Born Hannah Moylan of the Newcastle Road,
Galway to Jeremiah Moylan and Mary Fitzgerald of Cork. Her mother was the matron and her father the headmaster of the Model school. Her father went on to become a
Barrington Lecturer on Political Economy. Moylan was baptised on 2 December 1867, her exact date of birth is unknown. She was their second youngest child of ten. Her oldest brother Michael became a doctor. Her oldest sister a school governess and the youngest sister Vida Mary Augusta Constance Moylan (1871-1962) married
William Worby Beaumont, an engineer and inventor. Her sister
Josephine was a novelist who wrote under the name
Errol Fitzgerald. In 1873 the family moved to
Limerick where they were living when her mother died. Moylan got her primary education from her father but went to Madame De Prins College for Young Ladies and the Ladies Intermediate School on Catherine Street in Limerick for her secondary education. She won prizes in her examinations while in school. In July 1887 she matriculated at the
Royal University of Ireland where she studied the Arts. At the time it was not possible for a young woman to attend university directly and so Moylan got her university education from
Alexandra College, Dublin and qualified with a BA in French, English and Mathematics in 1891. She won scholarships and awards during the period where she took her university exams through
Trinity College Dublin. ==Career==