Dorothea Herbert (c.1767–1829) was an Irish diarist and poet. Her Retrospections, (original *le: Retrospections of an Outcast, or the Reflections of Dorothea Herbert written in Retirement) first published in two volumes in 1929-30, contain local accounts of life in the late eighteenth century, but are soon overshadowed by her unrequited p*ion for John Roe, heir to Rockwell near Knockgrafton, another of her father's parishes.

She was the eldest daughter of Rev. Nicholas Herbert, rector of Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland. In spite of increasing isolation, depression and derangement, she wrote plays, novels and an opera, none of which can be accounted for. Her Volume of Poetry, however, has survived; it, along with her Journal Notes (a continuation of her Retrospections), have been published as a biography by historian Dr. Frances Finnegan.

References

Further reading

• Between literature and history: the diaries and memoirs of Mary Leadbeater and Dorothea Herbert
• Retrospections of Dorothea Herbert 1770-1806, First published 1929-30 by Gerard Howe, London; Published in Hardback by TownHouse 1988 and published in Paperback by TownHouse, Dublin 2004 ISBN:1-86059-220-1