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…...
Windisch, Wilhelm Oscar Ernst
Windisch, Wilhelm Oscar Ernst (1844–1918), Sanskrit and Pali scholar and celticist, was born 4 September 1844 in Dresden, Germany, son of a teacher, was educated at the Kreuzschule in Leipzig, and went on to Leipzig University (1863), where he studied classical and comparative philology…...
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…...
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…...
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
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…...
Wright, Charles Henry Hamilton
Wright, Charles Henry Hamilton (1836–1909), Hebraist and theologian, was born 9 March 1836 in Dublin, second son among ten children of Edward Thomas Wright, Doctor of Laws (LLD), barrister, of Floraville, Donnybrook, Dublin, and his wife Charlotte (née Wright) of Beech Hill, Donnybrook…...
Wright, William (‘Billy’)
Wright, William (‘Billy’) (1960–97), loyalist paramilitary, was born in July 1960 in Wolverhampton in the west midlands of England, son of David Wright and his wife, both originally from Portadown, Co. Armagh. The Wrights had moved to England because of harassment after David…...
Wylie, Samuel Brown
Wylie, Samuel Brown (1773–1852), presbyterian minister, and oriental and classical scholar, was born 21 May 1773 at Moylarg, Co. Antrim, son of Adam Wylie, a prosperous farmer, and Margaret Wylie (née Brown). Educated locally, he entered the University of Glasgow, where he…...
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…...
Yeats, Bertha Georgie (‘George’)
Yeats, Bertha Georgie (‘George’) (1892–1968), scholar, occultist, publisher, and wife of William Butler Yeats (qv), was born 16/17 October 1892 at The Grove, Fleet, Hampshire, daughter of William Gilbert Hyde Lees , captain in the 4th…...
Young, Mary ('Jenny Diver')
Young, Mary ('Jenny Diver') (c.1704–41), notorious pickpocket and head of a criminal gang, was born c.1704 in the north of Ireland. There are no extant records relating to Young's early life so most accounts rely on the text published by James Guthrie, The…...
Zeuss, Johann Kaspar
Zeuss, Johann Kaspar (1806–56), philologist, linguist, and founder of Celtic studies, was born 22 July 1806 in the village of Vogtendorf, near Kronach in Upper Franconia, Germany, fourth among six children of Michael Zeuss, stonemason, and Margaretha Zeuss (neé Hanna). Although he…...
Zimmer, Heinrich
Zimmer, Heinrich (1851–1910), philologist, historian, and Celtic scholar, was born 11 December 1851 in Castellaun in the Rhineland, Germany, son of a peasant farmer. After pursuing his early education at Kreuznach, he spent some time at the universities of Strasburg, Tübingen, and…...