Eileen Crowe

Eileen Crowe (2 March 1899 – 8 May 1978) was an Irish actress born Alice Izabella in Drumcondra, Dublin, one of ten children of grocer Moses Crowe and Therese Eglinton. She trained at the Abbey School of Acting and made her stage debut in 1921 in The Revolutionist, taking the lead role of Nora Mangan. That same year she appeared in The Marriage of Columbine, marking the beginning of a career with the Abbey Theatre that would span from 1921 to 1970.

Crowe's Broadway appearances ran from 1932 to 1955 and included the drama Red Roses for Me, The New Gossoon, Juno and the Paycock, The Shadow of the Glen, and Drama at Inish, among other productions. Her association with Juno and the Paycock extended across decades; she had played Mary Boyle in the Abbey's 1924 production of the play, and in 1964 she appeared in the Aldwych Theatre's London production of the same work. Outside of her Abbey commitments, Crowe undertook a six-month tour of Northern Ireland and England in Peg O' My Heart.

A significant portion of Crowe's stage work was devoted to the plays of Irish playwright Teresa Deevy. Between 1930 and 1953 she appeared in Abbey productions of The Reapers (1930), A Disciple (1931), Temporal Powers (1932 and 1937), and Katie Roche (1936, 1937, 1949, and 1953).

Crowe also built a film career spanning 1925 to 1964. Her screen debut came in 1925 in The Land of Her Fathers, and her subsequent credits included The Plough and the Stars (1936), The Quiet Man (1952), Home is the Hero (1959), and Girl with Green Eyes (1964), which marked her final film appearance.

In 1924, during the production of Grasshopper, Crowe met actor Peter Judge, who performed under the stage name F. J. McCormick. The two married in 1925 and had a son and a daughter. Crowe's final stage role was Miss Hatty in Grogan and the Ferret, after which she retired. She died on 8 May 1978 at the age of 79 and was buried alongside her husband at Deansgrange Cemetery in Blackrock, County Dublin.