Jasper Travers Wolfe (3 August 1872 – 27 August 1952) was an Irish Independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork West from 1927 to 1933.[1]

Jasper Wolfe
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1927 – February 1932
ConstituencyCork West
Personal details
Born(1872-08-03)3 August 1872
Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland
Died27 August 1952(1952-08-27) (aged 80)
County Cork, Ireland
Political partyIndependent

He was born into a Methodist family the son of William J. Wolfe. He was educated at Bishop's School, Skibbereen and was admitted as a solicitor in 1893. He obtained first place in his final exams and was awarded the Findlater Scholarship. He was a member of Skibbereen Urban District Council for a number of years. He was crown prosecutor in Cork city for a period and for the West Riding of County Cork from 1916 to 1923. He was the first Cork man to hold the Presidency of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

Wolfe was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the June 1927 general election, and took his seat in the short-lived 5th Dáil. He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election and again at the 1932 general election, but did not contest the 1933 general election.[2]

Wolfe was a solicitor who also owned the Cork County Eagle and Munster Advertiser newspaper.[3] This was a successor to the Skibbereen Eagle, which in an editorial in 1897 had famously warned the Tsar of Russia about expansionist aims towards China, declaring that the Skibbereen Eagle had "got its eye on the Tsar".[4]

A book about Wolfe titled Jasper Wolfe of Skibbereen was written by Jasper Ungoed-Thomas, grandson of Jasper Wolfe, and tells the story of his life, set against the backdrop of the partition of Ireland and the emergent new political order.[5]

In 1894 Wolfe founded Wolfe & Co. Solicitors, which is still operating in Market Street, Skibbereen, County Cork.[6] He died at his residence, "Norton", Skibbereen, and is buried in Aughadown Cemetery.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Jasper Wolfe". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Jasper Wolfe". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  3. ^ "CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - SKIBBEREEN RESIDENT'S ALLEGATIONS. – Dáil Éireann (4th Dáil) – Wednesday, 11 May 1927 – Houses of the Oireachtas". Houses of the Oireachtas. 11 May 1927.
  4. ^ "Quoted from the Skibbereen Guide". skibbereen.ie. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010.
  5. ^ Ungoed-Thomas, Jasper (19 October 2008). "Jasper Wolfe of Skibbereen". Collins – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Legal Executive Wolfe & Co. LLP Solicitors Cork". www.lawsociety.ie.

Sources

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  • Willie Kingston: From Victorian Boyhood to the Troubles: A Skibbereen Memoir, Skibbereen Historical Journal Vol 1 2005, extracts edited by his niece Daisy Swanton and Jasper Ungoed-Thomas, grandson of Jasper Wolfe, and Vol 2.
  • Tim Cadogan and Jeremiah Falvey, A Biographical Dictionary of Cork, 2006, Four Courts Press ISBN 1-84682-030-8