Ellen O'Leary

Ellen O'Leary (1831–1889) was an Irish poet who sympathised with the Fenian movement. She was the sister of Irish nationalist and leading Fenian John O'Leary.

Life Ellen O'Leary was born in 1831 in the town of Tipperary, County Tipperary. Her father was a shopkeeper.

Under the pseudonyms of 'Eily' and 'Lenel', O'Leary contributed poetry to The Irish People, an Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) newspaper that was published from November 1863. On 15 September 1865, the newspaper was seized by the government. Her brother, along with other editors and contributors, was arrested and sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude, of which five years were spent in English prisons.

Following the suppression of the newspaper, O'Leary joined the IRB's Ladies' Committee, in order to help in the preparations for the 1867 Fenian Rising. However, the rising failed. She decided to return to her home in Tipperary, where she would live until her brother's return in 1885. There, she kept herself busy by writing poetry and volunteering for Catholic charities.