Author: MCWILLIAM, Hugh
Biography:
MCWILLIAM, Hugh (b c. 1783: Pierse)
His surname is sometimes given as McWilliams or M'Williams. McWilliams was probably born in Glenavy, Antrim, Ireland, in about 1783. He was Catholic and taught in hedge schools in County Down (1800-16) and Country Antrim (1819-31). Dictionary of Ulster Biography states that he published a book with the same title as the one listed here, Poems and Songs, in 1816. Some of his songs proved enduringly popular and the collection was edited and republished in 1993 by John Moulden as Songs of Hugh McWilliams, Schoolmaster. (Michael Pierse, A History of Irish Working Class Poetry [2017]; Dictionary of Ulster Biography online 3 Apr. 2025) SR
Books written (2):
Belfast: J. Smyth, 1816
Belfast: Printed by J. Smyth, 1831