Biographical Dictionary
Anna Wolfe Collison (1845–1912)
Anna Wolfe was born in County Kerry and came with her family to LaSalle County, Illinois, in 1849. She was raised there and in 1874 married an Englishman named Joseph Collison. They drove oxen all the way to Carroll, Iowa, where they had nine children and farmed for the rest of their lives.
Arthur V. Collison (1890–1903)
The son of Anna Wolfe Collison, a Kerry immigrant, Arthur was born in the western Iowa farming community of Carroll. As a boy he was dramatically killed while his parents attended Mass. He and a brother were doing chores when a wagon rolled over him.
Maurice L. Collison (1887–1981)
Another son of Kerry-born Anna Wolfe Collison and her English husband, Maurice farmed and operated a hog-buying station, with business from around the world. His wife, Florence, taught school and, before the marriage, had worked in the US Department of the Treasury.
Patrick Dalton (1896–1921)
Paddy Dalton was born and raised in West Limerick, the grandson of Bridget Woulfe White, whose brother “Dicky Ned” Woulfe was a well-known storyteller. During the War of Independence, Dalton was executed by the British on a roadside in Kerry and became the subject of a popular ballad.
Catherine Wolfe Fitzgerald (1860–1947)
Kate Fitzgerald was the daughter of immigrants. She and her sister Margaret both became teachers and both moved from Iowa to Montana. They even married on the same day, Kate to the County Waterford–born Judge T. D. Fitzgerald, a member of the state senate.
Catherine Wolfe Hepler (1842–1922)
Kate Wolfe Hepler was born in Kerry, the son of a horse-breeder who immigrated to LaSalle County, Illinois, in 1849. In 1890 she married Joseph Hepler, a Pennsylvania farmer and carpenter. They had no children and lived in LaSalle for the rest of their lives.
Margaret McCormick Kuhn (1877–1910)
The daughter of Kerry immigrants, Margaret married an Illinois farmer, and the couple had three children. She died at the age of just twenty-seven, of pleurisy, while her husband, John Kuhn, lived until age 103. At his death he was believed to be the county’s oldest resident.
Margaret Wolfe Langan (1857–btw. 1930 and 1940)
Margaret Wolfe Langan was born in Iowa, the daughter of Kerry immigrants. She and her sister, Kate Fitzgerald, both moved to Montana, where they worked as school teachers and even married on the same day. She served as the superintendent of schools in Anacdonda County, Montana.
Ellen Woulfe Maher (ca. 1810–1866)
While four of her brothers emigrated, Ellen Woulfe Maher remained in North Kerry, where she married Patrick Maher and raised nine children. Even one of those children, Margaret, left for America, with Ellen’s brother Maurice, They settled in LaSalle County, Illinois, while she remained in Kerry.
John W. Maher (1856–1936)
Maher was raised in Streator, Illinois, the son of Irish immigrants. After attending law school at the University of Michigan, he set up practice in Grand Forks, Dakota Territory. He only just survived the lawlessness of the era, raising six children.
Teacher, school board member, and judge’s wife
Kate Fitzgerald was the daughter of immigrants who fled the Great Famine in County Kerry. Raised on the farm in eastern Iowa, she and her sister Margaret both became teachers and both moved to Montana. They even married on the same day, Kate to the County Waterford–born Judge T. D. Fitzgerald, a member of the state senate. Widowed young, she nevertheless continued to teach and served on the school board.
Margaret Wolfe Maher (1827–1906)
Margaret Wolfe came to LaSalle County, Illinois, from County Kerry as a young woman. There she met Bartholomew Maher. They married in 1852 and farmed in Eagle Township for the rest of their lives. They had eight children.
Maurice E. Maher (1869–1964)
Maurice Maher’s mother was an Irish immigrant from County Kerry. He grew up in LaSalle County, Illinois, and married a local girl in 1892. They moved to Wisconsin, where he operated a grocery with a Wolfe cousin. After a stint doing real estate in Chicago, he returned to LaSalle County.
