Tiernan (Kip) is born in West Haven, Connecticut.

Raised by her grandmother after her parents death in 1937, Kip Tiernan comes to Boston in approximately 1947 to study at the Boston Conservatory, but is expelled for drinking. She subsequently joins Alcoholics Anonymous, later explaining that there were things she wanted to accomplish “and they weren’t going to happen under the table.” Tiernan establishes her own advertising agency, but in 1968, inspired by activist priest Rev. Daniel Berrigan, devote herself to service. With Fran Foelich, she goes on to help found numerous organizations in Boston to help women, the homeless and the hungry. Tiernan dies at her home in the South End on July 2, 2011.