Author: Wolfe, Charles
Biography:
WOLFE, Charles (1791-1823: DIB)
He was likely born in Dublin to Frances (Lombard) and Theobald Wolfe, a landowner of Blackhall, Co. Kildare. (He was related to Theobald Wolfe Tone, executed for his leading role in the 1798 Rising.) Wolfe’s father died in 1799 and the family moved to England where he was educated at Bath, Salisbury, and Winchester School. In 1809 he matriculated at Trinity College Dublin. There he excelled academically and his poem “Jugurtha Incarceratus” won the vice-chancellor’s prize. He graduated BA in 1814. At about the same time he wrote his ode, “Burial of Sir John Moore,” which was published anonymously in periodicals in Dublin, Newry, and Edinburgh. It earned fulsome praise from Lord Byron (q.v.) and widespread speculation about the author’s identity—which was not definitively settled until 1908 after several spurious claims and much debate. He rejected the fellowship he was offered by Trinity on the grounds of wanting to marry. However, the woman (and her family) turned down his proposal. In November 1817 he became curate at Ballyclog, Co. Tyrone, but was there only a few months before he was moved to Donoughmore, Co. Tyrone. This proved to be an unfortunate post: he was poorly paid, his parishioners were widely scattered over difficult terrain, there was a typhoid outbreak, and he was forced to share the parsonage with a discharged soldier and his family. Wolfe’s health suffered and in 1821 he resigned, planning to travel and recover his health. In late 1822 he arrived in Cove, Co. Cork, where he died of tuberculosis. He was buried in the Old Church Cemetery, Cove, but there is also a memorial to him in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. (DIB 14 Dec. 2020; ODNB 14 Dec. 2020; ancestry.co.uk 14 Dec. 2020; John A. Russell, Remains of the late Rev. Charles Wolfe [1825]) SR
Other Names:
- Wolfe