Aileen Woulfe McCall (1884–1956)
The daughter of a Kerryman, Aileen Woulfe ran a bookstore in Waco with her sisters before marrying Hawley Sweet McCall, a railroad engineer. She was an active suffragette and participated in a literary club focused on Shakespeare.
Elizabeth Maher McCormick (1836–1900)
Liza Maher came to the United States from Co. Kerry in 1857; he sister had already immigrated in the care of their uncle, Maurice R. Wolfe. She settled in LaSalle County, Illinois, and married Richard McCormick of Co. Longford there in 1860. They had six children and farmed in LaSalle for the rest of their lives.
Ellen Wolfe Mulvihill (1833–1908)
Immigrating with her parents and siblings from Co. Kerry in 1847, Ellen Wolfe married Kerryman Edmund Mulvihill in 1854 and they had ten children. A few years later the couple joined another colony of Wolfes, this one in Clinton County, Iowa, where they purchased government land and farmed for the rest of their lives.
Margaret Wolfe Mulvihill (ca. 1845–1888)
Margaret Wolfe arrived in LaSalle County from Co. Kerry with her sister Ellen and her parents in 1847, and like Ellen she married a Mulvhihill. Hers was called Cornelius. They had four children together in Clinton County, Iowa, where they farmed for the rest of their lives.
Bridget Sheehan Nixon (1853–1910)
Little is known about Bridget Sheehan. Her mother was a Co. Kerry Woulfe, and two of her brothers immigrated to Newport, Rhode Island—the exceptions to a rule that guided the family almost exclusively to Illinois or Iowa. She joined them in Newport, married an Irishman, and had a single child.
Ellen Wolfe Redmond (1832–1902)
Ellen Wolfe was born in a tiny corner of Kerry called Garryantanavally and with her family came to LaSalle County, Illinois, in 1848 or 1849. There she married the Irishman Eugene Redmond and had five children.
Dennis W. Sheehan (1852–1907)
Sheehan’s mother was a Woulfe in County Kerry, and while many of her siblings emigrated, she stayed home. Dennis and his brothers and sisters did leave, settling (unlike any other members of the family) in Newport, Rhode Island, where he ran a liquor business.
Margaret Woulfe Sheehan (b. 1818)
Margaret Woulfe hailed from near Listowel, Co. Kerry, and while many of her siblings and even several of her children immigrated to the United States, she stayed put. Little is known of her life beyond the fact that she and her husband Dennis Sheehan had at least six children and probably spent their lives in the village of Foynes, on the River Shannon.
Dealer in Liquor, Cigars, and Choice Family Groceries
Sheehan’s mother was a Woulfe in County Kerry, and while many of her siblings emigrated, she stayed home. Dennis and his brothers and sisters did leave, settling (unlike any other members of the family) in Newport, Rhode Island, where he ran a liquor business. His sudden death on a local beach was dramatically recounted by the local paper.
Patrick W. Sheehan (1843–1894)
Patrick Sheehan was born in West Limerick to a family that seemed to be immigrating almost en masse. Everyone except his parents. Most of his mother’s brothers left, and Patrick and three of his siblings went, too. Unlike most other Wolfes, however, they did not go to Illiinois or Iowa, but to Newport, Rhode Island. That’s where Sheehan lived out his days. He never married.
Margaret Maher Twohey (1829–1872)
Margaret Maher came to the United States from Co. Kerry in the care of her maternal uncle, Maurice R. Wolfe. That was in 1849. They settled in LaSalle County, Illinois, where Margaret was treated as Wolfe’s daughter. In 1857 she married a Corkman, James Twohey, and they had nine children. They farmed in LaSalle until their deaths.
Mary K. Wolfe Welsh (1929–2004)
Mary Kay, as she was called, grew up on a farm in Delmar, Iowa, and was renowned as a trickster. (She once pretended to have been murdered while her mother was out.) After studying nursing, Mary Kay married, had four children, and spent the rest of her life in Davenport, Iowa.
