Jane Wilde was a successful writer, being a poet for the revolutionary Young Irelanders in 1848 and a lifelong Irish nationalist.

In June 1855, the family moved to 1 Merrion Square in a fashionable residential area, where Wilde's sister, Isola, was born in 1856.

His father died in 1876, and in early 1879 Willie and Lady Wilde moved to London, where he became a journalist, serving as a drama critic for Punch and Vanity Fair, as a leader writer for The Daily Telegraph, and as editor of Christmas numbers of several magazines.

The club was famous for its grills, its brandy and its Pol Roger '74, but its tripe and onions on Saturdays were an especial draw.

One member listed Willie among those who were "constant guests" on Saturdays, along with Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, J. Comyns Carr, Edward Dicey, Carlo Pellegrini, Frederic Clay and Oscar Wilde.

He was, however, his own enemy, and could not resist the attractions of the moment or settle down long to regular work – in truth, though not very old in years, he belonged to the now almost extinct school of journalists which, taking ‘sufficient is the day for the evil there of’ as their motto, never gave a thought to the future (or anything else) if they happened to have a few pounds in their pockets.

He proceeded to spend much of his time in New York drinking at the fashionable Lotos Club, gossiping about London Society and reciting parodies of his brother's poems, which perhaps suggests that he was jealous of Oscar's success.

His marriage was short-lived, Mrs Leslie starting divorce proceedings within a year on the grounds of Willie's drunkenness and adultery.

[citation needed] On his return to London, early in 1892, Willie found that Oscar was the toast of the town for his successful play Lady Windermere's Fan.

It is believed that Willie wrote the ambivalent review of the play that was published unsigned in Vanity Fair on 27 February 1892 (he had previously been a drama critic for the magazine).

'"[10] Oscar, believing that he recognised his brother's hand behind the anonymous review, was by then writing A Woman of No Importance, in which one character says: "After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations."

In a letter to the painter William Rothenstein Beerbohm wrote, "... did I tell you that I saw a good deal of [Oscar's] brother Willie at Broadstairs?

She has been described as "an emotional woman with a tendency to early panic ... she believed (incorrectly) that she was pregnant"[13] She tried to induce an abortion by taking a powder.

"[14] Following Oscar's arrest and first trial in April 1895, Willie claimed that he gave his brother shelter when he was unable to find rooms in London.