BATTLE OF BOULAGH.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 358, 6 January 1849, Page 3

BATTLE OF BOULAGH.

Willmont, near Boulagb Common, Sunday night. — Yesterday, on arriving at this place. I despatched a letter to the post town of Callan, the contents of which were to be communicated to you by telegraph. The letter was carried by Mr. W, P. Latham, a young gentleman residing here, and who had obligingly offered me his services for that purpose. He arrived at Callan in perfect safety, but on his return he was stopped by a band of men who were armed with guns, scythes, and pikes, and who threatened to shoot him if he did not at once acknowledge that he was the bearer of despatches. By using the name of Mr. Lane, a gentleman highly popular in this neighborhood, and by conciliatory language, he succeeded, after two hours' detention, in pacifying his captors ; but finding from them that another party was lying in wait to intercept him, he deemed it more prudent to return and spend the night at Callan. Having done so, he left on his way home at eleven o'clock this morning, and reached Carabine bridge — appropriately so called— in perfect safety. There, however, he found himself suddenly surrounded by armed men, who were lying in ambush for him, and shouted our, " There goes the spy !" Finding that his progress was cut off, he at once leaped his horse over the ditch, and took to the fields ; but a shot was fired at him immediately afterwards, and before he reached home he was pelted with stones. I make no comments on these facts. The rebellion has for the moment been suppressed by the gallantry of fifty policemen, and the judicious arrangements of Mr. Blake, inspector of constabulary for the county of Kilkenny. To them belongs the chief merit of the check which insurrection yesterday re* ceived at the common Boulagb. Having, however, visited the spot to day, and made- the most minute inquiries of persons in every waytrustworthy, I am now enabled to supply you. with details which serve to fill np the outlines' I have already given of the events which took place here yesterday. In the first place, then, I have to mentioa that the brunt of the contest was not entirely [ borne by the party of constabulary from CaU lav. A body of nineteen men from Cashel,, headed by Sub-Inspector Cox, and accompanied by the Hon. Mr. French, R.M., arrived on the scene of action just as. the strugglewith Mr. Trant and his fifty men had terminated. While they were pushing upwards to ♦he house where their comrades were barrica-. ded, an immense body of the insurgents camedown upon them. One man, "a black coat boy," armed with a huge pike, which he brandished as he went along, offered to lead the attack on the police, and stood out in front for that purpose. Sub- Inspector Cox immediately gave the order to one of his constables, ,'- Shoot that man." He was at once pierced 'through the heart with a ball, and fell dead, tumbling over like a hare when shot running., This~ had a decisive effect. The crowd 4ed

at once, receiving a volley as they dispersed, which must have wounded some of them. The firing of Mr. Cox's party was heard by another detachment of ninety police under the command of Sub-Inspector Monagban, mo- ' ving up to the scene of action from Killenaule. The men at once gave three hearty cheers, and leaving the high road ran across the fields as fast as they could to the succour of iheir comrades. On their arrival, the party> of Sub-Inspector Trant withdrew from their perilous position, and returned to Callan. The widow Cormacks house, which these men occupied, stands on an elevated piece of aground above the common of Boulagh. It is a very substantial building, surrounded by a wall four feet high, and remarkably well adapted for the purpose for which it was used. The police appeared to have retreated on this position, parleying as they went with the insurgents, who in overwhelming numbers demanded their arms. Once safely inside they proceeded to barricade the windows and doors. Mantlepieces were torn down, doors pulled from their hinges, and dressers displaced for this purpose. The house now presents internally a sufficiently dismantled look, and poor Mrs. Cormack is left to lament a woful "destruction of her furniture and fixtures. Her own account of the affair is exceedingly graphic, and deserves to be recorded. Knowing that disturbances were likely to take place, she had collected within her house, as a sanctuary, her five children. When the police took possession of it, the insurgents shook their pikes at her for this, and in alarm she went to Mr. Smith OBrien, who, with the " '82 Club" cap upon his head, was squatted in her cabbage garden at the time, to avoid the fire of the little garrison within the house. The widow besought the " King of Munster" to go and speak to the police, but he declined doing so, and asked her to go back and tell them that all he wanted from then} was their arms. Finding that, as an ambassador, she ■did cot succeed in getting his request acceded to, she returned, and taking hold of Mr. OBrien by the collar, again urged him to see Mr. Trant. At first he refused to go, but the widow offered to escort him, and then he consented. Having gained her object so far, and seeing that a conflict was inevitable, she wished to recover possession of her five young children. The police, however, refused to give them up, retaining them as hostages for their own safety, but placing them under the staircase, the spot most sheltered from the fire of the rebels. The widow then went for the priest, and was absent from the town while the fighting was going on. On her return,- the insurgents were removing their dead and wounded, being allowed by the police to do so on condition that they came unarmed. Taking up the thread of the narrative at the point where widow Cormacks information ceases, I hear from Mr. Trant that he was up stairs barricading the windows when Smith OBrien made his appearance below. The rebels had occupied some back premises, and were keeping up a cross fire, which made it very difficult for him to join his men below. Having, however, succeeded in getting down safely, he saw Smith OBrien creeping on all fours out of the gate of the inclosure. Two of his men immediately shouted, " There he is," and raising their^, muskets fired at him within a, distance of 12 yards. He rolled over at the discharge, either to avoid the shot, or because he was hit, and then disappeared. I had nearly omitted mentioning one point in the widow Cormacks statement which is interesting and important. On her return, she found a crowd of persons round a handsome looking young man who was severely wounded, being shot through both legs. This is supposed to be Mr. Dillon. They were cutting off his boot when she saw him, and he appeared to be in great pain. The blood was streaming from the wounds. The Roman Catholic clergy of the district appear to have acted in a very creditable manner with reference to this insurrectionary movement. The conduct of the Rev. Mr. Corcoran I have already alluded to. I have now to state that the Rev. Mr. Mabor exposed himself yesterday to considerable personal danger in interfering between the police and the peasantry, and endeavouring to put a stop to the disturbances. The Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald also used his influence at a late hour last night, in preserving the peace, when the people, who were in a very excited state, had begun to ring the chapel bell of Killensale, end threatened to renew the contest. To-day, I hear that he exhorted his hearers from the pulpit <■ to observe the law, and that the celebrated Father Laffan also told his excitable parishioners, at mass, that if they joined in the rebellion he would curse diem from the altar by book, bell, and candle. Father" O'Shaughnessy, parish priest of Drangan, made a similar announcement, and altogether there is no doubt that the Roman Catholic clergy here, as a body, have used their influence- most creditably for the preservation of : the public peace by discountenancing rebellion.