Sara Wolfe Wissing (1926–1998)
Sara Wolfe was born on the family farm in Delmar, Iowa, and earned a master’s degree in counseling from Western Illinois University. She married Dick Wissing, a lawyer, and had four children. She spent the rest of her life working with women in need.
Catherine Woulfe (Cáitlín de Bhulbh) (1890–1989)
Cáitlín de Bhulbh attended University College Dublin in the early part of the twentieth century, becoming energized by Irish language and culture. She joined the Gaelic League and an Irish-only theater troupe and later founded an Irish-language-only secondary school for girls in Abbeyfeale.
Fr. Cornelius C. “Con” Woulfe (1917–2006)
Fr. Con Woulfe was born into revolutionary Ireland, the nephew of Con Colbert, who was executed by the British, and the son of an IRA man. He became a priest and worked in Nigeria before moving to Ulster County, New York, where he was active in the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Daniel F. Wolfe (1833–1882)
Born in Kerry, Wolfe ran a liquor business in Illinois before striking out to Carroll, Iowa, with his brother. He only stayed a few years before relocating to the Dakota Territory. On November 10, 1882, he was murdered and set afire by another Carroll man. No motive for the crime was ever discovered.
Fr. David Wolfe (1528–after July 23, 1579)
Fr. Wolfe (also sometimes Wolf) was one of the first Irish Jesuits who, after studying in Rome, returned to Ireland as the pope’s official representative. He eventually ran afoul of Queen Elizabeth and was tortured and imprisoned, an experience that transformed him into a full-blown rebel.
Edmond “Ned” Woulfe (b. 1821)
Ned Woulfe was born on the family farm in the longwindedly named townland of Garryantanavalla, in northern Co. Limerick. While many of his siblings and cousins immigrated to America, he stayed put. Or at least he didn’t go as far. He and his wife moved a little closer to Limerick city, farming and raising their family.
Edmond E. Wolfe (ca. 1842–1889)
While his father, Ned, stayed in Ireland, Edmond followed his uncles and other cousins in immigrating to America. And like many Wolfes before him, he settled in LaSalle County, Illinois, where he married and had four children. He farmed there for the rest of a life cut short by what the doctors called “lung fever.”
Registered nurse and inveterate trickster
Mary Kay, as she was called, grew up on a farm in Delmar, Iowa, and was renowned as a trickster. (She once pretended to have been murdered while her mother was out.) After studying nursing, Mary Kay married, had four children, and spent the rest of her life in Davenport, Iowa.
Edmond R. “Old Ned” Woulfe (1788–1876)
Old Ned was an active organizer, or “warden,” for Daniel O’Connell’s Repeal Association, seeking to overturn the Act of Union that joined Great Britain and Ireland. He also built The Glen, a house on land the family leased in Cratloe. Ned and his wife Peggy James were the parents of the renowned storyteller Dicky Ned Woulfe.
Edmund D. Wolfe (1853–1921)
The son of an Irish immigrant and horse breeder, Edmund Wolfe ran a general store in Peoria, Illinois, and worked in real estate in Wisconsin, before moving west. In Anaconda, Montana. There he found employment in a copper smelter before finally settling down in Idaho, where he established a dairy farm with his son.
Edward A. Wolfe Jr. (1929–2009)
Ed Wolfe was the grandson of Irish immigrants. He grew up in California and was an Army paratrooper who spent a year in occupied Japan after World War II. Baseball, not jumping out of airplanes, was his calling, though. In 1952 he pitched three and two-thirds innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished the season 54.5 games behind the Dodgers.
Ellen Maher Woulfe (ca. 1849–1943)
Ellen Maher’s mother was a Woulfe. She married a Woulfe herself, as did her sister. Born in Co. Kerry, many in her family, including another sister, immigrated to the United States, but Ellen stayed, marrying Richard “Brown Dick” Woulfe, a respected member of the Newcastle West District Council, and having at least six children.
