Tom Williams (Irish Republican) - Early Years

Early Years

Williams was born at 6 Amcomri Street in the Beechmount area of Belfast in 1923. He was the third child in a family of six. His brother Richard was the eldest, his sister Mary died of meningitis at the age of three. Williams' mother Mary died, at the age of 29, after giving birth to his sister Sheila, who also died shortly after.

After the death of his mother, Williams and his brother then went to live with their grandmother at 46 Bombay Street in the Clonard area of Belfast. Williams family had had to leave the small Catholic enclave in the Shore Road area of Belfast before moving to Beechmount, after their house was attacked and burnt.

According to Williams's biographer, Jim McVeigh, because of its defencelessness this enclave saw some of the most awful atrocities of the period, the most infamous occurring in February 1922 when loyalists threw a bomb into a group of Catholic children playing in Weaver Street, killing a number of them and grievously injuring many more. The Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor Dr MacRory, remonstrated and was quoted as saying "the butchery of my people". Williams's uncle Terry Williams was jailed for his part in defending the Shore Road enclave during this period.

As a child, Williams suffered from asthma and as a result was often very ill. He attended St Gall's Primary School but left at an early age to obtain work, which at the time was difficult due to discrimination. His work therefore consisted of labouring and as a delivery boy.