Mary Ellen Downing, born 19 March 1828, died 27 January 1869. Born in Cork. Name in religion: Sister Mary Alphonsus.

"In her mid teens, she became an avid reader of the 'Nation', with a particular fondness for the ballads and lyrics contained therein...her first poem appeared on 10 May 1845". (From: "A Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Irish Women Poets" by Anne Ulry Colman,Kenny Bookshop, Galway, 1996.