

Catherine is a character in:

''Murder Most Royal'', by Jean Plaidy;

''The Trusted Servant'' by Alison Macleod

''The Other Boleyn Girl'' by Philippa Gregory (a novel about Mary Boleyn's life)

''The Dark Rose'', Volume 2 of ''The Morland Dynasty'', by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

''Wolf Hall'' by Hilary Mantel

Theatre, film, stage, and TV

Catherine was portrayed by:

Sarah Siddons in the 18th century, in Shakespeare's ''Henry VIII''. She told Samuel Johnson that the role of Queen Catherine was her favourite of all the Shakespearean roles she had played, as it was "the most natural".

Violet Vanbrugh in the 1911 short film production of hakespeare's play ''Henry VIII'' (first film portrayal).

German actress Hedwig Pauly-Winterstein in the film ''Anna Boleyn''.

Rosalie Crutchley in ''The Sword and the Rose'', an account of Mary Tudor's romance with the Duke of Suffolk in 1515. (Crutchley later played Henry's sixth queen Katherine Parr in ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII''.)

Greek actress Irene Pappas in Hal B. Wallis's acclaimed film ''Anne of the Thousand Days''.

Frances Cuka in the 1973 film ''Henry VIII and his Six Wives''. Keith Michell reprised his role as Henry VIII. A scene was incorporated between Frances Cuka and Charlotte Rampling (playing Anne Boleyn) to show their quiet, glacial enmity.

Claire Bloom in a 1979 adaptation of Shakespeare's ''Henry VIII''.

British actress Annette Crosbie in a 90-minute television drama entitled "Catherine of Aragon", the first part of the BBC series ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII''.

Annabelle Dowler in Dr. David Starkey's 2001 documentary series on Henry VIII's Six Wives.

Spanish actress Yolanda Vazuez, a brief appearance in the British TV version ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (January 2003), opposite Jared Harris as Henry VIII and Natascha McElhone as Mary Boleyn.

Assumpta Serna in the October 2003 ITV two-part television drama, ''Henry VIII'' which starred Ray Winstone in the title role. Part 1 chronicled the king's life from the birth of his bastard son, Henry Fitzroy until the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536. David Suchet co-starred as Cardinal Wolsey.

Marge Simpson (voiced by Julie Kavner), as "Margerine of Aragon" in ''The Simpsons'' episode "Margical History Tour."

Maria Doyle Kennedy in the Showtime 2007 television series, ''The Tudors'' opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry. For her performance, Kennedy won an IFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Television, and a Gemini Award for an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series.

Ana Torrent in the 2007 film The Other Boleyn Girl'', with Eric Bana as Henry VIII.

Virginia Weeks portrayed her in the play ''Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry'', and is one of only three productions that show Catherine with the correct colouring.

In 2008 she was played by Victoria Pelro in the film ''The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary''.

She is played by Siobhan Hewlett in the 2009 documentary ''Henry: Mind of a Tyrant''. This documentary is one of the few portrayals of Catherine to get her appearance correct.

Kate Duchêne in a 2010 adaptation of Shakespeare's ''Henry VIII'' at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Ancestry

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536)|2= 2. Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) |3= 3. Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504) |4= 4. John II of Aragon (1397-1479) |5= 5. Juana Enriquez de Córdoba, 5th Lady of Casarrubios del Monte (1425-1468) |6= 6. John II of Castile (1405-1454) |7= 7. Isabella of Portugal (1428-1496) |8= 8. Ferdinand I of Aragon (1380-1416) |9= 9. Eleanor of Alburquerque (1374-1435) |10= 10. Fadrique Enríquez, 1st Count of Melba and Rueda (1390-1473) |11= 11. Mariana Fernández de Córdoba y Ayala, 4th Lady of Casarrubios del Monte (1394—1431) |12= 12. Henry III of Castile (1379-1406) |13= 13. Catherine of Lancaster (1372-1418) |14= 14. Infante John, Lord of Reguengos de Monsaraz (1400-1442) |15= 15. Isabella of Braganza (1402-1445) |16= 16. John I of Castile (1358-1390) (=24) |17= 17. Eleanor of Aragon (1358-1382) (=25) |18= 18. Sancho Alfonso, 1st Count of Alburquerque (1342-1375) |19= 19. Infanta Beatrice of Portugal (1347-1374) |20= 20. Alfonso Enriquez, 1st Lord of Medina de Rio Seco (1354-1429) |22= 22. Diego Fernández de Córdova, 1st Lord of Baena (1355-1435) |23= 23. Inés de Ayala y Toledo, 3rd Lady of Casarrubios del Monte (d. 1453) |24= 24. John I of Castile (1358-1390) (=16) |25= 25. Eleanor of Aragon (1358-1382) (=17) |26= 26. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399) |27= 27. Constance of Castile (1354-1394) |28= 28. John I of Portugal (1357-1433) |29= 29. Philippa of Lancaster (1360-1415) |30= 30. Afonso, 1st Duke of Braganza (1370-1461) |31= 31. Beatriz Pereira de Alvim (1380–1415) }}

