The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Ireland, William Henry
17771835, English forger of Shakespearean documents and manuscripts. Besides forging deeds and signatures relating to Shakespeare, Ireland fabricated two plays, Vortigern and Rowena (1796) and Henry II (both pub. 1799), as the works of Shakespeare. Edmond Malone, however, exposed him, and Ireland later acknowledged the hoax.