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, Richard D'Alton
Williams, Richard D'Alton (1822–62), poet, medical doctor, and nationalist, was born 8 October 1822 in Dublin, the illegitimate son of Alexandre Count D'Alton (1766–1859), an officer in the French army and land proprietor in Co. Tipperary, and Mary Williams, the daughter of a…...
Willis, William
Willis, William (1837–94), surgeon, FRCS (1881), was born 1 May 1837 at Maguire's Bridge, Co. Fermanagh, fifth child among four sons and three daughters of George Willis, gentleman, of Moneen, Co. Fermanagh, and…...
Willoughby, Charles
Willoughby, Charles (c.1630–1694), physician, was born in Co. Cork, son of Sir Francis Willoughby, a major-general in the army of Charles I and member of the provincial council of Munster, who was appointed governor of Galway in 1636. Charles Willoughby seems to have studied…...
Wilmot, Katherine
Wilmot, Katherine (c.1773–1824), traveller and diarist, was eldest daughter among three sons and six daughters of Edward Wilmot (1747–1815), army captain in the 40th Regiment of Foot, stationed in Cork, and his wife Martha, daughter of the Rev. Charles Moore, rector of…...
Wilmot, Martha
Wilmot, Martha (1775–1873), diarist and travel writer, was born at Glanmire, Co. Cork, one of six daughters and three sons of Edward Wilmot, of Derbyshire, England, a former captain of the 40th Regiment of Foot, and port surveyor of the revenue board in Drogheda and Cork, and Martha…...
Wilson, Henry
Wilson, Henry (1838–77), ophthalmic surgeon, was born in Dublin, the natural son of William R. W. Wilde (qv), surgeon, who became his guardian; his mother is unknown. He spent much of his boyhood in Bonn and Heidelberg.…...
Wilson, Thomas George
Wilson, Thomas George (1901–69), surgeon, was born 1 July 1901 in Maryville Park, Belfast, Co. Antrim, the second son of Robert Charles Wilson, manufacturer, and Frances Lucinda Wilson (née Kellett). His older brother Charles Herbert Wilson and his sister Frances Edna Wilson also…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
Wisdom, John Oulton (J. O.)
Wisdom, John Oulton (J. O.) (1908–93), philosopher and psychoanalyst, was born in Dublin on 29 December 1908, only child of Thomas Hume Wisdom, brewery clerk, and his English-born wife Jane, daughter of Dr Henry Oulton of St Stephen's Green. The Cambridge language philosopher Arthur…...
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…...
Woods, Sir Robert Henry
Woods, Sir Robert Henry (1865–1938), surgeon and MP, was born 27 April 1865 in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, the youngest son of Christopher Woods, shopkeeper, and his wife, Dorothea (née Lowe). Educated in Dublin at Wesley College and then TCD…...
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,…...
Worth, Edward
Worth, Edward (c.1678–1733), MD and bibliophile, was the son, and only surviving child, of John Worth (1648–88), chancellor (1671–8) and dean (1678–88) of St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, and his wife Comfort, and was the grandson of …...
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, Thomas
Wright, Thomas (1760?–1812), army surgeon, medical writer, and United Irishman, was the second son in the family of eight sons and five daughters of Thomas Wright (1728–86) and his wife Eleanor (1736–1809), youngest daughter of Dr Thomas Bell (1683–1768), an army surgeon of Athlone and…...
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, 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, Arthur
Young, Arthur (1741–1820), agriculturist and author of A tour in Ireland, was born 11 September 1741 in London, youngest child and younger son of Arthur Young, clergyman and chaplain to the speaker of the British house of commons, and his wealthy wife, Anne Lucretia de…...
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…...