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EVICTIONS IN ARDAGH. Sad Scenes in County limerick. A PICTURE OF IRISH MISERY. Whole Families Turned Out of Their Homes to Face Starvation.

Fok two days in the last week of August this little \illage in ihe centre of a desolate bog country '\va& the scene of great excite "ment. It is all ovei now. The " crowbar brigade" did their work and departed. The detachment of Ivor Majesty's constabulary, numbering at least fifty, sent liere to back up tUe obnoxio.us bailifl's and emergency men, hare gone home to Limerick and Newcastle. The chapel bells which aaiig so sharply at Ardtigh and Glonshaiold before the evictions are silent. A tew augry men and Women stand in knots on the main street of the village and listen to the pathetic stories of the homeless 'ones, who have .walked' to' the village in liopes of finding shelter. ' Father Robert Ambrose, Rir Hurst and myself have just returned from the' mountains to Ardagh, For miles around may bd f=ecn the work of the evictors— shattered doors,, heaps of stones au'l mortar where holes have been cut in waifs, gaping' rafters where the thatch has been removed oh the root', wintlu .V s ! without cascmentf', floors covered with bi ush and hn^o timbers, and yards" strewn with the fur/nture and utensils jo'f the unhappy tenant?. Kor Ls this the worst. Ilovrring around in the vicinity of the-je .wretched homes are the former ocoupfnts. They are of the poorest classes ; their holdings are rfmail and the laud Svet and barren. Their dwellings consist of nothing but stone and mud walls, thatched roofs and the baro ground floors. The highest rent of the post p osperoua of these tenants would not reach over $500 per annum, and probably the lowest ?'B5. Human beings livo qnd

pay rent on this ostate for hovels not fife to keep pigs in. " "That," said Father Ambrose, as we left the scene of the last eviction, " is one of the most prosperous tenants on the estate." It was a dreary plaster house, with a thatched roof, moss-grown from age and damp. The roof of the outbuildings had fallen in. A few ducks splashed around in the mud-holes near the door, and a couple of goats tried to extract nourishment from the hedgo in front. The smoke from fcho peat fire within issued alike from doors and windows. This was the residenco of a fairly prosperous farmer. The resistance offered by fcho tenants of this estate, which belongs to John C. Delmoge, Justice of the Peace, was feeble. There were no such fortifications as we found at Mitchellstown, Youjffeal and Herbert^lown. The dismal surroundings, the steady and heartless increase ot rents, bad crops, and starvation diethavj crushed the spirit out of these onco prosperous mountaineer.?. To be sure they did resist. In some cases the bailiffs were an hour breaking into the tumble-down shanties. The scene in some instances, notably the White eviction, was exciting, though I am glad to say no ono was seriously hurt. This house is situated on rather a picturesque spot, surrounded by trees. Tho constabulary, numberino- nearly fifty, form a sort of ring around tho house, and then tho gallant- '-Crowbar Biisacle'' begin their wretched work amid the shrieks and sobs of women, the anathemas of men, ami the crying of children. Tlfo paiish piiest, J Father Ambrose, mounted on a fine hoive ; and surrounded by the rcprcsontath csof the newspapers, stood near, while nn immense throng of people summoned for miles around by the ringing of the chapel bells, assembled on the outside. If it Avero not tor this the brutality of the fiendish bailiff*, backed by tho constabulary, would be beyond description. As it i>, they tievt the women shamefully, while they needlessly smash up j Avith axe and crowbar every vestige of furni- ] tuie. "Don't allow all the furnifcme to be smashed by those ruflianly bailiffs. I can ( lolciate anything Luc this" said the priest, appealing to the officer in chaigo of Her Majesty's noble troops. It elicited nothing but a smile, and tho work wont on. The poor woman cried bitterly {is one by one the aiticleo of furnitmc wcic brought out, smashed up, and left in the highway to rob or to bo carried oiF a» firewood. It would be fatal for anyone to remonstrate. Tho least word of encouragement on our pait a\ ould have been buHV-ient under tho Coercion Act to land us in gaol. No matter what avo thought or felt, tho only policy awislo say nothing. The most absolutely ctuel eviction Avhieh we witnessed on this estate Avas that of Denis Hiestand and his aged mother. Theirs was one of the uorst hillside hovels I ever saw. A man avlio would rent such a place for human habitation deserves lynching. Yet for a quarter of a century this man and hw mother had lived therein. A feeble resistance was offered. In half an hour Her Majesty's gallant troops had possession of Fort llicstand. Denis was brought struggling out of the window, and hi-, mother, 80 years of age, v>as helped up the hillside by plucky Father Ambrose and a neighbour. From this point the poor old woman witnessed the smashing of her furniture. Leaning on her son's aim, Mr Hurst subsequently sketched Mrs Hicstandand her son as illustrations of the people upon Avhom is being wrought the noble Avork of the Tory landlord government of England in Ireland. At tho best, I can give but a few sample cases. Evictions are now going on all over Ireland, especially in districts where no united efforts have been made to resist them. In County Kerry, tor example, during the last few years the evictions have averaged 350 per quarter. Since the commencement of the agitation there have been rendered homeless by eviction in that county as many as toui teen thousand people. Many of these poor people, like Dennis Hiestand and his mother, arc huddled together by the ditch-side in mud huts, literally dying of exposure and starvation. Meantime, the land is idle, some of it relapsing into the condition in which it was bofoi c these tenants reclaimed it. While the special artist of the press sketched old Mis Hiestand, she kept exclaiming : "They have made bits of my bedstead; they broke it up Avith their hatchets. But J warned Denis not to say a Avoid, for they would put him in gaol if he did, and then his poor mother would stane."' In the same way the bailiffs disposed of the furniture on the While holding. Mrs White was a woman with live children, tAVO ot which number were twins only six months old. As the furniture was tossed I out and smashed up sho stood pale and trembling. Father Ambrose tried to quiet the husband and icstraiu tho woman. Some of the White furniture Avas very good, he must have been one of the prosperous tenants on the estate. Another lively scene took place at the house of John Corners. The house was on the roadsido, near the little chapel of Olensharold. A small whito- washed police hut and a temporary National League commit-tee-room had been erected near this spot. Connors was evidently conr-itlored a desperate mm, for tho police quarters had been built for the express purpose of watching his tenant and his half-dozen immediate neighbours. The house was barricaded, and filled with sand and timbers. Bang, bang went I/he bailiffs' sledgehammers against the front door. For half-an-hour the officers of the laAv worked amid the execrations of the assembled crowd. The armed constabulary took no part in the evictions. They formed around the house in a free and easy way, leaning on their muskets, and calmly Avatched tho struggle between rent-collec-tor and tenant. In \'ain tho door was hammered. It would not give way. # At last a ladder Avas procured, and the bailiffs ascended to the gable Avindow. Tim was guarded by a small iron gate which after .some troublo was beaten out, and then with a rush, followed by several constables, the bailiffs gained an entrance. Soon was heard a woman screaming. This was Conner's goodlooking and brave little wife, whom they threatened to throw out of the window. The threat Avas not carried into execution, and tho woman was afterward helped doAvn the ladder. Another of the houses was filled up with turf, but the bailiffs soon pitched it out, and with it the struggling tenants. _ We were not on the scene in time to witness the iirst day's evictions, though from what Father Ambroso said it was similar in many respects to the second day. Among the tenants evicted the first day' Avas tho son-in-law of Paddy Connors, who sheltered Captain John C. Gorry, of Lexington, Ky., during the Fenian troubles of 1867. It appeais that Gerry was an American citizen, and a constable attempted to arrest him single-handed. Gerry drew a revolver to defend himself, whereupon the officer attempted to run him through with a sword. Gerry, who v/as a good shot, | lodged a bullet in his adversary's arm and escaped. Paddy Connors undertook to get : the American safely out of the country, and he was secreted in the house from which the son-in-law of Connors was evicted yes • terday* Curiously enough, Robert Am-

