West, Robert Lucius
West, Robert Lucius (c.1774–1850), painter, was born in Dublin, son of Francis Robert West (qv), painter and master of the Dublin Society figure school, and his second wife, Ellen (née Walsh). His grandfather,…...
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…...
Wheatley, John
Wheatley, John (1869–1930), socialist and publisher, was born 19 May 1869 at Bunmahon, Co. Waterford, eldest among three sons and seven daughters of Thomas Wheately, copper miner of Welsh extraction, and Johanna Wheately (née Ryan); it is not known when he came to use the spelling…...
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…...
Whitehead, O. Z. (Oothout Zabriskie; 'Zebby')
Whitehead, O. Z. (Oothout Zabriskie; 'Zebby') (1911–98), actor and Bahá'í pioneer, was born 18 March 1911 in New York city, USA, the son of O. Z. Whitehead, a wealthy banker living in Manhattan's Upper East Side, and his wife Maria. Enjoying a comfortable childhood, he attended the…...
White, Henrietta Margaret
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, John Davis
White, John Davis (1820–93), publisher and antiquary, was born 22 May 1820 in Conaghy, Co. Kilkenny, youngest son among three sons and two daughters of Benjamin Newport White (1776–1846), landowner, late of the Slieveardagh yeomanry cavalry stationed in Killenaule, Co. Tipperary,…...
Whitelaw, James
Whitelaw, James (1749–1813), clergyman, statistician, and philanthropist, was born in Co. Leitrim; nothing is known of his family. He was educated in Cavan by Rev. Lewis Kerr before entering TCD (8 July 1766), becoming a scholar (1769…...
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…...
Whitton, Eleanor Constance
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, 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),…...
Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie
Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie (to which he, like his father and brother, later added ‘Wills ’) (1854–1900), playwright, poet, and prose writer, was born 16 October 1854 in his parents’ house, 21 Westland Row, Dublin, second son of Dr…...
Wilks, Robert
Wilks, Robert (c.1665–1732), actor and manager, was born in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, second among three sons of Edward Wilks, pursuivant to a lord lieutenant; nothing is known of his mother. Educated locally, he was appointed a clerk in the office of Sir…...
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, Daniel
Williams, Daniel (1643/4–1717), nonconformist minister and benefactor, was born in or near Wrexham, Denbighshire, north Wales. His father's name is not recorded, but his mother may have been a daughter of Hugh Davies of Wrexham, and there was at least one sister who married a…...
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…...
Wilmot (De Bhilmot), Séamus
Wilmot (De Bhilmot), Séamus (1902–77), educator, theatre administrator, and writer in Irish, was born 4 May 1902 in Listowel, Co. Kerry, fourth child and only son of Edward Wilmot, blacksmith, and Mary Wilmot (née Dillon). He was educated locally at St Michael's College, Listowel, and…...
Wilson, Peter
Wilson, Peter (c.1720–1802), publisher, printer, and bookseller, was probably born in Dublin and spent most of his career working in the city. During his youth he was apprenticed to the printer George Risk of Dublin. By 1739 Wilson established his own bookshop at Gay's Head…...
Wilson, William
This is a co-subject for the entry on Wilson, Peter. View the original entry....
Wilson, (William) Gordon
Wilson, (William) Gordon (1927–95), peace campaigner, was born 25 September 1927 at Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, the eldest of four children of George Edward Wilson, draper, of Manorhamilton, and his wife Etta (Henrietta, née Conn), a nurse, of Ballykelly, Co. Londonderry. The family…...
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....
Woffington Margaret (‘Peg’)
Woffington Margaret (‘Peg’) (c.1720–1760), actress, was born in Dublin, elder of two daughters of John Woffington, bricklayer, and his wife, Hannah. Her funeral monument at St Mary's church, Teddington, Middlesex, claims she was born 18 October 1720, though it is quite…...