See also

List of English consorts

Descendants of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon

Notes

References

Brigden, Susan (2000). ''New Worlds, Lost Worlds''.

Fraser, Antonia (1992). ''The Wives of Henry VIII''. ISBN 0-679-73001-X

Haigh, Christopher (1993) ''English Reformations''.

J.O. Hand & M. Wolff, (1986) ''Early Netherlandish Painting'', National Gallery of Art, Washington(catalogue)/Cambridge UP, 1986, ISBN 0-521-34016-0

Lacey, Robert (1972) ''The Life and Times of Henry VIII''.

Lofts, Norah (1979) ''Anne Boleyn''. ISBN 0-698-11005-6.

Morris, T. A. (1998) ''Europe and England in the Sixteenth Century''.

Starkey, David (2003). ''Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII''. ISBN 0-06-000550-5

Warnicke, Retha M. (1991). ''The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn''. ISBN 0-521-40677-3

Weir, Alison (1991). ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII''. ISBN 0-8021-3683-4

Williams, Neville (1971) ''Henry VIII and His Court''.

Mattingly, Gareth (1941) ''Catherine of Aragon''

John E. Paul (1996) ''Catherine of Aragon and Her Friends''

Further reading

Mattingly, Garrett. (1941). ''Katherine of Aragon''.

Lindsey, Karen. (1995). ''Divorced Beheaded Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII''. ISBN 0-201-40823-6

Coates, Tim. (2001) ''Letters of Henry VIII 1526–29''.

Ashley, Mike (2002). ''British Kings & Queens''. ISBN 0-7867-1104-3

Weir, Alison. (2002). ''Henry VIII: The King and His Court''. ISBN 0-345-43708-X

Starkey, David. (2003) ''Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII''.

Bernard, G.W. (2005) ''The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church''.

Tremlett, Giles (2010) ''Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII''

External links

Catherine of Aragon's divorce papers and other Tudor treasures online to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession

tudorhistory.org – An overview of her life, accompanied by a portrait gallery

englishhistory.net – An in-depth look at her life and times

A geo-biography of the Six Wives of Henry the VIII on Google Earth

Guardian unlimited, letter from her to Pope Clement VII

Katharine of Aragon.com – An Official Website For Her Cause

|-

Category:English Roman Catholics Category:Irish royal consorts Category:Wives of Henry VIII of England Category:House of Trastamara Category:Repudiated queens Category:Princesses of Wales Category:Regents of England Category:Female regents Category:Annulment Category:Aragonese infantas Category:Castilian infantas Category:1485 births Category:1536 deaths Category:Ambassadors to England Category:Ambassadors of Spain Category:English people of Spanish descent Category:Spanish people of English descent

ar:كاثرين أراغون an:Catarina d'Aragón be:Кацярына Арагонская bs:Katarina Aragonska br:Catalina de Aragón bg:Катерина Арагонска ca:Caterina d'Aragó cs:Kateřina Aragonská cy:Catrin o Aragon da:Katharina af Aragonien de:Katharina von Aragón et:Catherine Aragónist el:Αικατερίνη της Αραγωνίας es:Catalina de Aragón eo:Katerino de Aragono eu:Katalina Aragoikoa fa:کاترین آراگن fr:Catherine d'Aragon ga:Caitríona Aragón gl:Catarina de Aragón ko:아라곤의 캐서린 hr:Katarina Aragonska id:Catharina dari Aragon it:Caterina d'Aragona he:קתרין מאראגון la:Catharina Aragonensis hu:Aragóniai Katalin angol királyné mk:Катерина Арагонска ms:Catherine dari Aragon nl:Catharina van Aragon ja:キャサリン・オブ・アラゴン no:Katarina av Aragon pl:Katarzyna Aragońska pt:Catarina de Aragão ro:Catherine de Aragon ru:Екатерина Арагонская simple:Catherine of Aragon sk:Katarína Aragónska sl:Katarina Aragonska sr:Катарина од Арагона sh:Katarina Aragonska fi:Katariina Aragonialainen sv:Katarina av Aragonien th:แคเธอรีนแห่งอารากอน สมเด็จพระราชินีแห่งอังกฤษ tr:Aragonlu Catherine uk:Катерина Арагонська zh:阿拉貢的凱瑟琳

