West, Trevor
West, Trevor (1938–2012), mathematician, politician and sportsman, was born on 8 May 1938 in Cork, the eldest of four sons of Timothy Roberts West, headmaster of Midleton College, Co. Cork, and Dorothy Trevor West (née McNeill), of Charleston, Ballinacurra, Co. Cork, who was CEO of…...
Wheatley, Francis
Wheatley, Francis (1747–1801), artist, was born in Wild Court, Covent Garden, London, son of a master tailor; no other details of his parents are known. He studied under the artist Daniel Fournier (c.1700–c.1766) and in William Shipley's drawing school, where he…...
Wheeler, George Bomford
Wheeler, George Bomford (1805/8–1877), anglican clergyman, classical scholar, and editor of the Irish Times, was son of James Wheeler; his mother's name is unknown. Very little is known of his early life and the records of TCD…...
Whelan, (Michael) Leo
Whelan, (Michael) Leo (1892–1956), portrait and genre painter, was born 17 January 1892 at 20 St George's Villas, Fairview, Co. Dublin, one of two sons and three daughters of Maurice Whelan, a draper, of Co. Kerry ancestry, and Mary Whelan (née Cruise), from Co. Roscommon. The…...
Whelan, William Augustine (‘Billy’; ‘Liam’)
Whelan, William Augustine (‘Billy’; ‘Liam’) (1935–58), soccer player, was born 1 April 1935 in 28 St Attracta's Road, Cabra, Dublin, fourth among seven children of John Whelan, labourer, and Elizabeth Whelan (née McGuirk). He was educated at St Peter's national school in nearby…...
White, (Patrick) James
White, (Patrick) James (1913–2003), arts administrator, art critic and art historian, was born 16 September 1913 in Holles St. maternity hospital, Dublin, son of Thomas John White, a bank clerk, of Grove Cottage, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, and (Mary) Florence White (née Coffey). His…...
White, Rosetta Phoebe Blair-
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…...
Whitty, Sophia St John
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),…...
Wickham, Joseph Ignatius ('Joe')
Wickham, Joseph Ignatius ('Joe') (1890–1968), football administrator, was born Ignatius Joseph Wickham on 5 February 1890 in Phibsborough, Dublin, one of eleven children (seven girls and four boys) of John Wickham, a railway engine driver, and his wife Mary Anne (née Kelly). He was…...
Williams, Alexander
Williams, Alexander (1846–1930), artist, naturalist and singer, was born 21 April 1846 in the Diamond, Monaghan town, eldest of three sons of William Williams, hatter, of Drogheda, Co. Louth, and was educated at Drogheda Grammar School. His father moved in May 1860 to 19 Bayview Avenue…...
Williams, Jane
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…...
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…...
Wilson, John Patrick
Wilson, John Patrick (1923–2007), government minister and Gaelic footballer, was born on 8 July 1923 at Callanagh, Kilcogy, Co. Cavan, the son of John Wilson, farmer, and his wife Brigid (née Comaskey). His grandfather James Wilson was a Fenian, his father a Fianna Fáil and GAA activist…...
Winder, Frank (Francis Gerard Augustine)
Winder, Frank (Francis Gerard Augustine) (1928–2007), biochemist, naturalist and mountaineer, was born 14 April 1928 in Dublin, one of four sons of Percy Winder (d. 1950), secretary of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society and a freeman of the city of Dublin, and his second…...
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…...
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....
Wing, Mornington Albert (‘Morny’)
Wing, Mornington Albert (‘Morny’) (c.1897–1965), champion jockey and trainer, was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, son of Walter Wing, professional jockey, horse dealer, and mail coach driver, of 6 Mail Coach Yard, Doncaster, and Ada Wing (maiden name unknown) of Castleford,…...
Woods, Stanley
Woods, Stanley (1903–93), racing motorcyclist, was born 28 November 1903 in Rathmines, Dublin, son of Edward H. (‘Ted’) Woods, company representative, from Rathgar, Dublin, and Lily Menzies Woods (née Stanley), both of 21 Brighton Avenue, Rathmines. He was educated at the High…...
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…...
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…...
Wylie, William Evelyn
Wylie, William Evelyn (1881–1964), judge and doyen of the RDS, was born 26 June 1881 at Kenilworth House, Kenilworth Square, Dublin (the residence of his maternal uncle John Girdwood Drury), son of the Rev. Robert Beatty Wylie, LLD, minister (…...
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)…...