Ellen Forrester

Ellen Forrester (1828 – 1883) was an Irish nationalist and poet.

Life Ellen Forrester was born Ellen Magennis in 1828, probably in Clones, County Monaghan. She was the sixth of seven children of the local schoolmaster, Bernard Magennis. She was baptised on 26 December 1828. She was educated by her father, and considered to have inherited her poetical talent from her mother, a Presbyterian who then converted to Catholicism. One of her brothers was the Irish journalist, Bernard Magennis (1833–1911), editor of the Dublin publication, the Social Mirror.

Ellen Magennis moved to England at age 17, working as a nursery governess in Liverpool. She then moved to Manchester, marrying a stonemason, Michael Forrester on 24 October 1847, at Leeds parish church. Forrester was a committed nationalist, and helped Caroline Douglas raise money for the defence fund for the Manchester Martyrs. Her son Arthur joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1866 and was a leading Lancashire Fenian. She sought help from her friend, Michael Davitt, when Arthur was arrested in 1869.