Catherine Maria Bury, countess of Charleville

Catherine Maria Bury, countess of Charleville (née Dawson; 22 December 1762 – 24 February 1851) was an Irish socialite. She is credited with quietly playing a role in the architecture of Charleville Castle. A letter writer, she is also known for her association with literary circles.

Biography Catherine Maria Dawson was the only daughter of Thomas Townley Dawson of Armagh and Joanna Saunders of County Wicklow. She was raised in Dublin by her grandmother and studied at the College Royal, Toulouse.

In 1787, she married her first husband James Tisdall of Bawn, County Louth, with whom she had a son and a daughter. Tisdall died of epilepsy ten years later. In 1798, she married her second husband Charles Bury, Baron Tullamore, with whom she had one son. Charles became Viscount Charleville in 1800 and the 1st Earl of Charleville in 1806. befriending writers including Joanna Baillie, Byron and Caroline Lamb. She wrote one poem "Thelema and Macarius", which was published in the collection The Casket, a Miscellany, Consisting of Unpublished Poems (1829). She was reportedly "an invalid for many years".

Architecture The first sign of Catherine's interest in architecture is a drawing titled Elevation of proposed Royal infirmary, Dublin signed Catherine M. Dawson and dated 1796.