Whyte, Samuel
Whyte, Samuel (1733–1811), schoolmaster, was born on board a ship near Liverpool, the illegitimate son of either Solomon Whyte or his brother Richard, the deputy governor of the tower of London; his mother died shortly after childbirth. His first cousin was Frances Chamberlain, who…...
Widdess, John (‘Jack’) David Henry
Widdess, John (‘Jack’) David Henry (1906–82), medical historian, librarian, and biologist, was born 1 August 1906 in Limerick, son of Matthew Widdess, pharmaceutical chemist, and Emily Widdess (née Irwin). He was educated at Wesley College, Dublin. He won prizes, was admitted…...
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…...
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…...
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 (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…...
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
Wilson, Thomas (1916–2001), economist, was born on 23 June 1916 on the family farm at Ballylagan, Ballynure, Co. Antrim, the only child of John Bright Wilson (d. 1948), and his wife Margaret (née Ellison). His father, while keeping the farm, established a grocery and animal feed…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
Winter, Samuel
Winter, Samuel (1603–66), Independent minister and provost of TCD, was born in the parish of Hampton-in-Arden, Warwickshire, England, son of Christopher Winter, yeoman. He was educated at the free school in Coventry before proceeding to…...
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…...
Wood, Charles
Wood, Charles (1866–1926), composer and musical academic, was born 15 June 1866 at Armagh city, fifth child and third son of Charles Wood, tenor lay vicar choral of St Patrick's cathedral, Armagh, and Jemima Wood (née Taylor), both of 11 Vicars’ Hill, Armagh. Of their fourteen…...
Woodlock, Bartholomew
Woodlock, Bartholomew (1819–1902), catholic bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise and rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, was born 30 March 1819 in Dublin, the eighth of ten children of William Paul Woodlock and his wife Mary (née Cleary), who were natives of Roscrea, Co.…...
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, 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.,…...