Ellen Mary Patrick Downing (19 March 1828 – 27 January 1869), known as ''Mary of the Nation'' and ''E. M. P. D.'', was an Irish nationalist, poet and nun. She was one of the three chief poets of Irish nationality.
Biography
Born in Cork in 1828, Downing was the daughter of the resident medical officer in Cork Fever Hospital. She wrote for
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
, submitting over 40 poems which they published and becoming one of the top poets representing Irish Nationalism. She went on to write for the ''
'' until it was suppressed by the
Treason Felony Act 1848
The Treason Felony Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Parts of the Act are still in force. It is a law which protects the King and the Crown.
The offences in the Act w ...
. She was a member of the Cork Historical Society which is where she met
Joseph Brenan
Joseph Brenan (also Brennan; 17 November 1828 – 27 May 1857) was a poet, journalist and author, and leading member of the Young Irelanders and Irish Confederation.
Early life
Joseph Brenan, was born in Cork on 17 November 1828. Brenan began t ...
, a
Young Ireland
Young Ireland ( ga, Éire Óg, ) was a political and cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation'', it took issue with the compromise ...
er to whom she became engaged. After disappointment in love however she joined the North Presentation Convent on 14 October 1849. Her new name was Sister Mary Alphonsus. However ill health meant that she did not remain in the convent but lived in her own home though remaining a lay sister. Later she joined the Third Order of St Dominic.
George Russell called her a saint and noted that she was much in demand as a religious teacher.
Selected works
Poetry collections
* Voices of the Heart, ed. Most Rev. J. P. Leahy, Bishop of Dromore, Dublin 1868; enlarged ed., 1880;
* Novenas and Meditations, Leahy ed., Dublin 1879;
* Poems for Children (issued Dublin 1881)
References
Further reading
* Young Ireland and the Writing of Irish History By James Quinn
*Brigitte Anton, ‘Women of The Nation’, in History Ireland, 1, 3 (Autumn 1993)
*The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, Volume 5, Angela Bourke, NYU Press, 2002, 3201 pages
*Out of what Began: A History of Irish Poetry in English, Gregory A. Schirmer, Cornell University Press, 1998, 426 pages
*Irish Women Writers: An A-to-Z Guide
*Alexander G. Gonzalez, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, 348 pages
The Irish Monthly Vol. 6 (1878), pp. 459-465
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, Ellen Mary Patrick
1828 births
1869 deaths
Writers from Cork (city)
Irish nationalists
Irish women poets
19th-century Irish poets
19th-century Irish nuns
19th-century Irish women writers
19th-century Irish writers