Though born in England, she relocated to Ireland at the age of six and settled on her father's estate; Edgeworthstown, in County Longford. She hob-nobbed with the local gentry and acted as manager of her father's estate, later drawing on this experience for her novels about the Irish.
Maria's father was himself a well-known author and inventor, who encouraged his daughter's career, but always insisted on approving and editing her work. Only Castle Rackrent was written
and submitted for publication without his knowledge.
After her father's death in 1817 she edited his memoirs, and continued writing. She also worked strenuously for the relief of the famine-stricken Irish peasants during the Potato Famine
(1845-1849) and was explicit about the fact that all her stories had a moral purpose behind them, usually pointing out the duty of members of the upper class toward their tenants.
A critic of her work was one of the religous leaders of the day: the preacher Robert Hall; who said, "I should class her books as among the most irreligious I have ever read ... she does not attack religion, nor inveigh against it, but makes it appear unnecessary by exhibiting perfect virtue without it ... No works ever produced so bad an effect on my mind as hers."
