Barbara Fitzgerald was born Barbara Gregg in
Cork on 16 December 1911. Her parents were
John Allen Fitzgerald Gregg and Anna Gregg (née Jennings). Fitzgerald spent her youth in
Kilkenny and
Dublin, attending school in England. She entered
Trinity College Dublin as a foundation scholar in 1931. In 1933 she graduated with honours in Italian and French. She married Michael Fitzgerald Somerville on 21 August 1935 at
St Bartholomew's Church, Dublin. As a society wedding, people lined the streets of
Ballsbridge to watch the wedding party pass. Fitzgerald's father performed the wedding ceremony, with the couple then honeymooning in Scotland. Her husband was an oil executive, and the couple lived in west Africa until the beginning of
World War II when they returned to England. Her father-in-law was
Henry Boyle Townshend Somerville, who was murdered on 14 March 1936 by the IRA. Fitzgerald retired to Ireland in 1968 with her husband. She suffered with ill health for a number of years, succumbing to early dementia. She died in Dublin on 21 May 1982. She had a son, Julian and a daughter, Christina. ==References==