Trollope, Anthony
Trollope, Anthony (1815–82), novelist and post office surveyor, was born 24 April 1815 at 16 Keppel Street, Russell Square, London, the fifth of seven children of Thomas Anthony Trollope (1774–1835), barrister and gentleman farmer from a family of gentry and clerics, and his wife…...
Tweedy, (Muriel) Hilda
Tweedy, (Muriel) Hilda (1911–2005), activist for women's rights and in consumer affairs, was born 26 August 1911, in Clones, Co. Monaghan, in her mother's family home. Her father was a Church of Ireland clergyman, James Ferguson Anderson , at the time rector of Florencecourt, Co.…...
Usher, James
Usher, James (c.1720–1772), philosopher and schoolmaster, was born in Co. Dublin, son of a gentleman farmer; nothing else is known of his parents. He was probably a descendant of James (qv) and…...
Ussher, Henry
Ussher, Henry (1550–1613), founding fellow of TCD and Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh, was the second son of Thomas Ussher of Dublin and his wife Margaret Geydon, daughter of Henry, alderman of Dublin. After matriculating from…...
Ussher, Henry
Ussher, Henry (1741–90), astronomer, was fourth son of the Rev. Samuel Ussher (1695–1771), rector of Dunganstown, Co. Wicklow, and Frances Ussher (née Walsh). His grandfather, John Ussher of Mount Ussher, Co. Wicklow, was a master in chancery and third son of William Ussher of…...
Ussher, Richard John
Ussher, Richard John (1841–1913), ornithologist and speleologist, was born 6 April 1841, the only child that survived infancy of Richard Kiely Ussher (1778–1854) of Cappagh, Co. Waterford, and his second wife, Isabella Ussher, daughter of Col. Jasper Grant, of Kilmurray, Co. Cork…...
Ussher, Robert
Ussher, Robert (c.1592–1642), provost of TCD and Church of Ireland bishop of Kildare, was the youngest son of Henry Ussher (qv), archbishop of Armagh, and his wife Margaret Elliot. His father had played a key role in soliciting…...
Vane, Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher
Vane, Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher (1861–1934), soldier, radical, author and scout leader, was born 16 October 1861 at 10 North Great George's Street, Dublin, the only son of Frederick Henry Fletcher Vane (1807–94), a former army officer, and his wife Rosa Linda (née Moore; d. 1895), an…...
Vesey, Elizabeth
Vesey, Elizabeth (c.1715–1791), literary hostess, was born in Killaloe, Co. Kilkenny, second daughter of Sir Thomas Vesey (qv), bishop of Ossory, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Denny Muschamp (qv).…...
Wade, Walter
Wade, Walter (c.1740–1825), botanist, was born in Dublin, son of John Wade (d. 1799), chemist and apothecary, and Katherine Wade. In 1767 John Wade's proposal, sanctioned by (Royal) King and Queen's College of Physicians Ireland ((R)K&QCPI; forerunner of RCPI), to establish…...
Ware, William
Ware, William (1757–1826), organist, teacher, and concert promoter, was born 17 January 1757 at Armagh city; nothing is known of his parents. It was to Ware that Edward Bunting (qv) was apprenticed in 1784. Trained in Armagh cathedral…...
Weeks, James Eyre
Weeks, James Eyre (1718/19–1775), cleric, poet, and miscellaneous writer, was born in Cork city, son of James Eyre Weeks, described as a gentleman. He was educated at Dr Mulloy's school in Cork, entered TCD as a sizar (June 1735), and…...
West, Trevor
West, Trevor (1938–2012), mathematician, politician and sportsman, was born on 8 May 1938 in Cork, the eldest of four sons of Timothy Roberts West, headmaster of Midleton College, Co. Cork, and Dorothy Trevor West (née McNeill), of Charleston, Ballinacurra, Co. Cork, who was CEO of…...
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…...
Whittaker, Sir Edmund Taylor
Whittaker, Sir Edmund Taylor (1873–1956), mathematician, theoretical physicist, and director of Dunsink observatory, was born 24 October 1873 in Birkdale, near Southport, Lancs., eldest child of John Whittaker, railway engineer and contractor, and his wife Selina, daughter of…...
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, Jane Francesca Agnes (‘Speranza’)
Wilde, Jane Francesca Agnes (‘Speranza’) (1821?–1896), poet, nationalist, and feminist, was probably born 27 December 1821 in Dublin, to Charles Elgee (1783–1824), son of Archdeacon John Elgee of Wexford, and his wife Sarah (d. 1851), daughter of Thomas Kingsbury, commissioner of…...
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…...
Williamson, Benjamin
Williamson, Benjamin (1827–1916), mathematician, was born 9 January 1827 at Old Dromore, near Mallow, Co. Cork, third son of Benjamin Williamson, rector of Mourne Abbey, and Abigail Williamson (née Roberts). The family claimed descent from Robert Williamson, free burgess, who held…...
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…...
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…...
Winstanley, John
Winstanley, John (1677–1747), poet, was born in July 1677 on the north side of Dublin, probably in the vicinity of Inns Quay, eldest child of Richard Winstanley, lawyer, and his wife Dorothy Amas. He had two sisters who lived to maturity and several other siblings who died in…...
Wolfe, Charles
Wolfe, Charles (1791–1823), clergyman and poet, was born 14 December 1791 in Dublin, one of eleven children and the youngest of eight sons of Theobald Wolfe, landowner, of Blackhall, Co. Kildare, and his wife Frances, daughter of the Rev. Peter Lombard. He was related to …...
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…...
Wright, Edward Perceval
Wright, Edward Perceval (1834–1910), naturalist, was born 27 December 1834 in Dublin, eldest of five sons in a family of ten children of Edward Thomas Wright (1810–81), barrister, and Charlotte (née Wright), his wife and cousin. He was educated at home, and at 16 became a clerk in…...