Frances Browne

Born in Stranorlar, County Donegal, on January 16, 1816, Frances Browne was blinded by smallpox when she was still a toddler. Even without formal schooling in the usual sense, she educated herself by listening to lessons and books read aloud, and she began composing poetry while still very young.

She went on to become an Irish poet, novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her writing ranged widely, but she is most often remembered for Granny's Wonderful Chair (1856), a collection of imaginative fairy tales that has continued to find readers long after her lifetime.

Browne later moved within the literary worlds of Edinburgh and London, where her work reached a broad audience. She died in 1879, and she is still remembered as one of Donegal's most notable writers.