William Rooney was born 29th September, 1873. From the age of 15 he devoted himself to the Cause. As a boy he was a member of the Irish Fireside Club, where essays on Irish subjects were encouraged.

In 1891 his first verses appeared in ' United Ireland. Rooney   was  the  first   President of the Celtic   Literary Society.  He was a member of  the Young  Ireland League, the  '98  Centenary Committee, and an active member of the Gaelic League.

He died in the year 1900, and immediately after his funeral a meeting was held in the waiting room of the cemetery, at which it was resolved that a memorial should be erected to William Rooney's memory, and that his writings should be collected and published. Both these resolves have been honourably carried out.