Female

Wall, Maureen (1918–72), historian, was born 27 June 1918 in Seacor, Glenswilly, Co. Donegal, one of eight daughters and one son of Peader MacGeehinn from nearby Fintown; her mother was a native of Glenswilly. She went to Treankeel national school, where her parents were the only…

Walsh (Breathnach), Róisín (1889–1949), librarian and republican, was born on 24 March 1889 into a staunchly nationalist catholic family in the townland of Lisnamaghery, Clogher, Co. Tyone, the eldest of eight children (five sisters and two brothers) of James Walsh (d. 1925), a national…

Walsh, Micheline Kerney- (1919–97), archivist and historian, was born 21 October 1919 in La Celle, St Cloud, Paris, second child and only daughter of Leopold Harding Kerney (qv) of Dublin and Raymonde Kerney (née Élie) of…

Walsh, Sr Patricia (1942–2015), missionary nurse, was born Anna Maria Catherine Walsh on 23 September 1942 in Portlick, Glasson, Co. Westmeath, the eldest of three girls and a boy, to Michael Walsh, a fisherman, and his wife Bridget (née Nolan). Having attended Glasson primary school (…

Warde, Frances Teresa (Sister Mary Frances Teresa) (1810–84), Sister of Mercy and educator, was born in Belbrook House, Abbeyleix, Queen’s Co. (Laois) in 1810, the youngest of six children (three sons and three daughters) of John Warde, a merchant, and Mary Warde (née Maher). Educated…

Ward, Mary (1827–69), artist, naturalist, and astronomer, was born 27 April 1827 in Ballylin, near Ferbane, King's Co. (Offaly), youngest among three daughters and one son of the Rev. Henry King (1799–1857) of Ballylin, and Harriette King (née Lloyd), of Gloster, King's Co. Her…

Watts (Lynch), Elizabeth (d. 1794), printer, stationer, and ‘bookseller to the courts of law’, whose origins are unknown, succeeded her first husband Richard Watts (d. November 1762) printer and bookseller, with whom she had four sons and a daughter. She married secondly (14…

Webb, Isabella (‘Ella’) Gertrude Amy (1877–1946), paediatrician, was born 16 October 1877 in Dublin, elder daughter of the Rev. Charles Thomas Ovenden (1846–1924), dean of St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, and his wife Isabella Mary Robinson. She was educated at Alexandra College,…

Webb, Maria (1804–73), philanthropist and author, was born at Peartree Hill, near Lisburn, Co. Antrim, youngest child among two sons and one daughter of Thomas Lamb and his wife Dorothy, both members of the Religious Society of Friends. She was largely self-educated. In 1828 she…

Wejchert, Alexandra (1921–95), sculptor, was born 16 October 1921 in Cracow, Poland, daughter of Tedeusz Wejchert, who ran a shipping business in Gdansk. In 1939 she went to study architecture in Warsaw University and there experienced the German invasion of Poland, which haunted…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Wejchert, Andrzej. View the original entry.

Welsh, Elizabeth (1843–1921), pioneering woman academic and mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, was born 31 March 1843 in Co. Down, eldest among four daughters of John Welsh of Gransha, Kircubbin, Co. Down, a farmer on over a hundred acres, probably prosperous and possibly also a…

Wheeler, Anna Doyle (1785–1848/9), pioneer feminist and reformer, was born in Clonbeg parish, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, daughter of the Rev. Nicholas Milley Doyle , clergyman, and Anna Doyle (née Dunbar). Little is known of her mother, but her father graduated from…

Whelan, Mary Elizabeth Morosini- (1923–2011), dancing teacher, was born on 23 February 1923 in Dublin, the third of five children of Joseph Whelan, a dancing teacher, and his wife Violetta (née Morosini), who was born in Verona, Italy. Violetta Morosini had trained as a concert…

White, Eirene Lloyd (1909–99), politician, was born 7 November 1909 at Anwylfan, St John's Ave., Belfast, eldest child among one daughter and two sons of Thomas Jones (1870–1955), briefly professor of economics at QUB (1909–10), and…

White, Henrietta Margaret (1856–1936), principal of Alexandra College, Dublin, horticulturist, and social activist, was eldest child among three daughters and one son of Henry Charles White (1818–1903), of Charleville, Queen's Co. (Laois), JP…

White, Rosetta Phoebe Blair- (1895–1991), tennis player, was born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, daughter of R. J. Newell , DL and JP, of Hillside, Omagh. She developed her tennis skills by playing every day…

Whitton, Eleanor Constance (1879–1956), campaigner for animal welfare, was born in Co. Longford, the daughter of the Rev. Alexander Beatty, Church of Ireland minister. She appears to have been educated locally. In 1902 she married Henry M. Whitton, registrar of the court of appeal…

Whitty, Ellen (Sister Mary Vincent) (1819–92), Sister of Mercy, foundress, and educator, was born 1 March 1819 in Poldharrigge, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, daughter of Robert Whitty and Mary Whitty. She had two sisters and three brothers. Educated in Enniscorthy and the Academy of…

Whitty, Sophia St John (1877–1924), woodcarver, teacher, and cooperativist, was born 4 November 1877 at 69 Upper Leeson St., Dublin, daughter of Richard Lawrence Whitty, gentleman, of that address, and his wife Jane Alicia, second daughter of Hugh Palliser Hickman (1805–83),…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Wilde, William Charles Kingsbury. View the original entry.

Wilde, Jane Francesca Agnes (‘Speranza’) (1821?–1896), poet, nationalist, and feminist, was probably born 27 December 1821 in Dublin, to Charles Elgee (1783–1824), son of Archdeacon John Elgee of Wexford, and his wife Sarah (d. 1851), daughter of Thomas Kingsbury, commissioner of…

Williams, Jane (1771–1845), silversmith, was born 2 December 1771 in Cork, the eldest of seven daughters and two sons born to Carden Terry , silversmith, and his wife Catherine (née Webb), daughter of Stonewell Webb, also a silversmith. Carden was born 1742 to John Terry, a burgess…

Wilmot, Katherine (c.1773–1824), traveller and diarist, was eldest daughter among three sons and six daughters of Edward Wilmot (1747–1815), army captain in the 40th Regiment of Foot, stationed in Cork, and his wife Martha, daughter of the Rev. Charles Moore, rector of…

Wilmot, Martha (1775–1873), diarist and travel writer, was born at Glanmire, Co. Cork, one of six daughters and three sons of Edward Wilmot, of Derbyshire, England, a former captain of the 40th Regiment of Foot, and port surveyor of the revenue board in Drogheda and Cork, and Martha…