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, Sir William Robert Wills
Wilde, Sir William Robert Wills (1815–76), surgeon and polymath, was born in March 1815 at Kilkeevin, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, youngest of three sons of Thomas Wilde, a local physician, and Emily Wilde (née Fynne). He attended the Royal School, Banagher, and the Diocesan School, Elphin…...
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
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, (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…...
Williams, (Thomas) Desmond
Williams, (Thomas) Desmond (1921–87), historian, was born 26 May 1921 in Dublin, the only child of William John Williams, later professor of education in UCD, and his wife Angela (née Murnaghan), member of a prominent legal and political…...
Wills, James
Wills, James (1790–1868), clergyman and author, was born 1 January 1790, younger son of Thomas Wills of Willsgrove, Co. Roscommon, and his second wife, a daughter of Capt. James Browne of Moyne, Co. Roscommon. He was educated at Dr Miller's school in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, and at…...
Wilson, Charles Henry
Wilson, Charles Henry (c.1755–1808), writer and linguist, was born in Bailieborough, Co. Cavan, son of an anglican clergyman; no other details are known of his family. He received a classical school education and attended TCD before…...
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…...
Windele, John (‘Trismagistus MacSlatt’, Seághan Bhindele)
Windele, John (‘Trismagistus MacSlatt’, Seághan Bhindele) (1801–65), antiquarian and collector, was born in Cork city. His family is said to have come from Kerry where their name was spelt ‘Windle’. Working in the sheriff's office in Cork, from an early age and largely self-taught he…...
Windle, Sir Bertram Alan Coghill
Windle, Sir Bertram Alan Coghill (1858–1929), scholar, anatomist, archaeologist, and university president, was born 8 May 1858 at Mayfield, Staffordshire, England, eldest son of the Rev. Samuel Allan Windle and Sydney Katherine Windle (née Coghill). When he was four, the family…...
Witherow, Thomas
Witherow, Thomas (1824–90), presbyterian minister and historian, was born 29 May 1824 in his maternal grandfather's house at Ballycastle, near Limavady, Co. Londonderry, eldest in a family of four children of Hugh Witherow, a prosperous farmer and grazier from Aughlish, near…...
Wogan, Patrick
Wogan, Patrick (c.1740–1816), printer, was born in obscure circumstances: nothing is known of his origins or early life. In 1771 he was in business in Church Street, Dublin, and in 1773 moved to Old Bridge Street, where he transacted for thirty-four years; from 1775 to 1782 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…...
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…...
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…...
Woodlock, Ellen
Woodlock, Ellen (1811–84), philanthropist and social worker, was born 27 January 1811, second daughter among seven sons and four daughters of Martin Mahony (1764–1834) of Cork, woollen manufacturer, and his second wife, Maria (née Reynolds), of Roscreg. The Rev.…...
Wood, Robert
Wood, Robert (1717?–1771), traveller, author, and politician, was born at Riverstown Castle near Trim, Co. Meath, eldest son of the Rev. James Wood of Summerhill, Co. Meath. He matriculated at Glasgow University in 1732 and entered the Middle Temple on 15 November 1736. In 1742–3 he…...
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,…...
Wright, George Newenham
Wright, George Newenham (1794?–1877), clergyman, schoolmaster, topographical writer and biographer, was born in London probably in 1793 or 1794. He was the youngest of the four sons of Thomas Wright (qv), a surgeon of Great Ship St.,…...
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 (…...