{{Infobox musical artist| | name = Lisa Hannigan | image = Lisa Hannigan deco16-10.jpg | caption = Lisa Hannigan in Temple Bar, Dublin | image_size = 200 | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Lisa Margaret Hannigan | alias = | birth_date = February 12, 1981 | origin = Kilcloon, County Meath, Ireland | genre = Indie folk | occupation = Musician | years_active = 2001–''present'' | label = Barp/ATO Records/Play It Again Sam | associated_acts = Damien Rice, Vyvienne Long, Tom Osander, The Frames, Mic Christopher, David Kitt, Herbie Hancock, Paul Noonan, David Geraghty, Bell X1, The Cake Sale, Gary Lightbody, Cathy Davey, Jason Mraz, Mick Flannery. At the age of eighteen, she enrolled at Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied art history. Hannigan enjoyed theater and auditioned for musicals as a teenager and was cast as Second Urchin in her school's production of ''My Fair Lady''.

Career

2001-2007

Hannigan began her six year collaboration with Damien Rice at a concert in the Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin in early 2001. “It was upsetting, but worse things have happened. For everybody it was coming to the end of its cycle.” She was comforted by members of The Magic Numbers and has not spoken to Rice since the split. In retrospect, Hannigan says the split was the best thing that has ever happened to her.

2008-present

Some of Hannigan's live recordings were made available through trading networks radio shows. These recordings included: "Willy" by Joni Mitchell, "Be My Husband" by Nina Simone (from the 1965 album ''Pastel Blues''), "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin and "Love Hurts" by Roy Orbison. Hannigan also performed live with her own band, called The Daisy Okell Quartet and contributed guest vocals to the recordings of Mic Christopher, The Frames and Herbie Hancock.

Lisa Hannigan's debut solo album, titled ''Sea Sew'', was rehearsed in a barn in Thomastown and recorded in Dublin before being released in Ireland in September 2008. The lead single, "Lille", was made available as a free Internet download and other tracks were available for preview on her Myspace page. The sleeve featured needle-work by Hannigan. Some music critics called the recording one of the best Irish albums of the year.

''Sea Sew'' was played on the American radio station KCRW and received favorable reviews in the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''The New York Times''. The single "Lille", released in August 2008 on Irish and American radio stations. Hannigan performed at Electric Picnic 2008. Hannigan supported singer-songwriter Jason Mraz on a 42-date U.S. tour in 2008.

Also in 2008, she appeared on the charity album ''Even Better Than the Disco Thing'' and performed a duet of Mick Flannery's new song "Christmas Past" with Flannery on Tony Fenton's Christmas Special on Today FM. In December 2008, she made her UK solo debut at St Johns Church in London. Hannigan signed with ATO Records in the U.S., where her album was released in February 2009.

''Sea Sew'' was nominated for the Choice Music Prize and Best Irish Album at the Meteor Music Awards in January 2009.

That same year, Hannigan appeared on the American television shows Jay Leno, The Colbert Report and was well received by their respective hosts. In 2009, Hannigan also appeared on the BBC's ''Later... with Jools Holland'', performing her song "I Don't Know". ''Sea Sew'' rose in the UK charts following this appearance and she performed at Glastonbury 2009 music festival and went on tour later in the year. She performed at the nomination ceremony and she was greeted by confused journalists wondering "Lisa who?".

Hannigan performed at Electric Picnic 2009 and Le Chéile. Later in 2009, she toured the United States with David Gray and performed solo shows in New York, Los Angeles and London. She then began a tour of Ireland to finish the year. Hannigan's song "Ocean and Rock" was used in a 2009 Irish video supporting same-sex marriage entitled "Sinéad's Hand".

