She was the second daughter of John Ball, a silk merchant, and his second wife Mabel Clare (née Bennett).
[1][2] Ball became friends with Mary Aikenhead in 1807 when she attended the profession of her older sister Cecilia into the Ursulines in Cork.
She was also a close friend of the future archbishop of Dublin, Daniel Murray, a relationship she used to help Aikenhead in her foundation of the Religious Sisters of Charity.
Alongside the sisters, Ball made visits to female prisoners in Kilmainham Gaol and to Jervis Street Hospital.
She was appointed the manager of the sisters' school on King's Inns Street, a position she filled until old age prevented her from visiting.