brose, now Father Ambrose, was one of the boys employed in 1867 to watch the approaches to this house and warn the occupants of the approach of the police. Captain Gerry escaped to America, and I believe is living to-day in Lexington. In witnessing: these eviotions I was greatly struck with the energy and vigour | displayed by Father Ambrose, the young | curate of the parish. He is a superb horse- | man, and was the leading figure at all the evictions. One word from him would have brought a mob of several hundred men down upon the bailiffs and constables. The emergency men know this, and while ho was there with the band of newspaper men more humanity was displayed. An amusing 1 incident occurred at one of the evictions. A wretched, half-starved looking man, clothed in rags, sat calmly watching the proceedings on the back of a diminutive ass. Being somewhat in the way of the constables, the officer in charge said : " Arreotthat man !" The poor follow stiried up the sleepy ass a bit and tried to get out of the way. "What aro you, man?*' said the irascible officer. " A rag collector," meekly responded the man on the ass. "A rag collector," repeated the officer, m ith contempt. " And faith, your Honor, Yd rather be a rag collector any day than a viut collector," responded the man in rags. The crowd roared at the expense of the officer, and the rag dealer and his heavilyladen ass slowly took their departure in peace. — Ardagh correspondent of " Philadelphia Press."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TAN18871126.2.66

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Te Aroha News, 26 November 1887, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,810

EVICTIONS IN ARDAGH. Sad Scenes in County limerick. A PICTURE OF IRISH MISERY. Whole Families Turned Out of Their Homes to Face Starvation. Te Aroha News, 26 November 1887, Page 8

EVICTIONS IN ARDAGH. Sad Scenes in County limerick. A PICTURE OF IRISH MISERY. Whole Families Turned Out of Their Homes to Face Starvation. Te Aroha News, 26 November 1887, Page 8

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