In 2010, a broadcast of ''Other Voices'' was planned. Hannigan recently recorded her second album, titled ''Passenger'', at Bryn Derwen Studios in North Wales with producer Joe Henry and engineer Ryan Freeland. The album will be released in the US and Canada on September 20, and a month later in Ireland and the UK.

Reception

Her music has received critical praise, airplay and award nominations both in her native Ireland and the United States. In 2008, her debut album ''Sea Sew'' spawned the single "Lille", a Choice Music Prize nomination, two Meteor Music Awards nominations and a Mercury Prize nomination. There has also been praise from fellow musicians and, in recent times, Jools Holland of the United Kingdom and US television hosts Jay Leno and Stephen Colbert.

Hannigan emits "a moan of delicate strength, and stirring warmth and humanity", describing her style as that of "plinky plonk rock", a genre coined by a friend. She performs using "broken-down, wheezy old instruments", assisting her band members in the transportation of this equipment. Her blog posts are noted for containing recipes for baking cakes.

Hannigan also contributed to the 2009 charity album, ''Sparks n' Mind'', released in aid of Aware.

Discography

''Sea Sew'' (2008)

''Lille - EP'' (2009)

''Live at Fingerprints - EP'' (2009)

''Passenger'' (2011)

Awards

''Hot Press'' Readers' Poll

Hannigan has four ''Hot Press'' Readers' Poll awards. She won Best Debut Album, Best Irish Album, Best Irish Track and Best Female in 2009. The award was won by Jape for the album ''Ritual'' on 4 March 2009.

|- | 2009 || ''Sea Sew'' || Irish Album of the Year 2008 || |-

Meteor Music Awards

Hannigan and her work was nominated in the Best Irish Female and Best Irish Album categories at the Meteor Music Awards in 2009. She was the only solo artist nominated in more than one category at the awards. She lost to Imelda May and The Script's self-titled album respectively.

|- | 2009 || ''Sea Sew'' || Best Irish Album || |- | 2009 || Lisa Hannigan || Best Irish Female || |-

Mercury Prize

''Sea Sew'' was nominated for the Mercury Prize on 21 July 2009. It was Hannigan's first nomination; other Irish acts nominated before her included U2 Gemma Hayes, The Thrills and Fionn Regan. The identity of the award-winning album was confirmed as ''Speech Therapy'' by Speech Debelle on 8 September 2009 in London. Hannigan described the nomination as "an incredible honour" and "an amazing affirmation that people like your record". She also said she had "never been so excited about anything before".

Hannigan was referred to as 2009's "token folk nominee" in the UK, with the ''NME'', a music magazine in that country, calling her a "token folkie". One British journalist even claimed she was "truly obscure" and part of the "moribund sensitive singer-songwriter genre". Ed Power, writing in the ''Irish Independent'', criticised such claims, wondering if Jape (whose album ''Ritual'' beat Hannigan to the Choice Music Prize) had come close to receiving a Mercury nomination—"Or, for that matter, how many of the judges had even heard of him".

|- | 2009 || ''Sea Sew'' || Best Album || |-

See also

Side projects of Lisa Hannigan

References

External links

Official site

Official biography

Lisa Hannigan Refined an unofficial website

Lisa Hannigan on ''Other Voices''

Lisa Hannigan interview on LAist

Lisa Hannigan at Eskimo Friends, a Damien Rice site

Lisa Hannigan Review Fazer.ca March 2009

Mercury nomination photos at the ''Irish Independent''

Category:1981 births Category:Irish female singers Category:Irish folk singers Category:Living people Category:Alumni of The King's Hospital Category:People from County Meath

bs:Lisa Hannigan ca:Lisa Hannigan de:Lisa Hannigan es:Lisa Hannigan fr:Lisa Hannigan it:Lisa Hannigan nl:Lisa Hannigan pt:Lisa Hannigan fi:Lisa Hannigan sv:Lisa Hannigan zh:麗莎·漢尼根

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Dónal Lunny
background	solo_singer
born	March 10, 1947Tullamore, County OffalyIreland
instrument	Vocals, Guitar, Bouzouki, Bodhran
genre	CelticFolkRock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, record producer
years active	1970–present
associated acts	The Emmet Spiceland, Christy Moore, Moving Hearts, Bothy Band, Planxty
notable instruments	}}

Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period. He is the brother of musician and producer Manus Lunny.

