Famous Biography

Catherine Hayes the opera singer is sometimes confused with the woman of the same name who was convicted of petty treason for the murder of her husband. She was sentenced to be burnt at the stake while one of her lovers who did the actual killing was hanged.

Thackeray got the two women confused and had to write an apology to Miss Hayes . In ‘Virtue and Vice’ there will be no such misunderstanding and neither will you read the often repeated but totally wrong accounts of her early life. I’m afraid the rags to riches story doesn’t bear up under investigation and there are at least three sources to prove the truth.

Earlier writers and researchers have failed to find the facts or indeed to understand the history of Ireland and Limerick in the 19c. Many appear to have been deluded into thinking that Miss Catherine Hayes was an uneducated servant girl with a natural talent for singing. The only bit that is right is that she was a naturally talented child. For the rest, ask yourselves how did she learn to read, write and speak French, Italian and perfect English as well as play the piano. I have one of her letters which would put many a modern school leaver to shame.

Catherine Hayes had an older sister called Henrietta who is seldom mentioned at all and when she is, she is portrayed as a neglected Cinderella figure. In fact she was also educated with Catherine and her knowledge of languages got her a job with Queen Amelie who was the last Queen of France living in exile in England. Possibly, she acted as an interpreter for the multitude of Royalist sympathisers from many countries who gathered at Queen Amelie’s residence near Richmond. They plotted to overthrow Napoleon III but were unsuccessful in their attempt to assassinate him.

Henrietta’s involvement with the Royalists may have been a factor which prevented Catherine from ever appearing at the Paris Opera. We know she tried to get into a production there but didn’t succeed. She too may have been a Royalist sympathiser or was suspected of being one by Napoleon’s agents.

This is the first time in history that the conventional life story of Catherine Hayes has been challenged. You are invited to send any comments, information etc. to us and, if we use the information, you will receive a free signed copy of the new sensational biography.

When I found a Memoir of Catherine Hayes published by her agents, Messrs. Cramer & Beale of London, I thought now I can get the facts and eliminate all the silly stuff printed elsewhere. It turned out that all the other wrong short biographies of Miss Hayes had been largely based on this Cramer & Beale one. I won’t go into all it’s shortcomings here but let’s consider one major issue i.e. her education and early childhood in Limerick.

The traditional and, I have to say, accepted view to date is that she was a poor widow’s or deserted wife’s daughter with a natural talent for singing and that she was discovered by Bishop Knox as he was boating on the river Shannon. She was overheard as she sung in a bower in the Earl’s garden where she was helping her aunt who was a domestic servant there. They remarked on her fine trill.

No dount about her talent but the rest is humbug. Miss Hayes was never a servant, neither was her mother and Mrs. Daly was only an honorary aunt. The truth is that Catherine was brought up as an aristocrat’s daughter as was her sister Henrietta. They went to a young ladies academy where they learned Music, French, Italian, English and Elocution. Their mother was a rich man’s mistress whose husband had mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again.

The question now is: How do you, as a researcher, decide that all is not well with the generally accepted view of events? When you study life in Limerick in the 1820’s it should soon become apparent that there was great poverty, no schools for the poor, deserted wives could barely live never mind pay for an education. If they had the money, their children would be refused admission because only a gentleman’s daughters would qualify. By now, you should be seriously querying the published accounts of your subject’s early life and looking for alternative answers.

We have those alternative and correct answers provided for us by a close friend of the family. He details the education enjoyed by Catherine and Henrietta at a private academy and even describes their Italian and French teachers. There is later evidence in the form of letters and the employment of Henrietta that she knew French very well.

The moral here is that if the supposed facts don’t fit, you must look for alternatives which will. As a mistress, Mary Hayes didn’t work and was provided with everything she wanted. It’s doubtful if she lived in Patrick St. at all because her lover had many properties in the country which offered better privacy for his visits which had to be kept discreet.

Catherine Deneuve is a stunning French actress/model/singer who has lived a fascinating life, having been romantically involved with Marcello Mastroianni, Roger Vadim, and François Truffaut. Ms. Deneuve got a career boost in 1965 by playing a virgin (yeah, imagine that) in Roman Polanski’s brilliant psychological thriller titled “Repulsion”, a clip from which is featured in this video. The soundtrack is “Joy” by Isaac Hayes.

Duration : 0:3:53

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