Irene was daughter of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus and then Emperor of Thessalonica, and Maria Petraliphaina (sister of the sebastokrator John Petraliphas).

There is some evidence that the Bulgarian church opposed the marriage and that a patriarch (called either Spiridon or Vissarion) was deposed or executed by the irate tsar.

According to one theory Irene poisoned her stepson in order to secure the throne for Michael II.

It is assumed that Irene took over the government as tsarina-regent because her son was still a child when he ascended the throne, but there is little evidence to prove this hypothesis.

She was expelled from Bulgaria after the death of her son in 1256 and spent the rest of her life in her family's land around Thessaloniki.