Whalley, John
Whalley, John (1653–1724), quack, astrologer, and compiler of almanacs, was born 20 April 1653, son of a Cromwellian adventurer; no further details of his parents are known. Working as a cobbler in England before arriving in Dublin (March 1682), he compiled his first almanac the…...
Whelan, Michael
Whelan, Michael (1932–2007), businessman, was born on 1 May 1932 in Beaumont nursing home, Co. Galway, the eldest son of Michael Whelan of Bridge Street, Athenry, Co. Galway, and his wife Mary (née Hynes). His father was a wealthy footwear merchant, and Whelan boarded in Castleknock…...
Whinnery, Thomas
Whinnery, Thomas (1759/60–1830), postmaster and spy, was in business at Newry, Co. Down, as a wine and spirit merchant until 1794 or 1795, when he was appointed postmaster of Belfast. As a state official he had a duty to open and read letters passing through his premises at 6…...
White, Luke
White, Luke (c.1740–1824), bookseller, millionaire, and politician, was born about 1740 and possibly originated in Cork city, as both his wives were from there and his brother, Thomas White, was listed as a Cork bookseller. A protestant, he may have been of huguenot…...
White, Richard
White, Richard (1767–1851), 1st earl of Bantry , landowner, and was born 6 August 1767 at Bantry, Co. Cork, the eldest son of three sons and three daughters of Simon White, a landowner, and his wife, Frances Jane White (née Hedges). He was educated locally. About 1797 he succeeded…...
White, Richard Newport ('Dick')
White, Richard Newport ('Dick') (1924–2010), pilot and airline executive, was born on 21 May 1924 in Peter Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, the second child and eldest son of Richard White, a bank manager of Peter Street and later of Bayly Farm, Ballinaclough, near Nenagh, and his wife…...
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…...
Wickham, William
Wickham, William (1761–1840), chief secretary for Ireland and British spymaster, was born November 1761 in England, first son of Henry Wickham, lieutenant-colonel in the British army, and Elizabeth Wickham (née Lamplugh). Educated at Winchester and Harrow, he entered Christ Church…...
Wigham, John Richardson
Wigham, John Richardson (1829–1906), lighthouse engineer and businessman, was born 15 January 1829 at 5 South Gray St., Edinburgh, youngest son among four sons and three daughters of John Wigham, shawl manufacturer and quaker, and Jane Wigham (née Richardson). Their mother's death…...
Wilde, Dorothy Ierne
This is a co-subject for the entry on Wilde, William Charles Kingsbury. View the original entry....
Williams, Charles Wye
Williams, Charles Wye (1779–1866), shipping magnate and inventor, was born in Dublin, second of two sons of Thomas Williams (1748–1832), secretary of the Bank of Ireland, and Mary Ann Williams (née Quin or Quine), both of Dublin. Educated by private tutors, Charles later studied law…...
Williams, (Daniel) Edmund
Williams, (Daniel) Edmund (1928–2007), businessman, was born in Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin, on 3 April 1928, the youngest son among three sons and two daughters of John ('Jack') Williams of Tullamore, Co. Offaly, and his wife Sheila ('Julia') (née Moorhead). The Williamses…...
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…...
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....
Wingfield, Sir Richard
Wingfield, Sir Richard (1551?–1634), 1st Viscount Powerscourt and soldier, was eldest son of Sir Richard Wingfield, governor of Portsmouth, and his wife Christian Fitzwilliam of Milton. He was born into a family with a strong martial tradition: his brothers and uncles bore arms for…...
Wolfe, George
Wolfe, George (1859–1941), soldier, landowner, antiquarian, and politician, was born 16 December 1859 at Bishopland, Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare, younger son among two sons and one daughter of Theobald George Samuel Wolfe (1815–72), landowner, of Bishopland and Forenaghts, Naas…...
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…...
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,…...
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
This is a co-subject for the entry on Wynne, Emily Adelaide. View the original entry....
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, 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…...