The military force which arrived here last night is 1500 strong, and is under the command of that distinguished officer, General M 'Donald. It consists of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and is equipped as completely in every respect as if about to engage in a regular campaign. General M'Donald concentrated his forces upon this position last night with extraordinary rapidity, and his arrangements for keeping up communication with the different military stations in the neighbourhood so as to effectually crush any outbreak that may be attempted, are of the most complete and satisfactory character. The small parties of police actually engaged with the insurgents appear to have done bloody execution among them. Out of eleven who are known to have been killed on the spot, or very seriously wounded, six are already dead, and the rest are not expected to survive. Many more, I hear, are hurt, and it is impossible to ascertain exactly the extent of the loss, as the insurgents, who were principally colliers out of work, withdrew their comrades when they fell, and concealed the bodies of their dead. Smith OBrien, I hear, gave a sovereign to a woman whose husband was shot dead before he left the scene ol action. The correspondent of the Morning Chronicle gives the following account of the way in which the house became the scene of conflict : — On the night of Fiiday last, Smith OBrien, who on the Thursday before had been seen safe by 800 armed men out of their county, oi Tipperary, towards Waterford county, returned unexpectedly to Commons, accompanied by three jaunting cars full of gentlemen. The neighbourhood turned out, armed, and seized the arms of " two streets of palatines," as my collier guide called a Protestant colony, descendants of Germans, settled in the neighbourhood. The night was passed by OBrien and his party reviewing and marshalling their forces ; and he slept in a cabin, round which 32 men stood guard. Next morning, having notice by their spies of the advance of tbe Callan police force, which formed part of four or five bodies which were to concentrate at Ballingarry, he assembled and addressed his men on two great plateaux of culm, and about half-past 12 o'clock they saw the Callan police force, of thirty- seven men, under Inspector Trant, advancing from Ballingarry to meet them. The police had advanced as far as a cross road that comes down the hill past Mrs. M'Cormack's house, when, suddenly seeing the great numbers that were under Smith OBrien, they turned up the cross road with a view of gaining a post of defence. O'Brien's body then broke, and ! rushed up the hill to anticipate their design ; or, as my informant phrased it, to " cross-cut-i ihera." But the police got in first, running neck and neck. The widow M'Cormack, who some minutes before had gone down from her house to the national school, alarmed, by reason of the music and hurraing, for the safety of two of her children at school there, found herself mingled by the crowd rushing up. She ran with them, for she had left five children in the house, and reached the yard gate just as the police had secured the house doors. Outside the wall were hundreds shouting, while within in front and rear, were a few. At the gate they stopped her, and cried, " Why did you let them in ?" But she rushed past, and standing up on the parlour window stool, begged in vain that her children might be given out. She then «aid to the police, " I will send for the priest to make the peace," and she offered to put a boy on Mr. Trant's grey horse that was loose in the enclosure in front, but tbe inspector advised her to send a boy on foot. She then went to Smith OBrien who was sitting under the wall in the cabbage garden, and asked him what it was he wanted ? He said, " tell the police it is their arms I want." She returned to him with a refusal, and putting her hand on his coat collar, she said " Go, sir, and speak tojhem yourself ;" but he refused unless she went with him, which she did, and she saw him parley with them through tbe parlour window, and shake hands with them. She had previously seen some of the blackcoated men carrying hay to the back door, and heard OBrien hurrying them. Just about this time some of the men outside the wall flung stones at the windows, and fired a few shots, and she ran out, bearing the police bid her clear away, and before she was many steps the volley was given from the house. She ran to her father's three-fields off, and, returning in a quarter of an hour, found the firing over, the priest there, and the mob standing round out of reach of shot. At the wicket, one lay dead ; at the adjacent corner, under the wall, another lay badly wouuded, whom the priest was preparing ; aud another lay badly wounded near the yard gate. A hundred and twenty yards down a sloping field, west of the house, was a. bulk of men, amongst whom Smith OBrien was 'walking up and down quickly. They had a young man there, "a pure young gentleman," the/blood pouring down bis legs, his face pale