Capt. George Wolfe (fl. 1643–1651)
George Wolfe, a merchant and magistrate in Limerick city, had the misfortune of being there when the English laid siege in 1651. Two of his brothers, Frs. James and Francis, were hanged for their part in the city’s defense. George’s fate is unclear. He, too, may have been hanged, while some accounts have him escaping to England.
Honora J. (Sr. Íde) Woulfe (1915–2015)
Sr. Íde was the second of five children—all priests and nuns—and born into a republican family in Abbeyfeale that included her uncle, Con Colbert. She joined the Sisters of Saint Louis, taught in England, and ran a hospital in Ghana. She died aged ninety-nine in Belfast.
Honora Maher “Nanno” Woulfe (1844–1927)
Nanno Woulfe was the daughter of a Woulfe, and she and her sister both married Woulfes. (Two other sisters emigrated.) She and her husband, Paddy, had at least eight children, including the well-known Fr. Patrick Woulfe and Dr. Timothy Woulfe.
Honor E. Woulfe (1871–1951)
The charismatic daughter of a Kerry immigrant, Woulfe was raised in Illinois but later moved to Texas. There she ran a bookstore with her sisters and traveled the world. In Ireland she struck up a friendship, and perhaps more, with the writer George Moore, who wrote a notorious story about her.
James Wolfe (d. before 1638)
James Wolfe was born into a Catholic merchant family living in Corbally, near Limerick city. He had five, maybe six, sons, two of whom became priests and were hanged by Oliver Cromwell’s brother-in-law. Another son may have met the same fate. After much indecision, James passed his property on to his eldest son, Patrick.
Fr. James Wolfe (d. 1651)
Fr. Wolfe was a prominent preacher in Limerick during the Cromwellian wars and was an outspoken opponent of surrendering the city to the English. He was subsequently hanged. Wolfe was presented for beatification in 1915 but was not among the martyrs so honored in 1992.
“We are made a spectacle to God …”
Fr. Wolfe was a prominent preacher in Limerick during the Cromwellian wars and was an outspoken opponent of surrendering the city to the English. He was subsequently hanged, reportedly declaring, “We are made a spectacle to God, to the angels, and to men.” Wolfe was presented for beatification in 1915 but was not among the martyrs so honored by John Paul II in 1992.
James B. Wolfe (1844–1916)
Wolfe was born in northern County Kerry and immigrated first to Illinois and then to Clinton County, Iowa, with his parents. There he farmed, owned a hardware store, bred shorthorn cattle, and raised hogs. When he died he was president of the bank in Lost Nation.
James D. Wolfe (1839–1923)
Born near Listowel, in northern County Kerry, James Wolfe came to America with his family in 1849, settling, like many of their cousins, in LaSalle County, Illinois. He married there, had two children, and farmed there the rest of his life.
James E. Wolfe (1909–1965)
James Wolfe was the grandson of Irish immigrants from Co. Kerry and born on a farm near Lost Nation, Iowa. He was the youngest of five brothers and he spent his life, like they did, farming. He married and had five children.
James H. Wolfe (d. ca. 1836)
Wolfe’s life is murky. Born in County Limerick, he may have gone to seminary before immigrating to America. He taught in Virginia before buying land in Lewis County, Missouri. At some point his letters home stopped and two of his brothers went looking for him. By the time they arrived he was dead, possibly murdered.
James J. Woulfe (1899–1937)
Jim Woulfe was a native of Athea who served in the IRA during both the War of Independence and Civil War. In 1924, he left for Canada, where he became a labor organizer and communist. During the Spanish Civil War, Woulfe fought the fascists and died on the steps of the church at Belchite.
James M. Woulfe (ca. 1651–1704)
Known as James of Inchereagh, he farmed in West Limerick, near Athea, and according to family oral history had eight children: six daughters, three of whom are said to have immigrated,, and two sons, one of whom came to be known as “Old Maurice” Woulfe.
