Though she is remembered as "the poetess of Cecil County",[1] she commenced to write poetry comparatively late in life, and not until she had attained distinction as a writer of prose.

[4] She translated from German the works of Bertha Clément (1852-1930), Elisabeth Philippine Karoline von Dewitz (1820-1899), Nikolaus Fries (1823-1894), Elizabeth Halden (pseudonym of Agnes Breitzmann), John J. Messmer, Karl Gustav Nieritz (1795-1876), Otto Nietschmann (1840-1929), Emmy von Rhoden (pseudonym of Emilie Auguste Karoline Henriette Friedrich-Friedrich), Richard Roth, and Emma Seifert.

Mary Eliza Haines[5] was born in the village of Brick Meeting House (now Calvert), Maryland, January 9, 1834.

Both families bought tracts of land adjoining the 40 acres given in person by William Penn in 1701 on which to build the Friends' meeting house.

[7] When quite young, Ireland' wrote a short story entitled "Ellen Linwood", under the nom de plume of "Marie Norman", which was published in the Cecil Whig, then edited by Palmer C.

[6] She afterward became a contributor to Cottage Hearth, Household, and other domestic magazines, besides The Literary World, Ladies' Cabinet, Woman's Journal, and several church papers.

Many letters of appreciation from distant parts of the country testified to the merit of the book, and she was encouraged to accede to the request of the Presbyterian Observer Company of Baltimore to write a serial for their paper.

[2][6] In Otterbrook's Blessing (1902), Ireland wrote a tender, inspiring story of girl life, as told by Liela Harcourt in her diary, commenced the day she was sixteen, at the suggestion of her grandmother.

Happy Days at Grandfather's tells of Lottie Von Alstyne, whose father, an officer in the army, was ordered to Constantinople, and went to remain a year, accompanied by Mrs.

Stolen for Ransom is about the adventures of a crown prince who was kidnapped while walking with his teacher on the bank of a river, and taken to a secluded house on an island, where he led a sad life until kind Providence sent him a companion, a boy near his own age, the son of a cultured and educated gentleman who passed as a fisherman.

[12] Other translations published in book form included Red Carl (treating of the labor question), Lenchen's Brother, Platzbacker of Plauen, The Block House on the Shore, Erna Stark,[7][6] Christian Beck's Grandson, Her First and Only School Friend, Adolph's Victories, In Days of Abd-el-Rader, The School of Luneburg Heath, Driven Out, Eric's Vacation, Life Work of Pastor Louis Harms, The First School Year, Dorris and Her Mountain Home, The Tower Angel, and Pixy's Holiday Journey.

[1] By 1887, they resided in Baltimore, where Mr. Ireland held the position of United States storekeeper in the Internal Revenue Department.