Clerke, Ellen Mary

(1840-1906)

   Clerke was the elder sister of the more famous Agnes Mary Clerke (1842-1907), historian of astronomy, although Ellen Mary was also an authority on the subject. She was born at Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland. The sisters were companions through life and shared a taste for music, literature, and science. A gifted and accomplished writer, for twenty years Ellen Mary wrote a weekly leader for the London Tablet, the Roman Catholic magazine. She lived in Italy for seven years and she devoted much of her time to verse translations of Italian poetry and writing stories for periodicals in Florence. She died after a short illness at her home in South Kensington, London. Her main publications are: The Flying Dutchman and Other Poems, 1881. Fable and Song in Italy, 1899 (essays, studies and specimens of Italian poetry translated into English). Some of her translations: Virgin Pure (Gambara, Veronica, 14851550). Oh, Mystery, Faith Alone Can Comprehend (Gambara, Veronica, 1485-1550). Colloquy between Christ, Our Lady and the Angel (da Todi, Jacopone, 1228-1306). Hymn of Alessandro Manzoni (Manzoni, Alessandro, 1785-1873). Two Ballads of Our Lady (Dunbar, William, c. 1465-c. 1530).

   Sources: Carmina Mariana: An English Antholog y in Verse in Honour of or in Relation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Orby Shipley, ed. Burns and Oates, 1894. Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Great Books Online. www.bartleby.com.