Williams, Philip
Williams, Philip (fl.1570–99), government official, is of obscure origins, though his surname and political connections suggest that he was from Wales. He served as secretary to the soldier and magnate William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, until Pembroke's death in 1570, when…...
Wills, William Gorman
Wills, William Gorman (1828–91), playwright and painter, was born 28 January 1828 in Kilmurry, Co. Kilkenny, third child of the writer James Wills (qv) and his wife Katherine, daughter of the Rev. W. Gorman and niece of the chief justice…...
Windsor, William
Windsor, William (c.1325–1384), Baron Windsor , lord lieutenant of Ireland, was the son of Sir Alexander Windsor of Grayrigg, Westmorland, and his wife, Elizabeth (d. 1349). He was a minor when his father died in 1343, but had attained his age of majority by 1349. He took…...
Wingfield, Lewis Strange
Wingfield, Lewis Strange (1842–91), traveller, writer, actor, and painter, was born 25 February 1842 at Powerscourt, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, third and youngest son of Richard Wingfield, 6th Viscount Powerscourt, and his wife (and first cousin) Lady Elizabeth Frances Charlotte, eldest…...
Wingfield, Mervyn Edward
Wingfield, Mervyn Edward (1836–1904), 7th Viscount Powerscourt , landowner, politician, and connoisseur, was born 13 October 1836 at Powerscourt Castle, near Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, the eldest of the three sons of Richard Wingfield (1815–44), sixth viscount, and his wife, Lady…...
Wingfield, Mervyn Richard
This is a co-subject for the entry on Wingfield, Mervyn Edward. View the original entry....
Wise (Wyse), Andrew
Wise (Wyse), Andrew (d. 1567), vice-treasurer of Ireland, was a younger son of Sir William Wise of Waterford and his wife Elizabeth Plunket. Andrew continued the family tradition of public service and by autumn 1548 was involved in supervising payments to royal soldiers. By 1550 he…...
Wogan, William
Wogan, William (1678–1758), London agent of the Irish government, philanthropist, and religious writer, was born in Gumfreston in Pembrokeshire, a younger son of Ethelred Wogan (d. c.1685), rector of Gumfreston and vicar of Penally. His mother's first name is unknown, but…...
Wolff, Gustav Wilhelm
Wolff, Gustav Wilhelm (1834–1913), shipbuilder, businessman, and politician, was born in Hamburg, the son of Moritz Wolff and Fanny Maria Schwabe. Gustav left home at the age of fourteen to study engineering at Liverpool College, staying with his uncle Gustav Schwabe. He was…...
Wood, Herbert
Wood, Herbert (1860–1955), archivist, historian, deputy keeper of the Public Record Office of Ireland, was born on 6 September 1860 at Trinity Square, Lambeth, London, a prosperous residential development for merchants and professionals. He was the sixth of eight children of William…...
Woods, Thomas (‘Tommy’)
Woods, Thomas (‘Tommy’) (1921–61), diplomat, journalist, and writer, was born 2 July 1921 at 4 St Brendan's Terrace, Galway city, one of three children of Thomas Woods, draper, and Bridget Woods (née Hogan). He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Galway and for a time…...
Worcester, Philip of
Workman, Thomas
Workman, Thomas (1843–1900), naturalist, traveller, and businessman, was born 14 August 1843, third son among fifteen children of Robert Workman and Jane Workman (née Service) of Ceara, Malone Road, Belfast. His father's family was originally from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland,…...
Worsley, Benjamin
Worsley, Benjamin (1617/18–1677), administrator, was born and educated in London, the eldest son of Francis Worsley of Kenton, Warwickshire, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Shipman Hopkins of Coventry. By 1640 he was in Ireland serving in the household of…...
Woulfe, Tom
Woulfe, Tom (1915–2015), Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) administrator and civil servant, was born 20 September 1915 on the family farm at Faha, Beale, near Ballybunion, Co. Kerry, one of three sons and three daughters of James Woulfe, farmer, and his wife Mary (née Stack.) He…...
Wynne, Alice Clara (Veronica)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Wynne, Emily Adelaide. View the original entry....
Wynne, Emily Adelaide
Wynne, Emily Adelaide (1872–1958), textile artist and author, was born in Germany, the eldest of five children of Albert Augustus Wynne, a civil and mining engineer, and his wife and cousin Alice Katherine (née Wynne). With her sisters Winifred Frances Wynne (1873–1969), born in Co.…...
Wynne, Thomas Joseph
Wynne, Thomas Joseph (1838–93), photographer and shopkeeper, was born probably in the United States, where it is believed he grew up. His mother was third daughter of Richard MacEvilly, postmaster at Ballyglass, Claremorris, Co. Mayo; the identity of his father is not known. In…...
Wynne, Winifred Frances
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Wyse, Andrew Reginald Nicholas Gerald Bonaparte
Wyse, Andrew Reginald Nicholas Gerald Bonaparte (1870–1940), civil servant and educationist, was born 1 November 1870 in Limerick, second of the four sons of William Charles Wyse, poet, and Ellen Linzee (d. 1925), daughter of W. G. Prout of St. Mabyn, Cornwall. William Charles…...
Wyse, Sir Thomas
Wyse, Sir Thomas (1791–1862), traveller, politician, educational reformer, and diplomat, was born 24 December 1791 in Waterford, the first child in the family of three sons and three daughters of Thomas Wyse (d. 1835) and his wife Frances Maria, only daughter and heiress of George…...
Wyse, Thomas
Wyse, Thomas (1701?–70), industrialist and co-founder of the Catholic Committee, was the son of Francis Wyse (d. 1717) of the Manor of St John, Waterford, and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Masterson of Castletown and Moneyseed, Co. Wexford. Wyses had held property in County…...
Yeats, Anne Butler
Yeats, Anne Butler (1919–2001), painter and stage designer, was born 26 February 1919 in Dublin, daughter and elder child of William Butler Yeats (qv), poet, and George Yeats (qv) (née Bertha Georgie Hyde Lees)…...
Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet (‘Lollie’)
Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet (‘Lollie’) (1868–1940), publisher and painter, was born 11 March 1868 at 23 Fitzroy Road, London, daughter of John Butler Yeats (qv), painter, and Susan Yeats (née Pollexfen). She stayed in Merville, Sligo, at the…...
Yeats, Jack Butler
Yeats, Jack Butler (1871–1957), painter, was born 29 August 1871 at 23 Fitzroy Road, near Regent's Park, London, youngest of the four surviving children of John Butler Yeats (qv) and brother of…...