James M. “The Barrister” Woulfe (1732–1817)
The Barrister Woulfe earned his nickname not by practicing law but through his widely acknowledged wisdom. The son of Old Maurice Woulfe, who leased land in Cratloe, County Limerick, James Woulfe moved to nearby North Kerry and farmed in a small townland called Garryantanavally. He is the ancestor of most Kerry Woulfes.
James M. Wolfe (1851–1921)
James Wolfe’s uncle James had first come to Missouri and disappeared, leaving his brothers in Ireland to come look for him. This James Wolfe was the son of one of those brothers. He worked at a brick manufacturer in Missouri, then married and moved to Nebraska. He married, had four children, and died in Omaha.
“He could neither speak nor smoke …”
Jim Wolfe was a native of Athea who served in the IRA during both the War of Independence and Civil War. In 1924, he left for Canada, where he became a labor organizer and communist. During the Spanish Civil War, Wolfe fought the fascists and was mortally wounded on the steps of the church at Belchite. Unable to speak or smoke, he reportedly gave his cigarettes to his buddies.
James P. “Paddy” Woulfe (1842–1922)
Paddy Woulfe was born in West Limerick and died there, too. He married Nanno Maher, a Woulfe herself on her mother’s side, and together they had at least eight children, including Fr. Patrick Woulfe, Sr. Bonaventure, and Dr. Timothy Woulfe.
James R. Woulfe (1800–1875)
James Woulfe inherited his father’s land in the townland of Dromalught, in northern County Kerry. While many of his brothers, sisters, and cousins immigrated to the United States, Woulfe remained in Kerry and farmed. He married, had at least three but probably more more children, and died in 1875.
James R. Wolfe (1863–1941)
Wolfe was the son of Irish immigrants who settled in LaSalle County, Illinois. Unlike most of his relatives, he didn’t have a taste for farming. He ran a grocery store for a time, worked in a factory, and did odd jobs. He married back into the Wolfe family and had five children, then another child after his first wife died.
Jane C. “Dollie” Woulfe (1879–1964)
Dollie—so known for her small stature—was, as the Scottish-born, artistically inclined, never-married daughter of a Presbyterian mother, something of an outsider. Nevertheless, she ran the family farm in Cratloe and served as the family’s unofficial historian and storyteller.
Johanna (Sr. Scholastica) Wolfe (1849–1926)
Born shortly after her parents immigrated to the United States from Co. Kerry, Johanna was the family’s first daughter and she gave herself to the Catholic Church. She joined the Order of Sisters of Mercy at Sioux City, Iowa, and became Sr. M. Scholastica.
Johanna Downey Wolfe (ca. 1810–1886)
Johanna Downey married Maurice Wolfe, who bred racehorses, in Co. Kerry and immigrated to America with him in 1849. They had seven children before his death in 1870, after which she had two more. She died in LaSalle County, Illinois.
Johanna F. (Sr. Mary Agatha) Woulfe (1914–1997)
Johanna Woulfe was born into a republican family in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick, the oldest of five children—all of whom became priests or nuns. In 1931, she joined the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary and, as Sr. Mary Agatha, taught in Nigeria from 1938 to 1965. She died in Dublin in 1997.
John Wolfe (ca. 1794–1863)
Wolfe must have been one of the oldest members of the family to emigrate, leaving in 1849 when he was in his mid-fifties. He was already on his second wife and had eleven children. He settled, like many Wolfes did, in LaSalle County, Illinois, where he farmed until his death. HIs widow, Bridget, later followed her daughter to Carroll County, Iowa.
She married Paddy, her sister married Brown Dick
Nanno Woulfe was the daughter of a Woulfe, and she and her sister both married Woulfes. (Two other sisters emigrated.) She and her husband, Paddy, had at least eight children, including the well-known Fr. Patrick Woulfe and Dr. Timothy Woulfe.
John Wolfe (1845–1919)
Wolfe came to Illinois with his parents in 1849. He married, had three children, and farmed—at least for awhile. By 1900 he was working as a buffer in the Western Clock Company, a job he held for twenty-eight years.