Background

Born in Tullamore, then moved to Newbridge, County Kildare, as a teenager he joined a band called Rakes of Kildare, with Christy Moore. Lunny's Emmet Folk Group and Michael and Brian Byrne's Spiceland Folk Group joined forces to form The Emmet Spiceland -- what now would be described as his first "boy band". Their debut album ''The First'' was released in 1968. As a vocal harmony group, they had a #1 hit in Ireland with the single "Mary From Dungloe" which had earlier been popularised in Dublin's folk clubs by Donal and his Emmet Folk group confrere Mick Moloney (The third Emmet Folk Group member Brian Bolger remains a 'Syd Barrett'-style mystery, although some internet observations claim he runs a pub in southern France. Others say he still teaches in his native Gorey). In 1971 Donal played on ''Prosperous'', the second album by Christy Moore.

Four of the musicians from ''Prosperous'' - Moore, Lunny, Andy Irvine and Liam O'Flynn assembled in 1972 under the name Planxty and first played professionally in public in Slattery's pub in Capel Street, Dublin in January or February of that year. The band became a leading proponent of Irish traditional instrumental music for the next ten years. In 1974 Lunny left them to form The Bothy Band, playing guitar and bouzouki.

They disbanded in 1978. Lunny became a session musician on ''Davey and Morris'', the first album to feature Shaun Davey. Lunny then got together with Christy Moore again in 1981, to form Moving Hearts. Another founding member was the young uilleann piper, Davy Spillane. Moving Hearts reunited for a reunion concert in Dublin in February 2007, and has since performed at several concerts in Ireland and the U.S.A. in 2008 and 2009.

Lunny has participated in other projects since, including a solo album (actually an album of him and many guest musicians playing his music and arrangements) titled "Donal Lunny" (Gael-Linn 1987), a similar group project album titled "Coolfin" (1998), and more recently a project with a multicultural group called Mozaik, featuring Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov, Rens van der Zalm, and ex-Planxty co-performer Andy Irvine.

Dónal Lunny as producer

When Moving Hearts broke up in 1985, Lunny diversified. He learned keyboards and mandolin and became a producer. He had already produced a 45-rpm single for Skid Row (featuring the then 17-year-old Gary Moore), and in 1975 produced an album ''A Silk Purse'' for electric folk band 'Spud' who went on to introduce Paul McGuinness to band management. He was closely involved in the establishment of a new Irish record label: Mulligan records, and produced and played on many of its early releases. He played on several Christy Moore albums, and was a producer & session musician on Kate Bush albums. He played bouzouki and bodhrán on Shaun Davey's ''Granuaile'', and Fiddle on Midnight Well's "Saw you running". He composed the soundtrack for a Turkish film, "Teardrops", and the Irish film "Eat the Peach", and played on the soundtrack of the film ''This Is My Father'' and the TV program ''The River of Sound''. In 1989, he contributed synthesizer on Mary Black's break-through album No Frontiers.

He was the producer and Music Director of ''Bringing It All Back Home''. He produced albums for Paul Brady, Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart, Indigo Girls, Sinéad O'Connor, Clannad, Maurice Lennon, Baaba Maal, and Five Guys Named Moe,. He appeared on compilation albums - ''Gathering'' (1981) and ''Common Ground'' (1996). In 1994, he produced Irish Australian singer/songwriter Mairéid Sullivan's first recording, Dancer He pushed new boundaries with his band ''Coolfin'' (1998) which included uilleann piper John McSherry. He appeared at the 2000 Cambridge Folk Festival, and the album that commemorated it. In 2001 Lunny collaborated with Frank Harte on the album ''My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte''. He produced the album ''Human Child'' (2007) by Faeroese Eivør Pálsdóttir, which is published in two versions, one English, and one Faeroese

As an arranger he has worked for The Waterboys, Fairground Attraction and Eddi Reader. ''Journey'' (2000) is a retrospective album. In 2004 Lunny was part of the reunited Planxty concert tour.

