She lived in Haig Street, Belmont, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia with a large cast of older sisters and a brother.

What followed was a number of guesting roles on television series such as A Country Practice, Water Rats and Murder Call, to name but a few and the feature films Dallas Dolls in 1994, which was her film debut; Dad and Dave: On Our Selection, Floating Life, Idiot Box and Thank God He Met Lizzie, with Cate Blanchett; all of which she appeared in throughout the nineties.

In 1997, Ireland played Rosy's mother Filameena in the Australian children's television series Swinging for ABC TV.

Ireland would later exit the series in season 7 [4] alongside costar Tammy Macintosh,[5] Liz would pass away after suffering a stroke after the devastating Siege of Wentworth.

Ireland and Milosevic who were filming that scene at the time were not told that a costume sale that was being organized was suddenly cancelled as the show had secured funding for its final 20 episodes.