Mary Eva Kelly
Born1826
Died1910 (aged 83–84)
Resting placeToowong Cemetery
OccupationPoet
NationalityIrish
GenrePoetry

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]

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.

Mary Eva O'Doherty (née Kelly) in old age

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. She was one of the three most famous women writers for The Nation, who were known as "the Three Graces".[3][4] During the period that Kelly wrote for the Nation, she interacted with Olivia Knight, who was known as "Thomasine of the Nation".[5]

The grave of Kevin and Mary O'Doherty at Brisbane's Toowong Cemetery

In 1848, Kelly met Kevin Izod O'Doherty who was in prison for his radical politics. She married him in 1855 at Kingstown.[6] He practised in Dublin successfully, and in 1862 they went to Brisbane, Australia and he became well known as one of its leading physicians. In 1885 they returned to England, where O'Doherty was elected M.P. for North Meath. They returned to Brisbane in 1886.

Much has been written about the romance of Mary and Kevin.[7][8]

Mary Eva O'Doherty died at Rosalie, Brisbane on 21 May 1910[9] and was buried in Toowong Cemetery.[10]

Mary's grandson Kevin Louis Vincent O'Doherty was killed in action at Dernancourt on 5 April 1918.[11] Her granddaughter Isabel Maud Mignon O'Doherty married actor Thomas Hunter Nesbitt on 30 April 1919 in Brompton, London.[12]

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

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ "Death of Mrs. K. I. O'Doherty". Queensland Figaro. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 26 May 1910. p. 8. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "History Ireland: Women of the nation".
  4. ↑ "Celebration of St. Patrick's Day". Advocate. Vol. II, no. 14. Victoria, Australia. 3 April 1869. p. 7. Retrieved 11 February 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ McKay, Belinda; Buckridge, Patrick (2013). "Remaking an 'Old Tradition's Magic': The Irish Strain in Early Queensland Writing". Queensland Review. 20 (1): 110–125. doi:10.1017/qre.2013.9. hdl:10072/59615. ISSN 1321-8166. S2CID 146358329.
  6. ↑ Boylan, p. 108.
  7. ↑ "By Gone Brisbane". Truth. No. 413. Queensland, Australia. 22 December 1907. p. 10. Retrieved 12 February 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Eva Mary O'Doherty - Old Qld poetry". www.oldqldpoetry.com. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "Death of "Eva", Of "The Nation."". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 24 May 1910. p. 7. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  10. ↑ O'Doherty Mary Eva Archived 21 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  11. ↑ National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; B2455, O'Doherty Louis Kevin Vincent: Service Number - 3211 : Place of Birth - Dugandan QLD : Place of Enlistment - Townsville QLD : Next of Kin - (Aunt) O'Doherty Gertrude. 1914–1920
  12. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p84/tri2/025 Ancestry.com; 2010; sourced 12 February 2021.
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