Author: Byrne, Mary
Biography:
BYRNE, Mary (fl 1789)
Nothing is known about this author beyond what is given in her one book. The preface was written from Ballyguile Hill, a peak in the Wicklow mountains; her father was a “labouring man”; she was born blind; and she was eighteen when the book was published. The preface explains that, rather than print many poems at great cost, a composite on a common theme was composed. The price was fixed at “3s. 3d. or such GREATER PRICE as the AFFLUENT choose to bestow on POVERTY.” However, hints in the prefatory material and the poem itself suggest it is possible—even likely--that the name is a pseudonym. The poem is an indictment of the moral blindness and selfishness of the wealthy. SR
Books written (1):
Dublin: Bart. Corcoran, 23 Arran-Quay, 1789