Irene Sophie du Pont (1877-1961) was a philanthropist who served as the chairperson of the Delaware Commission for the Blind for thirty years. As a patron of the arts, music, and education, she enabled libraries to be constructed at several Delaware schools, established Camp Landis for blind Delawareans, was a benefactor of the Diocese of Delaware of the Episcopal Church and a financial supporter of the American Society of Ancient Instruments, and presented murals to several schools. She also served as director of the Wilmington Music School for Women.

Irene du Pont was the third oldest (second oldest daughter) of Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) and Elise Wigfall Simons (1849-1919). She was a descendant of Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company.

She married her distant cousin, Irénée du Pont (1876-1963), on February 1, 1900. The couple had one surviving son, Irénée du Pont Jr. (1920-1994), and eight daughters. They maintained two principal residences: Granogue, a 500-acre estate with a hilltop manor house overlooking the Brandywine River at the northern edge of New Castle County, Delaware, opened in 1923, and Xanadu, a large estate and house in the Spanish style begun near Varadero, Cuba, in 1928. Both homes featured large pipe organs, and Irénée commissioned a large Maxfield Parrish mural for Granogue. Xanadu was expropriated by the Cuban government in 1961 and was converted into a hotel and golf course.

Their eldest daughter was Irene "Sophie" Sophie du Pont May (1900-2001). Sophie du Pont May was a churchwoman and a philanthropist. She attended Vassar College and graduated in 1924. On April 18, 1925, she married Ernest Nugent May (1901-1985). The couple had four children: Ernest Nugent Jr.(1926-1995), Irénée du Pont (1928-2017), Thomas Henry (1933-), and John Eric (1935-2004), as well as eight grandchildren.

Sophie du Pont May was an active member of the Cathedral Church of St. John. In 1949, she was the first woman in the history of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware to be elected vestry. May made charitable donations to Vassar College, the Republican Party, the Heritage Foundation, the National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty, and humanitarian and aid groups such as the Red Cross and United Way.

She founded a retirement facility near Hockessin, Delaware, and provided financial support for some residents to remain after their financial means were exhausted. She also sponsored students at the Wilmington Friends School in Wilmington, Delaware.

Sophie du Pont May died on April 29, 2001.