Title
O'Leary, Ellen
Description
Bibliographic Dictionary Entry
Date
1831-1889
Creator
O'Toole, Tina
Source
Munster Women Writers Project, University College Cork
Publisher
Women in Irish Society Project, University College Cork
Rights
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Coverage
Munster, Ireland, 1800-2000
Format
Text
Language
en
Type
Text
Subject
Women, Writers, Munster
Contributor
O'Toole, Tina
Birth Date
1831
Death Date
1889
Birthplace
Tipperary, Co Tipperary
Place of Association
Dublin
Biographical Text
Sister of John O'Leary, the Fenian, she herself was active in revolutionary politics. She began her writing and political career working for The Irish People, a Fenian paper run by her brother. She went on to contribute poetry to The Nation, The Irish Monthly, and other periodicals in Ireland, and the USA. Colman recounts the conflicting stories surrounding her romance with Edward Duffy, a Fenian and close friend of her brother's: different accounts state that it was variously Ellen, or her half-sister Mary, who was engaged to Duffy (177). However, in 1867 Duffy was arrested and died in solitary confinement in Millbank prison. <br><br>During her brother's exile in the early 1880s, Ellen lived in Tipperary, working with the poor, through the Society of St.Vincent de Paul, and with the Ladies' Land League. She was also a member of the Sacred Heart Society, according to Colman (178). In 1885 when John O'Leary came home, they lived together quietly in Rathmines, Co.Dublin. Soon after his return, she was diagnosed with cancer, and she died in Cork in 1889 on a final visit to family members. A volume of her poetry was published posthumously, and her work was included in various anthologies.
Writing Genre
Poetry
Political Writing