John B. Wolfe (1851–1923)
Wolfe was born in Illinois a few years after his parents immigrated from Co. Kerry. The family moved on to eastern Iowa, and it was there that he bought land and farmed for the rest of his life. He married and had nine children.
John C. Wolfe (ca. 1840–1902)
John Wolfe was born in Kerry and raised in Illinois and Iowa. In 1858, he set out with some friends for California, eventually establishing a pharmacy in San Rafael. Wolfe’s liniment, pile cure, and worm powder were all considered “household treasures,” and street in town continues to bear his name.
John E. Wolfe (1837–1918)
Born in North Kerry, Wolfe was one of many siblings and cousins who immigrated to the United States in the 1840s. He lived first in LaSalle County, Illinois, before buying land in Clinton County, Iowa. He married a Co. Mayo native and had at least nine children.
John H. Wolfe (1807–before May 25, 1856)
John Wolfe’s older brother James emigrated but his letters home apparently stopped. John and brother Richard set off for American in search of James, a journey that took them to Lewis County, Missouri, and the news that James was dead. John’s letter home is full of details, anguish, and hope for the future on James’s land.
John J. Wolfe (1901–1974)
The grandson of Irish immigrants, Wolfe was the son of the son of the son of a farmer who farmed his whole life in Lost Nation, Iowa. He attended college in nearby Davenport, married, and had two children. He was reputed to have the richest Irish brogue of his generation.
John L. Wolfe (1879–1962)
The son of a lawyer and politician, John Wolfe followed the same path. He received his law degree from Georgetown, studied politics and law in Berlin, Germany, and even while he was there was nominated for a seat in the Iowa Legislature. He served two terms, after which he practiced with his father in Clinton, Iowa.
John M. Wolfe (1913–1951)
John Wolfe was grandson of a druggist and early settler of California and the son of another druggist who died in a freak accident with John was five. Wolfe grew up to own his own paper box company but died young himself, falling asleep at the wheel on the Bayshore Highway and hitting another car head-on.
Wolfe’s liniment and worm powder were household treasures
John Wolfe was born in Kerry and raised in Illinois and Iowa. In 1858, he set out with some friends for California, eventually establishing a pharmacy in San Rafael. Wolfe’s liniment, pile cure, and worm powder were all considered “household treasures,” and street in town continues to bear his name.
John M. Woulfe (Seán de Bhulbh) (1922–2009)
Woulfe preferred to go by the Irish-language version of his name, Seán de Bhulbh. An accomplished engineer, he spoke Irish fluently and published histories in the language. In 1962, he took the famous Kerry playwright John B. Keane for downplaying the Irish’s importance in national life.
John P. Wolfe (1913–1997)
John Wolfe came from a distinguished line of lawyers and politicians. He chose the Navy, instead, enlisting in the Reserve early in 1941. Commissioned an ensign, Wolfe served aboard the destroyer USS Blue, and received a commendation for his actions at Pearl Harbor on December 7 of that year.
John R. Wolfe (1813–1883)
Born into a large family in County Kerry, Wolfe, his wife, and their first son left Ireland in 1847 with his first cousin Maurice Wolfe and his family. They farmed briefly in LaSalle County, Illinois, before moving again, this time to Clinton County, in eastern Iowa. The Wolfe family has been there ever since.
Mary A. Wolfe (1834–1897)
An immigrant from Co. Kerry, Mary Agatha worked as a seamstress in Ottawa, Illinois, before joining the Religious Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic order founded in Dublin in 1831. She worked as the order’s bursar and by the time of her death Mother Mary Agatha, as he was known, had led the group in both Streator and Lacon, Illinois.
Maurice Wolfe (1800–1879)
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Maurice Woulfe (ca. 1823–1909)
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Maurice Wolfe (1837–1917)
Maurice Wolfe wrote his own obituary. That’s how we know about his driving cattle to Chicago in the 1850s, or running steers from Kansas to New Mexico in 1864, or traveling to Oklahoma with the Sac and Fox Indians. In 1877, Wolfe settled down in Kansas and had a family—four children, three of whom survived. His wife, sadly, did not.
