Catherine Tiernan

Catherine came to historical research as a mature-age student, graduating from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours, with majors in History and Drama and Theatre Studies. Her honours thesis explored whether it was possible to reconstruct the life of an Australian Imperial Force serviceman who had left no personal narrative, using Stroud Langford as a case study. The research was subsequently published in the La Trobe Journal.

Catherine then spent several years as Research Assistant to Professor Bruce Scates at Monash University’s Centre for Australian Studies, researching the lives of Australian servicemen before, during and after the First World War. She particularly enjoys the detective work of biography: piecing together fragmentary evidence to reconstruct a life and reveal the person behind the surviving records.

Her research has also led to opportunities to speak to historical societies, libraries, community groups and at a Melbourne Museum History Week event. Having performed as an actor and classically trained singer, Catherine enjoys public speaking and particularly likes speaking about subjects she has researched.

Her current biography began unexpectedly in 2019, when a stay in an Irish house and a conversation with its owner’s great-grandson introduced her to a remarkable story. A borrowed hospital journal provided the starting point for the manuscript which is now in its third full draft.

Outside writing and research, family is a major part of Catherine’s life. She also enjoys theatre, music and opera, historic houses and house museums, fabulous gardens, travel, Pilates and walking somewhere new.