Jasper Wolfe

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

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".

An incident with Wolfe (later TD for Cork West) was described by another solicitor Willie Kingston in the Skibbereen Historical Journal. Kingston was a cousin of Jasper Wolfe. Wolfe at the time had friends in both camps. In April 1921, Wolfe, Kingston and Miss Brown motored to Durrus where he had a case at Petty Sessions. Kingston had been in Bantry earlier where he saw two men coming towards him, one saying to the other 'that's him’. Kingston thought it was a case of mistaken identity. Later he met Wolfe at the hotel and a man came out of the shadows and peered at his face. Wolfe had met (Bawnie) T.T. McCarthy, cattle dealer earlier and offered him a lift to Skibbereen. They all went to Durrus in Wolfe's car driven by a chauffeur and had tea in Miss Brown's mother's house. Leaving Durrus for Caheragh, McCarthy was in front with Wolfe but his profile indicated him as a cattle dealer rather than the Crown Prosecutor. As they rounded a corner in Caheragh a whistle was blown violently, suggesting the man was running and giving a pre-ordained signal. Kingston and Miss Brown crouched down but nothing happened. Wolfe had had a few drinks and slept through the entire episode. When they got back to Skibbereen they heard that an ambush was being laid for Wolfe. Kingston thought that the unexpected lift to the cattle dealer had the effect of calling off the ambush.

A book about Wolfe's life has been written, entitled Jasper Wolfe of Skibbereen. It was written by Jasper Ungoed-Thomas, the 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.

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

References
  1. "Jasper Wolfe". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  2. "Jasper Wolfe". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  3. Dáil debates, 11 May 1927 Archived 7 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine

Sources
  • See reference to incident during the troubles related by his cousin Willie Kingston in Durrus and District History
  • 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
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