Fr. Maurice Woulfe (1912–1989)
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“Irish [is] of the utmost importance in our national life”
Woulfe preferred to go by the Irish-language version of his name, Seán de Bhulbh. An accomplished engineer, he spoke Irish fluently and published several books in the language. In 1962, he took the famous Kerry playwright John B. Keane for downplaying the Irish’s importance in national life. In 1997, he updated Fr. Patrick Woulfe’s work on Irish names with his own Sloinnte na hÉireann: Irish Surnames.
Maurice B. Wolfe (1855–1928)
The son of Kerry immigrants, Maurice Wolfe was born in LaSalle County, Illinois, before the family moved on to Iowa. It was west of the Mississippi, in Clinton County, that Wolfe made his life. He married Sarah McAndrews, whose family came from Co. Mayo, and raised five sons on his farm near Lost Nation.
Maurice C. Wolfe (ca. 1835–1910)
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Maurice H. Wolfe (1839–1914)
Wolfe was a Limerick-born immigrant who joined the US Army after the Civil War and fought Indians in the West. He is best known for his colorful and cantankerous letters home, copies of which are preserved in the National Archives of Ireland.
Maurice J. Woulfe (ca. 1630–ca. 1700)
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Maurice J. “Old Maurice” Woulfe (1690–1702)
Old Maurice, it has been said, “was strong and energetic, physically and mentally.” He farmed in Templeathea, providing dowries for his six sisters before marrying. In about 1760, the widower Woulfe moved to Cratloe and leased nearly the entire townland. He died at the age of 102.
Maurice J. Woulfe (1755–1824)
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Maurice J. “Young Maurice” Woulfe (ca. 1763–before 1838)
Young Maurice Woulfe was the son of Old Maurice, who had farmed first in Templeathea, then Cratloe, in western County Limerick. When Young Maurice came of age, he distinguished himself by leasing land in Dromada, a nearby townland.
Maurice J. Woulfe (1884–1973)
Dollie’s brother, Maurice Woulfe was an Abbeyfeale solicitor whose British army battalion was stationed in Dublin during the Easter Rising. He later fought in the trenches of Western Europe. During the War of Independence, he defended the families of two IRA men murdered by a Black and Tan.
“What I remember most about farm life was an aching loneliness.”
Tom Wolfe was raised, fatherless, on an eastern Iowa farm and later wrote about the loneliness of his childhood. Deciding to leave farming, he became a history teacher, union organizer, writer, and family historian.
Maurice J. Wolfe (1886–1918)
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Maurice P. Wolfe (1873–1909)
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Maurice R. Wolfe (1802–1870)
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Maurice R. Woulfe (1853–1928)
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Fr. Maurice R. Woulfe (1891–1962)
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Maurice V. Wolfe (1882–1927)
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Melvin M. Wolfe (1904–1990)
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Fr. Michael J. C. Woulfe (1922–1995)
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From the Easter Rising to the trenches
Dollie’s brother, Maurice Woulfe was an Abbeyfeale solicitor whose British army battalion was stationed in Dublin during the Easter Rising. He later fought in the trenches of Western Europe. During the War of Independence, he defended the families of two IRA men murdered by a Black and Tan. After the war, he was prominent in Fine Gael, a politics that sometimes led to violence.
Fr. Patrick Woulfe (Pádraig de Bhulbh) (1872–1933)
Father Patrick Woulfe learned Irish in Rome, became a priest in Kildare, and made his life’s work in West Limerick. This included a fierce nationalism during the War for Independence and his widely respected scholarship afterward.
Patrick B. Wolfe (1848–1922)
Wolfe’s life was a success story. The son of Irish immigrants—the first of his line born in America—he was raised in Clinton County, Iowa, graduated from law school, sat in the state Senate and on the district court, and narrowly missed being elected to the state Supreme Court. When he died, it was front-page news.
