Mary Downing

Mary Downing (née McCarthy; 1881) was an Irish poet and nationalist best known by her pen name "Christabel". Some of her poetry appeared in The Ballad Poetry of Ireland, a collection of verse edited by Charles Gavan Duffy.

Life Mary Downing was born Mary McCarthy around 1815 in Kilfadda More, Kilgarvan, County Kerry. She was the eldest daughter of Daniel McCarthy, Esq. Over her life time, she used a number of pen names but is best known as "Christabel" or "Myrrha". Under these names, Downing published a large amount of her verse in the Cork Southern Reporter and the Freeholder. Under the names "M.F.D." and "C**l" she contributed several poems to the Dublin Citizen. Her best known work, Scraps from the Mountains, and Other Poems was published in 1840 in Dublin. The bicentenary of her birth was celebrated in Kilgarvan, County Kerry.