Ellen O'Leary, an Irish poet, was associated with many of the important leaders of the militant Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood (IRB) and was one of the few poets that the nationalist movement produced. Her brother John was one of its leaders in the 1860s, and when he was arrested and imprisoned and then exiled, O'Leary continued to support nationalist causes and write poetry. Upon his return to Ireland, the brother and sister became active members of several Dublin literary circles dedicated to the revitalization of Irish national literature, and they counted William Butler Yeats as one of their protégés. O'Leary's poems, many published in nationalist newspapers and collected in one posthumous volume, reveal her interest in Irish themes.

Born on 22 October 1831 in Tipperary, Ireland, O'Leary was the only daughter of John O'Leary and his second wife, Margaret Ryan O'Leary. Ellen had two brothers, John, born...