Billy Teare

William Hume Teare, known everywhere as Billy, was a Northern Irish storyteller, comedian, author and all round stage entertainer whose voice carried Antrim folklore from village halls to international festivals. Born on 5 April 1951 at Redhall in Ballycarry, County Antrim, to Molly (nee Hume), a housewife, and Duncan Teare, a painter and decorator, he grew up in the village before attending Greenland Secondary School and Larne Technical College. He lived for most of his life in nearby Larne.

His mother quietly encouraged his theatrics from childhood, taking him to concerts and Women's Institute meetings, a secret kept from a father who might have disapproved. In his teens he formed a comedy duo, The Mopheads, with friend Arthur McQuitty, before going solo on the tough Belfast standup circuit. By day he worked as a law clerk in the civil service, including serving summonses in Belfast at the height of the Troubles. In his spare time he built a one-man variety act that layered hypnotism, magic, mentalism and prodigious memory feats onto comedy, including greeting audiences by name after meeting them only at the door.

Around 1990, after hearing Scottish musician and storyteller Robin Williamson in Bath, Teare turned fully toward storytelling. By the early 1990s he had left office work behind and made his living on stories, songs, juggling and theatrical craft, with occasional part-time jobs when needed. He became one of the original Tullycarnet Yarnspinners in Belfast, worked with BBC Northern Ireland and the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry, and appeared for decades in schools, libraries, community venues and folk festivals across the British Isles and North America. Residencies and festival dates included the International Storytelling Centre in Tennessee (2008), the Yukon International Storytelling Festival, Beyond the Border in Wales, Toronto, and Sidmouth.

From 2003 he partnered with Kathleen O'Sullivan as a Northern Irish story and song duo. Together they co-wrote Antrim Folk Tales (The History Press, 2013), later represented in The Anthology of Irish Folk Tales (2020). After semi-retirement in 2016 he played harmonica with the Carrickfergus-based Edenites, helped revive his grandfather William James Hume's tune Hume's Hornpipe, busked at St George's Market in Belfast, and delighted passers-by with his Calendar Man date-to-weekday trick. Cousin Dr David Hume and fellow storyteller Liz Weir remembered a gifted one-off who raised funds for local charities and never lost the craic.

Billy Teare died peacefully at his home on Main Street, Larne, on 4 September 2026, aged 75. A service was held at Fleming and Cuthbert Funeral Home in Ballyclare on 11 September, followed by interment at Ballycarry New Cemetery. He is survived by daughters Lee and Grace (from his 1972 marriage to Venice Graham), grandson Robbie, and his long-time collaborator and friend Kathleen.