Richard Rowley was the pseudonym of Richard Valentine Williams (2 April 1877 – 25 April 1947), born at 79 Dublin Road, Belfast, Ireland, who wrote poetry, plays and stories.

Early life

At the age of 16 he entered the family firm, McBride and Williams, which manufactured cotton handkerchiefs and eventually became its managing director. After the collapse of the company in 1931 he was Chairman of the Northern Ireland Unemployment Assistance Board. His early poems, in ''The City of Refuge'' (1917), were rhetorical celebrations of industry. His next volume, ''City Songs and Others'' (1918), included his most quoted poem ''The Islandmen'', and is regarded as containing his most original work: " Browning-like monologues straight from the mouths of Belfast's working-class."

Later life

He moved to

Newcastle, County Down Newcastle () is a small seaside resort town in County Down, Northern Ireland, which had a population of 7,672 at the 2011 Census. It lies by the Irish Sea at the foot of Slieve Donard, the highest of the Mourne Mountains. Newcastle is known fo ...

. He also wrote short stories: ''Tales of Mourne'' (1937), as well as at least one highly successful play, ''Apollo In Mourne'' (1926). During World War II, Rowley founded, and ran from his Newcastle home, the short-lived Mourne Press. He published first collections of

Sam Hanna Bell Sam Hanna Bell (16 October 1909 – 9 February 1990) was a Scottish-born Northern Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright, and broadcaster. Bell was born in Glasgow to Ulster Scots parents. Following the sudden death of his father in ...

and Michael McLaverty, but the press failed in 1942. With Bell, Rowley was one of a set of Linen Hall Library members who would retire regularly to Campbell's Cafe. The regulars, at various points, included writers John Boyd and Denis Ireland, actors Joseph Tomelty, Jack Loudon and

J.G. Devlin James Gerard Devlin (8 October 1907 – 17 October 1991) was a Northern Irish actor who made his stage debut in 1931, and had long association with the Ulster Group Theatre. In a career spanning nearly sixty years, he played parts in TV pro ...

, poets John Hewitt and

Robert Greacen Robert Greacen (1920–2008) was an Irish poet and member of Aosdána. Born in Derry, Ireland, on 24 October 1920, he was educated at Methodist College Belfast and Trinity College Dublin. He died on 13 April 2008 in Dublin, Ireland. Greacen's ...

, artists Padraic Woods,

Gerald Dillon Gerard Dillon (191614 June 1971) was an Irish painter and artist. Life Dillon was born in Belfast, he left school at the age of fourteen and for seven years worked as a painter and decorator, mostly in London. From an early age he was intere ...

, and

William Conor William Conor OBE RHA PPRUA ROI (1881–1968) was a Belfast-born artist. Celebrated for his warm and sympathetic portrayals of working-class life in Ulster, William Conor studied at the Government School of Design in Belfast in the 1890s ...

and (an outspoken opponent of sectarianism) the Rev. Arthur Agnew. The ebullient atmosphere the circle created was a backdrop the appearance of Campbell's Cafe in Brian Moore's wartime '' Bildungsroman'',

The Emperor of Ice-Cream "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first collection of poetry, ''Harmonium''. It was first published in 1922, and is in the public domain. Stevens' biographer, Paul Mariani, identifies the poem as one of Stevens' perso ...

. Rowley died at Drumilly, County Armagh, in 1947. The poet's Newcastle home, Brook Cottage, has since been demolished. George MacCann and Jack Loudan presented a commemoration of Rowley's life on the radio in 1952. The programme used recordings of his friends Lady Mabel Annesley, who illustrated several of his publications, along with the poet John Irvine, the playwright

Thomas Carnduff Thomas Carnduff, writer, was born on 30 January 1886 in Belfast and died in that city on 17 April 1956.James Quinn. "Carnduff, Thomas". Dictionary of Irish Biography. (Eds.)James Mcguire, James Quinn. Cambridge, United Kingdom:Cambridge Universit ...

and William Conor. In Newcastle Rowley's name is remembered through the Rowley Meadows housing development and the Rowley Path, which runs along the southern boundary of the Islands Park.

Works

*''The City of Refuge and Other Poems'' (1917) *''City Songs and Others'' (1918) *''Workers'' (1923) *''County Down Songs'' (1924) *''The Old Gods and Other Poems'' (1925) *''Apollo In Mourne'' (1926) (play) *''Selected Poems'' (1931) *''Tales of Mourne'' (1937) (short stories) *''Ballads of Mourne'' (1940) *''One Cure for Sorrow and Other One-Act Plays'' (1942) *''Sonnets for Felicity'' (1942) *''The Piper of Mourne'' (1944) *''Final Harvest'' (1951)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Richard 20th-century poets from Northern Ireland Male short story writers from Northern Ireland 1877 births 1947 deaths Writers from Belfast Male novelists from Northern Ireland Male poets from Northern Ireland 20th-century short story writers from Northern Ireland 20th-century male writers from Northern Ireland People from Newcastle, County Down Writers from County Down

Early life

Later life

Works

See also

References