# Charles Wolfe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Charles_Wolfe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Charles_Wolfe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wolfe > Source revision: 1352349573 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Irish poet (1791–1823)}} {{other people}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox writer | name = Charles Wolfe | image = Charles Wolfe.jpg | imagesize = | caption = [Bas-relief](/source/Bas-relief) in [St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin](/source/St._Patrick's_Cathedral%2C_Dublin) | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{birth date|1791|12|14|df=y}} | birth_place = Blackhall, [County Kildare](/source/County_Kildare) | death_date = {{death date and age|1823|2|21|1791|12|14|df=y}} | death_place = [Cove of Cork](/source/Cove_of_Cork), [County Cork](/source/County_Cork) | nationality = [Irish](/source/Kingdom_of_Ireland), [British](/source/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland) | period = | influences = | influenced = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Charles Wolfe''' (14 December 1791 – 21 February 1823) was an [Irish](/source/Irish_ethnicity) [poet](/source/poet), chiefly remembered for "The Burial of [Sir John Moore](/source/John_Moore_(British_Army_officer)) after Corunna" which achieved popularity in 19th century poetry anthologies. ==Family== Born at Blackhall, [County Kildare](/source/County_Kildare), the youngest son of Theobald Wolfe (1739–1799) of Blackhall and his wife (who was also his cousin) Frances (d.1811), daughter of the Rev. Peter Lombard (d.1752) of Clooncorrick Castle, [Carrigallen](/source/Carrigallen), [County Leitrim](/source/County_Leitrim). His father was the godfather – but widely believed to be the natural father – of [Theobald Wolfe Tone](/source/Theobald_Wolfe_Tone). He was a brother of Peter Wolfe (1776–1848), [High Sheriff of Kildare](/source/High_Sheriff_of_Kildare); and, their father's first cousin was [Arthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount Kilwarden](/source/Arthur_Wolfe%2C_1st_Viscount_Kilwarden).{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} ==Education== Not long after he was born, his father died and the family moved to England. In 1801, Wolfe was sent to a school in [Bath](/source/Bath%2C_Somerset) but was sent home a few months later due to his ill health. From 1802 to 1805, he was tutored by a Dr Evans in [Salisbury](/source/Salisbury) before being sent to [Hyde Abbey School](/source/Hyde_Abbey_School), Winchester.{{cite book |title=General Biographical Dictionary |last=Gorton |first=John |year=1833 |publisher=Whittaker & Co |location=London |access-date=4 August 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R-Q8AQAAIAAJ&pg=PP80}} He seems to have been exceedingly popular both at school and within his own family. In 1808, his family returned to Ireland, and the following year he was entered into [Trinity College, Dublin](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Dublin), graduating in 1814. He had turned down the chance to read for a [scholarship](/source/scholarship) as he was in love with a girl and could not commit to [celibacy](/source/celibacy) as was then required.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} ==Career== He was ordained as a [Church of Ireland](/source/Church_of_Ireland) priest in 1817, first taking the Curacy of [Ballyclog](/source/List_of_townlands_of_County_Tyrone) in [County Tyrone](/source/County_Tyrone) before transferring almost immediately to [Donaghmore, County Tyrone](/source/Donaghmore%2C_County_Tyrone). There he developed a close friendship and deep respect for the Rev. [Thomas Meredith](/source/Thomas_Meredith), Rector of nearby Ardtrea, and a former Fellow of [Trinity College Dublin](/source/Trinity_College_Dublin). Wolfe wrote two [epitaphs](/source/epitaphs) for Meredith, one on his memorial in the parish church of Ardtrea, and another intended for his tomb, which can both be read within Meredith's entry. Charles Wolfe is best remembered for his poem, "The Burial of [Sir John Moore](/source/John_Moore_(British_soldier)) after [Corunna](/source/Battle_of_Corunna)", written in 1816 and much collected in 19th and 20th century anthologies.{{cite journal| url = http://www.erudit.org/revue/ravon/2009/v/n53/029901ar.html| title = Memorization and Memorialization: 'The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna'| author = Robson, Catherine| journal = Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net| year = 2009| issue = 53| access-date = 27 November 2014| publisher = Erudit.org| doi = 10.7202/029901ar| doi-access = free}} The poem first appeared anonymously in the ''[Newry](/source/Newry) Telegraph'' of 19 April 1817, and was re-printed in many other periodicals. But it was forgotten until after his death when [Lord Byron](/source/Lord_Byron) drew the attention of the public to it. Wolfe's only volume of verse, ''Poetical Remains'' appeared in 1825 with "The Burial of Sir John Moore" and fourteen other verses of an equally high standard. thumb|Grave of Charles Wolfe in Cobh ==Death== Wolfe remained at Donaghmore until 1820, but, rejected by the woman for whom he gave up his academic career, and with Meredith, his only real friend in County Tyrone, now dead, he moved to the [South of France](/source/South_of_France). Shortly before his death he returned to [Ireland](/source/Ireland) and lived at [Cove](/source/Cobh) (now Cobh), where he died at the age of 31 of [consumption](/source/tuberculosis), which he caught from a cow. He is buried in Cobh at [Old Church Cemetery](/source/Old_Church_Cemetery_(Cobh)).[http://www.visitcobh.com/index.php/old-church-cemetery/rev-charles-wolfe/ Visit Cobh] There is also a plaque to his memory in the church at [Castlecaulfield](/source/Castlecaulfield),[http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/23/91/239107_bc43d391.jpg Plaque to Charles Wolfe at Castlecaulfield] the village where he lived whilst Curate at Donaghmore, as well as a marble monument to him at [St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin](/source/St_Patrick's_Cathedral%2C_Dublin). ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{wikisource|works=or}} {{Wikiquote|Charles Wolfe}} * {{cite IrishBio|wstitle=Wolfe, Charles}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070319194513/http://www.sandgate-kent.org.uk/moore.htm 'Burial of Sir John Moore'] * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Charles Wolfe}} * {{Librivox author |id=8133}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, Charles}} Category:19th-century Irish Anglican priests Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Category:Irish male poets Category:Writers from County Kildare Category:1791 births Category:1823 deaths Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Ireland Category:19th-century Irish poets Category:Christian clergy from County Kildare --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Charles Wolfe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wolfe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wolfe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.