Background
She was born as Elizabeth Markham in the townland Gower near Cooraclare.
She was born as Elizabeth Markham in the townland Gower near Cooraclare.
Miko had been in the United States for a couple of years and used the money earned over there to buy a public house on the Market Square in Kilrush, now known as "Crotty’s Public". The fame of Mistress Crotty only started to rise in the 1950s in the wake of the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. She participated in this movement of musicians from an early stage.
When a local branch was founded in County Clare, Mistress
Crotty was elected president She kept this position to her death in 1960.
Mistress Crotty did not make any commercial recordings.
The Raidió Teilifís Éireann had made a few recordings for their programs and they used one for their commemoration LP of 50 years RTÉ in 1976. Elizabeth Crotty died on 27 December 1960 of an anginal attack.
She is buried in (old) Shanakyle cemetery. Mistress Crotty was the namesake of the “Eigse Mrs Crotty” Traditional Music School and, a yearly music festival in Juli in Kilrush.
This festival was held from 1996 to 2009.