James P. “Paddy” Woulfe (1842–1922)

James Patrick Woulfe was baptized on December 27, 1842, having been born in the townland of Cratloe, parish of Athea, County Limerick. He was the son of Patrick Maurice Woulfe and his second wife, Johanna Walsh Woulfe. Woulfe’s grandfather was Maurice J. Woulfe, a farmer in the area. He had two half-siblings, Maurice and Honora (b. 1834) whose mother was Patrick Woulfe’s first wife, Hanna McAuliffe Wolfe. His full siblings included Bridget (b. 1836), Ellen (b. 1840), John (b. 1844), and Mary (b. 1848).

Virtually nothing is known of Paddy Woulfe’s life except that on February 26, 1870, he married Honora “Nanno” Maher, herself the daughter of a Woulfe: Ellen Wolfe Maher, of Listowel, County Kerry. Nanno Maher’s sister Ellen also married a Woulfe, Richard J. “Brown Dick” Woulfe.

Paddy Woulfe and Nanno Maher Woulfe had at least eight children: Johanna (b. 1871), Patrick (b. 1872), Richard (b. 1873), Ellen (b. 1876), Maurice James (b. 1877), John J. (b. 1880), James (b. 1882), and Timothy (b. 1885). Johanna became Sister Bonaventure, Patrick a respected priest, nationalist, and scholar of the Irish language, and Timothy a medical doctor.

Woulfe died on April 26, 1922, and his wife on April 22, 1927. They are buried together at Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Abbeyfeale.

Selected Sources

“Funeral of Mr. James P. Woulfe,” Freeman’s Journal (Dublin), May 4, 1922.

Registration of Death, April 26, 1922.

Registration of Marriage, February 26, 1870.

“Obituary: Death of Mrs. James P. Woulfe, Abbeyfeale,” Limerick Leader, April 30, 1927.

Prayer Card, 1922, courtesy of Tom Woulfe.