You, Eileen Cronin, some Irish music, and a grand cup of tea

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There might not be anyone who’s more proud of being Irish than Salisbury resident Eileen Cronin.

For 23 years, Long Ireland Show listeners have heard her talk about all things Irish — from the history of Ireland, to Cronin’s love of Irish music, to stories about her family immigrating to America.

The Long Ireland Show is a radio show airing on WRHU-88.7 FM Radio at Hofstra University. Every Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m., Cronin’s voice can be heard on the airwaves.

“When I was working in Motor Vehicles, I met this man from Ireland,” Cronin said. “His name was Pat Thompson, and he was from County Cavan, and he asked me if I would come down and answer the phone at the radio station at Hofstra University, and the rest is history.”

Cronin raised three sons in the Bronx, and she worked a few other jobs before becoming a radio personality. She started in insurance before she was married, and then made her way to the Department of Motor Vehicles, where she met Thompson.

She started at the radio show in the early 1990s, answering the phone for Thompson while also working as an electronic court reporter for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. She stayed in that position until Thompson passed the baton to her in the late ‘90s.

Cronin won’t tell you how old she is. She maintains that she’s 26, and has a 26-year-old mindset. “I’ve been at the radio show a long time but I tell people I’m 26,” she joked. “Even though they know damn well that I’m lying.”

Hosting the show is not a paid position. Anyone who works at the radio at Hofstra is considered a community volunteer. But, at the end of the day, being paid or not doesn’t matter, according to Cronin.

“If it’s something you like, you have to do it,” Cronin said. “That’s just the way it goes.”

When it comes to the show, Cronin said she spends hours planning out what songs to play. She’ll create list after list of Irish songs she thinks her listeners would like. She started out with about three CD’s, she said, and now she has over 2,000. Her favorite song is Raglan Road.

Cronin loves telling stories of her family on the show, and hearing stories from people who call in to share. She wrote a book, published in January of 2022, containing stories about her family and their struggles after leaving their home in Ireland and coming to America.

“I tell everybody that it’s you and me, the Irish music, and a grand cup of tea,” she said, “and so that’s the name of the book.”

Cronin grew up in South Bronx to Ireland-born parents Chrissie Nyhan and Christopher Flynn. It wasn’t easy for them in America, because at the time no one would give jobs to the Irish.

“They all came here because they were told that there was gold in the streets,” she said. “This of course was not true, and they found it very hard to get jobs because people wouldn’t hire Irish people, and if you were Catholic, that was a double whammy.”

Eventually they found jobs, Cronin said, but it wasn’t without help from other Irish friends and family. The love for her heritage was honed through her years growing up in the Bronx.

“When I was a kid growing up, there was always Irish music playing,” she said. “When people came over my mother and father would immediately turn on the Irish music, and the kettle was put on right away.

“My mother and father would help anyone that came over from Ireland. It was a warm and energetic place.”

Cronin, who visited Ireland six times, travels to libraries across Long Island to share the stories of her families’ heritage. She’s an active member of the Irish American Society in Mineola.

“It’s just in me and I just love it, that’s all there is to it,” she said. “I honestly just feel it right in my soul, not in my heart, but in my soul.”

For St. Patrick’s Day this year, Cronin had a special segment of the Long Ireland Show. She was in the WRHU studio donning a special scarf decorated with shamrocks.

She played her Irish music while sipping on tea and offering everyone around her some soda bread.