William Wilde in the West of Ireland

It is widely believed that Sir William Wilde’s forebears were in Ireland for just two or three generations. This belief stems from a number of short biographies of Wilde which were published during his lifetime. These biographies gave different versions of the origin of the Wilde family and appear to have been generated by the creative imagination of Lady Jane Wilde or, as she was better known by her nom de plume, Speranza. She was equally imaginative in creating narratives about her own family background and in one she claimed descent from the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. So it was not a great challenge for her to invent biographies of her husband which she deemed suitable for a knight living at the prestigious address of 1 Merrion Square, leading many to believe that William and his son Oscar were more English than Irish. It was also important for Speranza to distance Sir William from any connection which the Wilde family might have had with trade. In this paper published and unpublished material are used, together with a careful examination of family deeds in the Registry of Deeds office, to elucidate the real roots of the Wilde family in Dublin and in the West of Ireland.