White, James
White, James (1928–99), science fiction author, was born 7 April 1928 at Belfast. His parents moved to Canada in 1930 but returned to Belfast in 1935. White was educated at St John's primary school (1935–41) and in 1941 won a scholarship to St Joseph's Technical High School, which…...
White, John Davis
White, John Davis (1820–93), publisher and antiquary, was born 22 May 1820 in Conaghy, Co. Kilkenny, youngest son among three sons and two daughters of Benjamin Newport White (1776–1846), landowner, late of the Slieveardagh yeomanry cavalry stationed in Killenaule, Co. Tipperary,…...
White, William John (‘Jack’)
White, William John (‘Jack’) (1920–80), broadcaster, editor, journalist, and novelist, was born 30 March 1920 in Cork, second child of William Luke White, accountant, and Mary White (née Tyler). In his book Minority report (1975) he described himself as ‘a member of a…...
Whyte, Laurence
Whyte, Laurence (1685?–1752/3), poet and teacher of mathematics, was probably son of Christopher White, a substantial catholic tenant farmer from Ballymore, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Anne Dalton. The family had been transplanted to Connacht under the Cromwellian acts of settlement…...
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…...
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, Richard Valentine (‘Richard Rowley
Williams, Richard Valentine (‘Richard Rowley ’) (1877–1947), poet, was born 2 April 1877 in Belfast, second among six children of John Williams, founder and manager of McBride & Williams Ltd, a cotton-handkerchief manufacturing firm, and Jessie Williams (née Allan). Richard was…...
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…...
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, 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, Florence Mary
Wilson, Florence Mary (née Addy ) (1874–1946), poet, was born in August 1874 in Island Mill, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, the second child and eldest daughter among three daughters and two sons of Robert Charles Addy, son of a primitive methodist preacher from Loughgall, Co. Armagh, and…...
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, 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, Robert Arthur
Wilson, Robert Arthur (c.1820–75), journalist and poet, was born in Falcarragh, Co. Donegal, son of Arthur Wilson, a presbyterian coast guard from Donaghadee, Co. Down, and Catherine Wilson (née Hunter) of Islandmagee, Co. Antrim. He was educated in Raymunterdoney school…...
Wilson, William
This is a co-subject for the entry on Wilson, Peter. View the original entry....
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…...
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…...
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…...
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 …...
Wynne, Emily Adelaide
Wynne, Emily Adelaide (1872–1958), textile artist and author, was born in Germany, the eldest of five children of Albert Augustus Wynne, a civil and mining engineer, and his wife and cousin Alice Katherine (née Wynne). With her sisters Winifred Frances Wynne (1873–1969), born in Co.…...
Wyse, William Charles
This is a co-subject for the entry on Wyse, Andrew Reginald Nicholas Gerald Bonaparte. View the original entry....
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…...
Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet (‘Lollie’)
Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet (‘Lollie’) (1868–1940), publisher and painter, was born 11 March 1868 at 23 Fitzroy Road, London, daughter of John Butler Yeats (qv), painter, and Susan Yeats (née Pollexfen). She stayed in Merville, Sligo, at the…...
Yeats, William Butler
Yeats, William Butler (1865–1939), poet and dramatist, was born 13 June 1865 at Georgeville, Sandymount Avenue, Dublin, the eldest child of John Butler Yeats (qv) (1839–1922) and Susan Mary Yeats (née Pollexfen; 1841–1900). The couple had…...