Patrick R. Wolfe (1861–1939)
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Philip M. “Old Phil” Woulfe (1810–1901)
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Philip J. Wolfe (1898–1979)
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Raymond B. Wolfe (1896–1941)
The grandson of Kerry immigrants, Ray Wolfe loved horses and farming. He served in the US Navy during World War I, when, according to his son, “he caught no Germans, but he did catch the flu.” Wolfe married and had four children before dying of cancer in his forties.
Richard Wolfe (1795–1871)
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Richard Wolfe (b. 1802)
Richard Wolfe’s older brother James immigrated to America, and at some point his letters stopped. Richard and his brother John went in search of him, a journey that led them to Lewis County, Missouri, and the news that he was dead. Richard stayed in the state, married, and had five children.
Richard Wolfe Sr. (1807–1906)
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Richard “Uncle Dick” Wolfe Jr. (1846–1921)
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Richard B. Wolfe (1862–1940)
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Richard B. Woulfe (1884–1937)
Dick Woulfe, a pharmacist in Abbeyfeale, was also a prominent republican. His brother-in-law was Con Colbert, the youngest man executed following the Easter Rising, and Woulfe served in the IRA during the War of Independence and Civil War.
A woman of high culture and (perhaps) high passion
The charismatic daughter of a Kerry immigrant, Woulfe was raised in Illinois but later moved to Texas. There she ran a bookstore with her sisters, wrote plays, and traveled the world. In Ireland she struck up a friendship, and perhaps more, with the writer George Moore, who wrote a notorious story about her.
Richard C. Wolfe (1848–1919)
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Richard D. Wolfe (1829–1885)
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Richard E. “Dicky Ned” Woulfe (1824–1910)
Dicky Ned Woulfe, of the Glen, was widely understood to be the last word on family history and, for that matter, the history of all the families in his part of West Limerick. He spoke Irish fluently, hosted a hedge school, and raised ten children, including Richard Wolfe, Chicago’s public works commissioner.
Richard J. Woulfe (1763–1842)
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He “caught no Germans but he did catch the flu.”
The grandson of Kerry immigrants, Ray Wolfe loved horses and farming. He served in the US Navy during World War I, when, according to his son, “he caught no Germans, but he did catch the flu.” Wolfe married and had four children before dying of cancer in his forties.
Richard J. Wolfe (1843–1927)
“He has been very prosperous, especially in breeding and handling Percheron horses.” That’s according to a history of LaSalle County, Illinois, where Richard Wolfe immigrated as a child from County Kerry. He spent the rest of his long life farming and, with his wife (and cousin), Kate Maher, raising six children.
Richard L. Wolfe (ca. 1837–1904)
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Richard M. “Short Dick” Woulfe (ca. 1730–1824)
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Fr. Richard M. Woulfe (1919–2003)
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Richard W. Wolfe (1866–1951)
Richard W. Wolfe served as commissioner of public works under Big Bill Thompson and was a prominent figure in 1920s Chicago. An Irish immigrant, he straightened the Chicago River and found himself a regular target of the state’s attorney.
Thomas Woulfe (1841–1915)
The land on Woulfe’s North Kerry farm was so salty it sickened his cows; neighbors called his barn Woulfe’s Infirmary. Then, in 1882, amidst the Land War, nightriders threatened him not to pay his rent. He was evicted three years later but soon allowed back. Those same neighbors helped him put in the new crop.
Thomas A. Wolfe (1940–2012)
Tom Wolfe was raised, fatherless, on an eastern Iowa farm and later wrote about the loneliness of his childhood. Deciding to leave farming, he became a middle-school history teacher, union organizer, writer, and family historian in Davenport, Iowa.
Thomas L. Wolfe (1840–1908)
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Fr. Thomas L. Wolfe (1894–1974)
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Thomas R. Wolfe (1811–1876)
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Dr. Timothy T. Woulfe (1885–1969)
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Walter I. Wolfe (1886–1967)
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William A. Wolfe (1889–1967)
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Ellen Wolfe Wren (1859–1927)
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