WILLIAM ROONEY William Rooney was born in Dublin in 1873. He was educated by the Christian Brothers but left school at the age of twelve to work as a clerk. He became active in nationalist organizations and studied Irish. He began contributing to various publications, mostly under pen-names. He was only a young man and in poor health and did not aspire to any position of leadership, but his part in the re-direction of the national movement that took place a century ago was enormous and decisive. Worn out by his work for Ireland, he died in 1901. Soon after his death a collection of his verse was published, but it has long been out of print.