Ellen Forrester


Ellen Forrester was an Irish nationalist and poet.

Life

Ellen Forrester was born Ellen Magennis in 1828, probably in Clones, County Monaghan. She was the sixth child of the local schoolmaster. Her mother was a Presbyterian who then converted to Catholicism. She moved to England at age 17, working as a nursery governess in Liverpool. She then moved to Manchester, where she married a stonemason, Michael Forrester, around 1847. Michael Forrester drank heavily, and died of consumption at a young age, leaving Forrester with 5 children aged from 10 years and younger.
She had written poetry most of her life, so to support her family she began submitting verse to English and Irish journals. Three of her children also wrote poetry: Arthur, Fanny, and Mary. Forrester was a committed nationalist, and helped Caroline Douglas raise money for the defence fund for the Manchester Martyrs. Her son Arthur joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1866 and was a leading Lancashire Fenian. She sought help from her friend, Michael Davitt, when Arthur was arrested in 1869. During Davitt's own imprisonment in Millbank penitentiary, he requested permission for Forrester to visit him but this was denied as she was deemed to be a "notorious Fenian-sympathiser."
Around 1860 Forrester published her first volume of poetry, Simple strains. This was followed by a collection of songs in 1869, Songs of the rising nation, which also included verse from Arthur and Fanny Forrester. Towards the end of her life Forrester struggled with poverty and poor health, but according to accounts of her life she was in continuing good humour. in 1872 she applied to the Royal Literary Fund describing herself as a "cripple" and dependant on her two daughters who worked in factories. This application was rejected. She died on 6 January 1883 in Salford, she was buried in a local catholic cemetery.