Mary E. Balfour facts for kids

Mary E. Balfour was an Irish poet who lived and worked around the late 1700s and early 1800s. She wrote her own poems and also translated old Irish poems into English. People believe she was the only woman playwright (someone who writes plays) from Belfast in the 1800s.

About Mary E. Balfour

Mary E. Balfour was born in Limavady. Her exact birth year is a bit of a mystery. Some records say 1755, but others suggest it was more likely around 1789. This later date fits better with when her parents got married and when her younger sisters were born.

Her father, John Balfour, was a church leader in Errigal, County Londonderry. After her father passed away, Mary and her sisters needed to earn a living. They became teachers, first in Newtown Limavady, and later in Belfast.

Mary's Beliefs and Writings

Mary Balfour believed strongly in freedom and fairness for everyone. She supported the United Irish cause, which was a movement for Ireland's independence. She wrote poems celebrating people who fought for this cause. For example, she wrote about Henry Joy McCracken, a leader who was executed in 1798. Her poems, like "The Seventeenth of July," showed her sadness and anger about what happened.

In 1808, Mary Balfour helped start the Harp Society. She worked with Mary Ann McCracken, Henry Joy McCracken's sister. The Harp Society aimed to preserve and promote Irish music. Mary contributed four of her translations of Irish poems to a famous music collection. This collection, called A General Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland, was put together by Edward Bunting in 1809.

Her Published Works

Mary Balfour published her only book of poems in Belfast in 1810. It was called Hope: a poetical essay with various other poems. This book included poems with themes from ancient Greek and Roman stories. It also had poems meant to be sung to the Irish songs that Edward Bunting had collected.

Mary Balfour was one of the first Irish writers to show a strong interest in traditional music and folklore. She also wrote a play called Kathleen O'Neil: a grand national melodrama in three acts. This play was about a woman who hunted deer. It was performed in Belfast in 1814.

We don't know the exact date Mary Balfour died. Some records from 1819 suggest she had passed away by then. It's thought she might have been around 39 years old when she died.