Ellen has been included in a collection about inspirational Irish women, Through Her Eyes, by Clodagh Finn, published in 2019 by Gill Books, Dublin.
Told through the prism of the lives of twenty-one extraordinary women, it offers an alternative vision of Irish history, one that puts the spotlight on women whose contributions have been forgotten or overlooked.
Why Ellen? Clodagh explains: “I was first drawn to Ellen’s story when I read of her arduous carriage ride from Dublin to West Cork in the early 1800s: the roads were so treacherous in places that men were sent ahead to fill the boggy potholes with furze bushes to allow safe passage. It’s vividly described in a short biography written by her niece Alicia Maria Hutchins and I imagined this young woman leaving behind the distractions of the city to go to Ballylickey House to care for her mother, an elderly grand-aunt and her invalided brother Thomas. I wanted to know how she fared and was captivated when I found that her singular voice survives in her letters.
Her daily burdens were offset by her joy in discovering botanical ‘treasures’ and ‘exquisite little beauties’ in the previously unexplored environs of Bantry Bay. Her passion brought her to international attention, but it was her determination that made a lasting impression on me.
When confined to the house due to ill health, she wrote: ‘How my spirit flies to the mountains when my limbs will hardly bear me about on the plains.’
I wanted to capture some of her indomitable spirit on the page.”
Do support your local bookshop if you can, or it can be bought online from the publisher here:
