Obituary of Richard J. Woulfe (1927)

Published in the Kerry News on December 5, 1927, this short article notes the death in America of Richard J. Wolfe (1843–1927) and connects his family to the once-famous racehorse Dimby.

Born Near Ballybunion

Ninety Years Ago.
Death of Mr. Richard Woulfe in U.S.A.
Old Times Recalled.
Notable Performance of Racehorse
On Kerry Strand.

Mr. Richard Woulfe, born near Ballybunion about ninety years ago, died recently near Streator, Illinois, where he was a very large farmer and breeder of horses. He emigrated eighty years ago amongst a colony of his relatives, who prospered on the land in Illinois and Iowa.[1] His father, Richard Woulfe,[2] and his mother, Mary Foley,[3] emigrated at the same time, and settled at La Salle, Illinois. Deceased and his wife, nee Kate Maher, who survives him,[4] celebrated the golden jubilee of their marriage in 1921. The widow was a second and third cousin of her late husband. She is a daughter of Batt Maher, who emigrated from Trieneragh,[5] and on her mother’s side she is a grand-daughter of Maurice Woulfe, who emigrated from Knockanasig after he made a lasting reputation as owner of Dimby, a racehorse whose name is still fresh in the traditions of the once famous Ballyeigh racecourse.[6]

Dimby was bred by William the Fourth, King of England. In the possession of Maurice Woulfe, his most notable performance was the winning of a challenge at the then goodly sum of one hundred pounds aside. The match was decided at Ballyeigh in or about 1840. The defeated horse was Roller, owned by a Mr. Gunn, a connection of the Roches of Athea. Dimby became the sire of The Rambler, also owned by Maurice Woulfe, and a good winner in the forties of last century. But it was, perhaps, the best of Dimby’s progeny that met a fatal misadventure and died without being tested on a racecourse. It was from the dam of May Morning, Victory, and Tally-Ho, and was bred by “Johnny Connell, of Rathmorrell,” whose memory as a sportsman is still affectionately treasured in Kerry and Limerick.

The colony of relatives who emigrated at or about the same time as deceased, included Maurice Woulfe, owner of Dimby. Maurice’s descendants are numerous and wealthy in Illinois. There his son, Richard, once kept a high-class stud of Norman horses.[7] They were a French breed of strong, clean and active horses, famous for all round utility. Later the family moved the stud to Texas with ambitious schemes to improve the breed of horses there; but the enterprise ended in failure and loss. The colony of relatives also included Batt Maher and Richard Woulfe, from Trieneragh, and five families of the Woulfe from Tanavalla.[8] They also have numerous and wealthy descendants in Illinois and Iowa, the majority being still farmers, who held to the land, unlike so many more of the Irish, who sold their land to the Germans and crowded into towns. Amongst the best known members of the family was Judge Patrick B. Woulfe, who died at Clinton, Iowa, not very long ago.[9] He had been a member of the Iowa State Senate. He was first cousin of the late Mr. Batt Maher, of Trieneragh; of the late Mr. “Mike” Nolan, of Moyvane, and of the late Mr. Maurice Woulfe, of Kiltean.[10] The Judge’s son, Mr. John Woulfe, is a prominent lawyer at Clinton, Iowa.[11] He was elected as a member of the Iowa State Legislature while he was a student of the University of Berlin, Germany. Another of much prominence is Mr. Edmund Maurice Woulfe, native of Clinton County, Iowa, and practising as a lawyer at Boise, Idaho.[12] His nearest relatives in Kerry would probably include Mr. O’Sullivan, of Trien, Kilmorna; Mrs. Patk. Mangan, of Bedford, Listowel, etc. Mr. Richard Woulfe, of De Witt, is amongst the best known members of the legal profession in the State of Iowa.[13]

Occasionally some American born members of the colony have come to Listowel to look up their parents’ old homes, or their relatives; and they have appreciated the guidance of the late Mr. Gerald McElligott, whose memory extended to the days of Dimby.

[1] Wolfe immigrated in the company of his parents and ten siblings in steerage class aboard the Thomas H. Perkins, arriving in New York from Liverpool on September 29, 1848.

[2] Richard Wolfe (1795–1871)

[3] Mary Ellen Foley (1802–1861)

[4] Catherine “Kate” Maher (1853–1932)

[5] Bartholomew “Batt” Maher (1830–1904)

[6] Maurice Richard Wolfe (1802–1870)

[7] Richard Downey Wolfe (1829–1885)

[8] This is likely a shortened version of Garryantanavalla, a townland near the village of Finuge, County Kerry.

[9] Patrick Bernard Wolfe (1848–1922)

[10] Maurice Woulfe (ca. 1823–1909) of Kiltean was the son of James Richard Woulfe (1800–1875), a brother of Maurice Richard Wolfe (1802–1870) and John Richard Wolfe (1809–1883).

[11] John Loyola Wolfe (1879–1862)

[12] Edmund Mills Wolfe (1864–1952

[13] Richard Boyle Wolfe (1862–1940)