Vagrant Verses: Fast-bound for foreign seas

Rosa Mulholland was born in Belfast in 1841 although no exact date of her birth is known.

Mulholland originally wished to become a painter but turned to literary pursuits and attempted to publish her first book at 15. Charles Dickens, who took an early interest in her work, did much to encourage and help her during his life time including publishing many of her works in his magazine ‘All the Year Round’.

Her early years in the remote and mountainous west of Ireland helped her gather backdrops, landscapes and characters that would be of great use later in her life.

Mulholland was a keen poet and was published in magazines and journals as well as in book form. She was also a devout Catholic and prominent in literacy circles.

In May 1891 she married John Thomas Gilbert in Dublin. He was a Dublin antiquary and historian, who authored the ‘History of the City of Dublin’, and edited several other important standard works. With his knighthood in 1897 Rosa became Lady Gilbert.

Mulholland was a prolific and well-received writer during her career. Her early works tend to show women yearning for careers and lifestyles that at that point society would not accept and she was careful not to overstep the boundaries. In her later years much of her fiction was embedded with independent, strong-willed female heroines.

Rosa Mulholland died on 21st April 1921 in Dublin, Ireland.

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