Obituary of Richard E. “Dicky Ned” Woulfe (1910)

In this obituary, which appeared in the Limerick Leader on June 1, 1910, Richard Edmond “Dicky Ned” Woulfe (1825–1910) is described as “the ‘Grand Old Man’ of the Limerick Woulfes,” an Irish-language speaker who served as an important source of local and family history.

Death and Funeral of Mr. R. E. Woulfe, Cratloe, Athea.

An Appreciation

On Thursday last, writes our Abbeyfeale correspondent, the remains of the above gentleman were, amid many manifestations of sorrow, grief, and universal mourning, removed to the family burying ground at Templeathea, from his residence, The Glen, where he was born eighty-six years ago, and where he spent his long life, honoured and respected by all. He was looked up to as the “Grand Old Man” of the Limerick Woulfes, and many of the noble and Christian virtues and qualities of his race were in him. A man of fine physique, a clear and level brain, unimpeachable integrity, and indomitable courage—he did not know what fear was, and always did what rectitude prompted without pausing to count the cost or the consequences. His religious fervour and belief in the Divine Inspiration were unbounded, and he never for a moment lost sight of his duties to God, or of the respect due to the Church of God or its ministers. On his death bed he received a letter from his cousin, Sister Teresa Woulfe, Ursuline Convent, New Orleans, sending her felicitations on his 86th birthday, and as evidencing the strength of his religious convictions, we quote the following excerpts from his reply to that letter dictated some days before he died to his nephew, Edmond Woulfe White, solicitor,[1] to whom he was deeply devoted:—“The Woulfes are now, as they always have been, doing much for the Church of God, and the enlightenment of their fellowmen in many lands, and the gifts of intellect with which Providence abundantly endowed them, have been employed by many of them to further the purposes of God and to propagate His word. It is this view which brings so much comfort to me, and makes me proud of our race and of our name. Generations ago it was prophesied that there would be Woulfes in Limerick and in Kerry while the Shannon rolled into the Atlantic, and that more than an average number of them would devote their lives to the service of God. When I saw the inscription on your letter (for my vision, thank God, is still clear) I said that is the writing of a Woulfe, and when I read the letter it revived in my mind the memory of the prophecy mentioned, which was related to me in this house nearly eighty years ago by my poor father who survived my present age by three years and to the end retained his faculties undimmed and unclouded.” We also quote the following passages from the letter mentioned, as they possess historical value and will be of public interest, and therefore should be placed on the record. They were dictated by the deceased from his memory, which was matchless:—“No information I could transmit to you would probably be more acceptable than a brief sketch of our ancestors, and I am the man, I think, now living that can from personal knowledge and tradition trace them back to the days of Cromwell. During the sanguinary civil war of twenty years which succeeded the rebellion of 1641 in which the five armies belonging to five different parties ravaged the country, numbers of the Woulfes were obliged to leave the rich plains of Limerick, and became scattered and separated never to meet again. Some went to Clare, others settled in the western part of this country, and later on extended their branches into Kerry. Hundreds of them escaped to the Continent of Europe, while many of them perished during the prolonged war, and at the Siege of Limerick in 16[??] some were hanged, others shot in cold blood, for no greater crime than defending their country, and probably the ample possessions they then held in Limerick and Tipperary. But their great crime was their refusal to renounce the Faith as transmitted to mankind through the inspired Channels of Almighty God. Two of the (priests) were condemned to death by Ireton (son-in-law of Cromwell), and perished on the scaffold. The old Woulfes had the incidents of Ireton’s career, and his dreadful death as foretold by Bishop Terence O’Brien, whom he cruelly sentenced to death. They were indelibly implanted in their minds, as related by one to the other in each succeeding generation.” Deceased was well versed in folk lore and tradition, spoke Gaelic fluently, and it is to him, as referred to in his dedication, that the Rev. P. Woulfe, C.C., Kilmallock, was indebted for much of the information in his “Irish Names.”[2] He saw the Liberator[3] at three of his monster meetings, and it is only a few years ago, while on a visit to Dublin, that he entertained some of the admirers of the great Tribune by narrating some interesting incidents of his life, on beholding a statue in O’Connell-street. Just after deceased was anointed, and shortly before he died, he said, with a brain as clear as a ril, and with all the fortitude that is the priceless heritage of the followers of Christ, “I am now prepared to meet my God.” His life ebbed peacefully away, almost unnoticeably, like the sun stealthily dipping behind the horizon, after the unrelenting hand of Death had been for days grappling with his powerful physique. The vast concourse of people, extending nearly two miles in length, that followed his remains to the graveside, bore striking testimony to his popularity and the esteem in which he was universally held. That genial face, and that voice that is now stilled in death for ever, will long be missed and mourned in Cratloe. May the earth rest lightly over him, and may God extend to him that eternal bliss promised to the faithful and the believers in the resurrection of man. The chief mourners were:—Maurice R. Woulfe, Inland Revenue Dublin;[4] Mrs Murphy, Abbeyfeale; Mrs White, Athea;[5] Mrs Flaherty, Newtownsandes[6] (sisters); Maurice Woulfe, Board of Education, Office, Dublin;[7] Richard Woulfe, stockbroker, do (grandsons); Miss Jeannie Woulfe, do (grand-daughter); Mrs Hannah White (daughter);[8] Mrs Maurice Woulfe (daughter-in-law);[9] Edward Woulfe White, solicitor, Athea […]

Top of the page: tilled field, Athea, County Limerick, 1939, by Caoimhín Ó Danachair, National Folklore Collection.

[1] Edmond Woulfe White (1854–1922)

[2] Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall, a seminal work on Irish names and surnames, was published in 1906 and later expanded. In the acknowledgments, Fr. Patrick Woulfe (1872–1933) credits his relative, “who gave me nearly all the surnames of West Limerick and North Kerry.”

[3] Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847) was an Irish politician who spent his career campaigning for Catholic rights and an end to the Act of Union (1803), which created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

[4] Maurice Richard Woulfe (1853–1928)

[5] Bridget Woulfe White (d. 1911)

[6] Julia Woulfe Flaherty (ca. 1838–after 1911)

[7] Maurice James Woulfe (1884–1973)

[8] Johanna “Hannie Dick” Woulfe White (1873–1952)

[9] Elizabeth Malcolm “Bessie” Cockburn Woulfe (1856–1943)