Lady Jane Wilde (1821-1896), better known by her pen name Speranza, was an Irish nationalist poet and mother of the famed playwright Oscar Wilde. Born to a Protestant family in County Wexford, she contributed articles and verse to The Nation, most famously ‘Jacta Alea Est’ which was suppressed by the British Government. Although she publicly admitted to authorship of the article, she avoided the fate of the other leaders of Young Ireland. She would marry Sir William Wilde in 1851 and have three children, Oscar, William and Isola, the latter died in childhood of fever.
Writings
Jacta Alea Est (1848)