William Rooney ( ga, Liam Ó Ruanaidh; 29 September 1873–6 May 1901), also known as Fear na Muintire, was an Irish nationalist, journalist, poet and Gaelic revivalist. Along with

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...

and Denis Devereux he founded the Celtic Literary Society, and with Griffith founded the first

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; "Society of the Gaels") was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form the Fine Gael party. Origins In 1922 the pro-Treaty ...

Life

William Rooney was born in Mabbot Street in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and educated by the Christian Brothers in Strand Street and North Richmond Street. As a boy he was a member of ''The Irish Fireside Club'', a literary discussion group, where he became acquainted with Arthur Griffith around 1888. They joined the Leinster Debating Society (which became the Leinster Literary Society), where Griffith became president and Griffith secretary. After the Leinster Literary Society was dissolved in the wake of the Parnell controversies Rooney formed the Celtic Literary Society, of which he became president and editor of the society's journal, ''An Seanachuidhe''. Along with Michael Cusack he taught Irish at the society's offices; one of their pupils was George Clancy. His writings and articles appeared in ''United Ireland'', ''The Shamrock'', ''Weekly Freeman'', ''The Evening Herald'', ''Shan Van Vocht'' and ''Northern Patriot'' in Belfast. He was persuaded by

Eoin MacNeill Eoin MacNeill ( ga, Eoin Mac Néill; born John McNeill; 15 May 1867 – 15 October 1945) was an Irish scholar, Irish language enthusiast, Gaelic revivalist, nationalist and politician who served as Minister for Education from 1922 to 1925, Cea ...

to join the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

after its founding in 1893. As a member of the Gaelic League, which was mainly concerned with promoting the Irish language and literature, he favoured a more political approach to promoting Irish culture. He regarded Irish independence without the revival of the language and culture as meaningless. He was active on the

1798 Rising The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influence ...

commemoration committee. In 1899 he co-founded with Griffith the

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

newspaper and wrote many of its articles. Rooney had encouraged Griffith to return from South Africa and edit the paper. In November 1900 along with Griffith he helped establish

. This was an umbrella organisation to co-ordinate the activities of a number of nationalist groups, with John O'Leary as president; it was merged in 1907 to form

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

. He spent some time travelling the country promoting the Irish language and condemned the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...

for its failure to promote the language. He died suddenly of tuberculosis at the age of 27, shortly before he was due to be married to Máire Ní Cillín, in May 1901. He was described by Griffith as "the Thomas Davis of the new movement". He is buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Ghlas Naíon) is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasne ...

. In the decade after the revolutionary period, the vital contribution of Rooney to the emergence of Sinn Féin was regularly acknowledged by many of those involved, including

Brian O'Higgins Brian O'Higgins ( ga, Brian Ó hUigínn; 1 July 1882 – 10 March 1963), also known as Brian na Banban, was an Irish writer, poet, soldier and politician who was a founding member of Sinn Féin and served as President of the organisation from 1 ...

, veteran of the 1916 Rising and President of Sinn Féin in the 1930s, who referred to him as "the real founder of Sinn Féin". His poems include "The Men of the West", "Ninety Eight", and "An tSean Bhean Bhocht". A book of his poems was posthumously published in 1902, ''Poems and Ballads of William Rooney''. The writer

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

gave Rooney's poems an unfavourable review in the Daily Express. Griffith responded by publishing Joyce's review in the ''United Irishman'' as an ''advertisement'' for Rooney's book of poems. His only emendation was the addition of a single word. Joyce had written that Rooney 'might have written well if he had not suffered from one of those big words which make us so unhappy.' Griffith merely inserted the word: patriotism.Page 18, ''Joyce's revenge: history, politics, and aesthetics in Ulysses'' By Andrew Gibson (Oxford University Press)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooney, William 1873 births 1901 deaths Writers from Dublin (city)