Ashe was the third son of a half-pay officer, and was born at Glasnevin, near Dublin, 15 July 1770.
He received a commission in the 83rd regiment of foot, which, however, was almost immediately afterwards disbanded; and he was sent to a counting-house at Bordeaux.
Returning to Dublin, Ashe was appointed secretary to the Diocesan and Endowed Schools Commission, but, getting into debt, resigned his office and retired to Switzerland.
He then spent several years in foreign travel, living, according to his own account,[1] in a free and unconstrained fashion, and experiencing a somewhat chequered fortune.
Besides recording in his Memoirs his impressions of the countries he visited, Ashe published separately: He was also the author of novels, including the Spirit of the Book, 1811, 4th edition 1812; the Liberal Critic, or Henry Percy, 1812: and the Soldier of Fortune, 1816.