Of Scottish and Irish descent, 'Amy' Irvine was born in Coleraine in County Londonderry, Ireland in 1866, one of seven children of Louisa Caroline née Brady (1840-1912) and the Reverend Arthur Benjamin Irvine (1838-1907), vicar of Holy Trinity Church in West Bromwich, near Birmingham from 1874 to 1902.

[4] She developed an interest in medical life and in 1907 published her first novel, The Specialist, which features a minor staple of Edwardian fiction, the life-transforming operation.

Another novel on a medical theme, aimed at girls, was The Frantic Misfortunes of a Nurse, Or, The Probationer (1910).

[1] In 1911 Irvine bought 78 West Street in Deal, in Kent and here she lived for nearly 50 years.

She studied the violin and cello sufficiently well to be able to supplement her income by giving music lessons.