Dónal Lunny is married to Japanese musician Hidebo Itami, a member of the musical group Soul Flower Union. The couple now make their home in Okinawa, Japan. They have a daughter, Sora Chan. He has children from earlier relationships: a son, the DJ Oisin Lunny, by his first wife, Judy. (Oisin was a member of Marxman), a daughter, violinist Cora Venus Lunny, and a son named Shane born in March 2004 whose mother is Sinéad O'Connor.

In addition to his musical activities, Lunny is a skilled gold-and-silversmith, who trained at the National College of Art in Dublin, although he only practised the craft for a short time before devoting his energies to music.

He also produced Jimmy MacCarthy's album entitled Hey-Ho Believe, which was released on 12 November 2010.

He is a seminal figure in Irish contemporary music whose contribution to the field is un-equalled.

The Irish bouzouki

Dónal Lunny has some claim to popularising the bouzouki in the Irish music sphere after its initial introduction by Johnny Moynihan. Lunny ordered a custom-built bouzouki from English luthier, Peter Abnett (who still makes instruments to this day), with a flat back instead of a traditional Greek rounded back. This made it more comfortable to play. In 1981 he went one step further by creating an electric bouzouki, though this failed to catch on.

More recently, he invented an instrument designed to solve the problem of a bass/ percussion instrument in Irish traditional music. The process of building and developing the instrument was featured on his 2010 RTE series "Lorg Lunny".

Select discography

Solo albums

''Coolfin'', Donal Lunny – 1998

With Christy Moore

''Prosperous'' – 1972

''Christy Moore'' – 1976

''Whatever Tickles Your Fancy'' – 1976

''Live in Dublin'' – Christy Moore, Donal Lunny & Jimmy Faulkner – 1978

''AntiNuclear'', Christy Moore, tracks: "People Will Die", Barry Moore and "Trip to Cransore", Early Grave Band – 1979

''Ninety Miles from Dublin, The Rights of Man, Repeal the Union'' – 1980

''H-Block'', Christy Moore, Donal Lunny, Matt Molloy, Declan Sinnott, a.o. – 1980

''Christy Moore and Friends'' – Christy Moore e.o. – 1981

''The Time Has Come'' – 1983

''Ride On'' – 1984

''The Spirit of Freedom'' – 1985

''Ordinary Man'' – 1985

''Unfinished Revolution'' – 1987

''Christy Moore''

''Voyage''

With Planxty

''Planxty'' – 1973

''The Well Below the Valley'' – 1973

''Cold Blow and the Rainy Night'' – 1974

''After The Break'' – 1979/1992

''The Woman I Loved So Well'' – 1980/1992

"Timedance" (12" single) – 1981

''Words & Music'' – 1983

With the Bothy Band

''1975'' – 1975

''Old Hag You Have Killed Me'' – 1976

''Out of the Wind, Into the Sun'' – 1977/1985

''Afterhours (Live in Paris)'' – 1978/1984

''Live in Concert'' – 1994

With Moving Hearts

''Moving Hearts'' – 1982

''The Dark End of the Street'' – 1982

''Live Hearts'' – 1984

''The Storm'' – 1985

''Moving Hearts Live in Dublin'' – 2008

With Mozaik

''Live from the Powerhouse'' (2004)

''Changing Trains'' (2007)

With Maighread & Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill

''Idir an Dá Sholas (1999)

With Soul Flower Union

''Marginal Moon (1999) (Single - Japanese Release)

With Jimmy MacCarthy

''Hey-Ho Believe''

Guest Appearances

Mark Knopfler's "Golden Heart" – 1996

Sinéad O'Connor's 2002 Irish traditional album Sean-Nós Nua, Hummingbird Records

Albert Fry's "Tráthnona Beag Areir" – 2008, Gael Linn

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's "Imeall" – 2008, Moon

Ceol Cheann Dubhrann (Various artists), 2009

Mary Black's "No Frontiers"- 1989, Dara

Midnight Well's "Midnight Well" 1976, Mulligan

DVD

''The Transatlantic Sessions Series 3'' (various artists) – 2007

''Moving Hearts Live in Dublin'' (Moving Hearts) – 2008

References

External links

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Irish folk musicians Category:People from County Offaly Category:Aosdána members

de:Dónal Lunny eu:Dónal Lunny fr:Dónal Lunny ga:Donal Lunny it:Donal Lunny nl:Dónal Lunny ja:ドーナル・ラニー nn:Dónal Lunny