Author: Drennan, William
Biography:
DRENNAN, William (1754-1820: DIB)
He was born at Belfast to the Rev. Thomas Drennan and his wife Anne Lennox. Although his father died in 1768, his scholarship and liberal views remained important influences for his children. Drennan was educated at a small school in Belfast and at the universities of Glasgow (MA 1771) and Edinburgh (MD 1778). In 1782 he moved to Newry, Co. Down, where he practised as a man midwife before setting up a medical practice in Dublin in 1789. From his student years he was keenly interested in Irish political life—his first political pamphlet was published in 1780—and he supported legislative independence. In Dublin he joined the “Monks of the Screw,” a group of patriots (William Preston [q.v.] was a member). His advocacy for an Irish brotherhood founded along masonic lines led to the establishment of the Society of United Irishmen. He served as president of the Dublin branch and wrote a number of the Society’s pamphlets. One of these, “Address to the Volunteers” (1792), led to his trial on a charge of seditious libel. He was acquitted but his experience of prison (where he slept with his father’s Bible under his pillow) caused him to moderate his political activities although he wrote pamphlets in opposition to the Act of Union. In 1800 he married Sarah Swanwick of Shropshire; they had four sons (one, the eldest, died in childhood) and a daughter. In 1807 he gave up his Dublin practice and the family moved to Belfast where he edited the Belfast Monthly Magazine (1808-13), helped to establish the Belfast Academical Institution, and supported Catholic emancipation. He died at home in Belfast and was buried in the Old Clifton Street graveyard. His verse was admired in his lifetime and he is said to be the first to refer to Ireland as “the emerald isle.” He remains of historical significance for the letters he exchanged with his sister, Martha McTier, over a period of forty years. The correspondence, now in the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, gives a vividly detailed account of life during a tumultuous period in Irish history. (DIB; ODNB 18 Feb. 2021) SR