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…...
Wheeler, Thomas Sherlock
Wheeler, Thomas Sherlock (1899–1962), chemist, was born 10 April 1899 at 48 Clonliffe Road, Dublin, eldest son of Martin Redmond Wheeler, clerk (MA), and Bridget Wheeler (née Sherlock). He received his early education in the O'Connell Schools,…...
White, (Herbert) Terence de Vere
White, (Herbert) Terence de Vere (1912–94), solicitor and writer, was born 29 April 1912 in Dublin, where his family lived at 61 Marlborough Road, Donnybrook. His father, Frederick Sutton Darley de Vere White, LLD, was then a junior solicitor…...
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…...
Whiteside, James
Whiteside, James (1804–76), lawyer and politician, was born 12 August 1804 at Delgany, Co. Wicklow, the second son of William Whiteside, minister of the Church of Ireland, and his wife, Anne (née Robinson). After William Whiteside's death in 1806 his family lived in reduced…...
White, Sir Nicholas
White, Sir Nicholas (d. 1593), lawyer and master of the rolls of Ireland, was born in Waterford city, son of James White of Waterford, who was steward to James Butler (qv), 9th earl of Ormond, and who died along with the 9th earl of food…...
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…...
Wikeford (Wickford, Wykeford), Robert
Wikeford (Wickford, Wykeford), Robert (d. 1390), archbishop of Dublin, archdeacon of Winchester, and chancellor of Ireland, was a scholar of Merton College, Oxford 1340/41, was admitted as a fellow (c.1344), received an MA (1349), and…...
Willes, Edward
Willes, Edward (1704–68), judge, the eldest son of Edward Willes of Newbold Comyn, Leamington, Warwickshire, and his wife, Bridget Willes (née Murcott) of Cubington, Warwickshire, was born at Newbold Comyn. Willes's grandfather, Peter Willes, achieved a measure of renown and wealth…...
Willes, Sir James Shaw
Willes, Sir James Shaw (1814–72), judge, was born 13 February 1814 in Cork, eldest among six children of James Willes, physician, and his wife, Elizabeth Aldworth, daughter of John Shaw, mayor of Cork in 1792. Educated at Dr Porter's school in Cork and…...
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…...
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…...
Wilson, Cecil Leeburn
Wilson, Cecil Leeburn (1912–74), analytical chemist, was born 11 May 1912 in Maghera, Co. Londonderry, son of David Wilson, headmaster of Hall Street school, and Susan Wilson (née McCracken). He was the middle of three children; his older sister, Olive, became a teacher, while his…...
Wilson, Daniel Martin
Wilson, Daniel Martin (1862–1932), lawyer and politician, was born in Limerick, son of the Rev. Dr David Wilson (1819–94), moderator of the presbyterian general assembly 1865–7. His father was married twice: first (1845) to a daughter of William McFurran, and secondly to Jessie…...
Wilson, John
Wilson, John (1626–1695/6), playwright and lawyer, was the eldest son of Dr Aaron Wilson (1583–1643) and his wife Mary. He was born in London and baptised 27 December 1626 in the parish of St Stephen, Walbrook, where his father was rector. Aaron Wilson, a native of Carmarthen, was…...
Wilson, William Edward
Wilson, William Edward (1851–1908), astronomer, was born 19 July 1851 at Greenisland, near Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, the only son of John Wilson (d. 1906), landowner, of Daramona House, Streete, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Francis Patience, daughter of the Rev.…...
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…...
Winter, Catherine
Winter, Catherine (fl. 1848–70), publicist and campaigner, was apparently the only daughter among four children of James Nicholas Maillard, brigade major in the army, and Catherine Stubber, who were married in Dublin in 1801. Her father's family was from the West Indies.…...
Wolfe, Arthur
Wolfe, Arthur (1739–1803), 1st Viscount Kilwarden , politician and judge, was born 19 January 1739, the fifth surviving son of John Wolfe (1700–60), owner of Forenaughts, Co. Kildare, and his wife Mary (d. 1804), only daughter of William Philpot, a Dublin merchant. After attending…...
Wood, Ernest Mounteney
Wood, Ernest Mounteney (1909–91), barrister, was born in Dublin on 12 July 1909, third of three sons of Albert Ernest Wood (1874–1941) KC, and his wife Edyth (née Gillespie). His elder brother Wilfred, also a barrister, died tragically young in…...
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,…...
Woulfe, Peter
Woulfe, Peter (1727?–1803), chemist, mineralogist, and inventor of ‘Woulfe's bottle’, was born in Co. Limerick. After being schooled in Limerick by the Rev. Robert Cashin, he went to Paris to study under Guillaume-Francois Rouelle, on the advice of…...
Woulfe, Stephen
Woulfe, Stephen (1787–1840), judge, MP, and first catholic baron of the Irish exchequer, was born at Chaude Fontaine, near Liège (then in the Holy Roman Empire, later in Belgium), second son of Stephen Woulfe, landowner, of Tiermaclane, Ennis, Co. Clare, and his wife Honora,…...
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…...