Mary Eva Kelly
Mary Eva Kelly (later O'Doherty) (1826–1910) was an Irish-Australian poet and writer who was widely known as Eva of the Nation.[1]
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Biography
Born in Headford, County Galway, Ireland,[2] Kelly was educated privately with other members of her family. Her first poems were translations, including one of Alphonse de Lamartine's Dying Christian.
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Kelly became famous for her contributions to The Nation, the first being "The Banshee". Initially using her own name, she adopted the non-de-plume Eva starting with her "Lament for Davis". She also contributed prose, essays and ballads.
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In 1848, Kelly met Kevin Izod O'Doherty who was in prison for his radical politics. She married him in 1855 at Kingstown[3] and they emigrated to Brisbane, Australia but returned to Ireland the following year. O'Doherty was elected M.P. for Meath. After a time in London they moved back to Brisbane where O'Doherty was elected a member of both houses of parliament in Queensland.
Mary Eva O'Doherty died at Rosalie, Brisbane on 21 May 1910[4] and was buried in Toowong Cemetery.[5]
Bibliography
- Poems by Eva of the Nation (Mary Eva Kelly), San Francisco, Thomas, 1877.
- Poems by Eva of the Nation (Mary Eva Kelly), edited by Séamas MacManus, with a biographical sketch by Justin McCarthy, Dublin, 1090.
- Christine Kinealy, Repeal and Revolution. 1848 in Ireland (Manchester UP, 2009)
References
- Boylan, Henry, ed. "Eva of the Nation" entry in A Dictionary of Irish Biography, 2nd ed. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1988, pp. 107–108.
- "Death of Mrs. K. I. O'Doherty". Queensland Figaro. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 26 May 1910. p. 8. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- Boylan, p. 108.
- "DEATH OF "EVA", OF "THE NATION."". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 24 May 1910. p. 7. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- O'Doherty Mary Eva Archived 21 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 21 February 2015.