There is little information on her schooling; it is known though that she acquired a high level of knowledge within her family, not only from her father and mother, Croatian writers and erudite persons but from her uncle Nikola VII Zrinski as well.

The widowed Ilona requested guardianship of her children and was granted it, against the advice of Emperor Leopold I's advisers and against Francis I's will.

After the recapture of Buda, the situation became untenable, and on 17 January 1688, Ilona had no choice but to surrender the castle, with the understanding that the defenders would receive amnesty from the Emperor, and that the Rákóczi estates would remain in her children's name.

When Habsburg General Heisler was captured by Thököly, a prisoner exchange was arranged, and Ilona joined her husband in Transylvania.

Ilona Zrínyi is celebrated in Croatia and Hungary as one of the greatest national heroines, patriots and fighters for freedom, who opposed, although unsuccessfully, the autocracy and absolutism aspirations of the Habsburgs.

In October 1906 the remains of the Croatian countess were reinterred with her son's in the St Elisabeth Cathedral in present-day Košice, Slovakia.