Author: Ryan, Eliza
Biography:
RYAN, Eliza, formerly Croisdale (fl 1816)
We know from her poems and from verse epistles included in the supplement to her friend Henrietta Battier’s (q.v.) The Protected Fugitives (1791) that she was married to the Rev. Doctor Edward Ryan, although his entry in the ODNB makes no mention of a wife. He was the author of History of the Effects of Religion on Mankind (1788) and one of her poems is “On Edward’s History of the Effects of Religion on Mankind.” Her occasional poems were evidently written over a number of years; the earliest dated one from 6 July 1781 is for the third anniversary of her wedding day. This makes it possible to identify her as Elizabeth Croisdale (or Crosdale) who married the Rev. Edward Ryan in St. Anne's [Ann's], Dawson Street, Dublin, on 6 July 1778. No birth record has been located and the names of her parents are not known. Edward Ryan studied at Trinity College Dublin (BA 1769, MA 1783, DD 1789). He was made curate at St Anne's in 1776 and was vicar of St Luke's, Dublin. As a prebendary of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin he served at Tasagart, County Dublin, (1790–95) and at Donaghmore, County Wicklow, (1795 until his death in 1819). A number of her poems refer to Donaghmore and to Wicklow. The poems report on an illness she suffered which resulted in blindness (also alluded to in a poem by Battier in The Protected Fugitives); her husband took her to Bath for her health. There is no mention of any children. A prefatory poem is addressed to Dr. Edward Ledwich, antiquary, who had offered to revise the poems for publication. Just possibly she is the Elizabeth Ryan who died aged 60 and was buried at St. Peter's, Dublin, on 19 Dec. 1817 but there is no confirmation. (DIB for Edward Ryan 16 Sept. 2021; DNB, ODNB for Edward Ryan 16 Sept. 2021; Henrietta Battier, The Protected Fugitives; findmypast.co.uk 24 Mar. 2025) SR
Other Names:
- Mrs. Ryan