and sweaty, and he said, " Ob, lads, lay me down — lay me down, anywhere.** She advised them v to take off his boots, which they were doing when she quitted them. Shortly after she saw Smith OBrien ride off alone the Kilkenny way. It is believed the wounded man was OBrien Dillon, whom they call Dillon Browne. The following account is taken from the Freeman's Journal : — Dublin, four o'clock, a. m. — We have received the following special report from our correspondent in Kilkenny : — Early on Saturday morning, Sub-Inspector Trant of the Callan station, county Kilkenny, with between forty and fifty men under his command, proceeded to the neighbourhood of Ballingarry, on the borders of the county of Tipperary, and twelve miles from the city of Kilkenny, to assist in arresting Mr. Smith OBrien, who was reported to be in the mountains of that locality, surrounded by a large body of armed peasantry. Some time afterwards a mounted police constable, named Carrol, was sent from the Maudlin-street station, with a despatch for Sub-Inspector Trant, but on arriving at a part of the county between Ballingarry and a place called Comenons, he heard several shots fired, and he was soon afterwards taken prisoner by some armed country people, several of whom, were for shooting him, saying, as I have been informed, " If this mau gets back he will hang us all." The otbejs, however, declared they would not take Carrol's life. The constable was in coloured clothes. He was taken into the presence of Mr. Smith OBrien, who it appeared wore a cap with a peak and silver band, and carried a stick in his hand. Mr. OBrien addressing Carrol formally, -said, "You are one of the mounted police ?" The constable at once said he was, being aware that he was known to persons in the neighbourhood. Mr. Smith OBrien then turned round, and asked the people whether he should give himself up, but they advised him not to take such a step, upon which he walked about for some time, and then mounting the constable's horse rode away. Carrol was detained in the custody of four men. During this time, Sub-Inspec-tor Trant and his men were shut up in a house to which they had retreated, surrounded by the country people, upon whom they fired from the windows. After the lapse of two or three hours, Carrol was left in the charge of one man, who allowed him to take his departure. On his road back, Carrol encountered Mr. Smith OBrien, who had changed his dress, and now wore a hat. Mr. OBrien, who was on horseback, stopped the constable, but the latter remonstrated with him, and told him it was foolish to think of holding out against the force that would be brought against him, especially as the priests were exhorting the people not to join in resisting the authorities. Mr. OBrien appeared to think deeply on what Carrol said, and observed that ior twenty years, he had been endeavouring to serve his country, but if the people did not stand by him, he might as well give up the attempt. He shortly afterwards gave Carrol his stick, and rode off. It would be impossible to picture the consternation into which the rebel army was thrown by this disgraceful issue of an insurrection which l<as been in process of gestation since the memorable year of the monster meetings ; and now, after all the stimulants that have been applied to bring it to a healthy maturity, has been crushed in the bud by a handful of policemen. This is a sad response to all the ravings and blusterings about the armed millions united in a holy cause, the " wild blood of Tipperary," fighting to the death, &c. Alas! for the last appeals of Messrs. Duffy, Martin, and Lalor. The rebellion, to use their favourite, phrase, has been " squelched," and in all human probability, before the opening of the Commission on Tuesday next, the leaders will be in the hands of the " enemy."