author
Mary E. (Mary Eliza) Ireland
1834–1927
Remembered as the "poet of Cecil County," she built a lively literary career as both a writer and a translator, with a special gift for stories connected to Maryland life and for bringing German works into English.
1 Audiobook
Hilda's Mascot: A Tale of "Maryland, My Maryland"
by Mary E. (Mary Eliza) Ireland
About the author
Mary E. Ireland, born Mary Eliza Haines in Maryland in 1834, was an American author, poet, and translator who also wrote under the pen name Marie Norman. Biographical sources describe her as a longtime resident of Washington, D.C., though she remained closely tied to her Maryland roots.
She wrote fiction, verse, and children's books, and she is especially associated with Hilda's Mascot: A Tale of "Maryland, My Maryland". Project Gutenberg also lists her as the author of that novel and as the translator of Pixy's Holiday Journey, showing the range of her work.
Ireland lived a long life, dying in 1927. Even in brief reference works, she stands out as a versatile nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literary figure whose writing mixed regional feeling, storytelling, and translation.