THE MEMORY OF O’CONNELL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1471, 23 February 1886, Page 2

THE MEMORY OF O’CONNELL.

Some three or four years ago Canon Brosnahan—parish priest of Cahirciveen, the birth-place of Daniel O’Connell—conceived the idea of erecting a church to the memory of Ireland’s liberator. To do this he obtained the sanction of his Bishop, and ultimately the co-operation and approval of the Pope of Rome. Since then determined steps have been taken to collect funds sufficient to render the church worthy of the memory of Daniel O’Connell, and with this object in view priests have been sent to various parts of the world. One of these priests —the Rev. Father Kellegher—arrived in Temuka last Saturday evening, and preached in the Roman Catholic Church last Sunday a very powerful sermon explanatory of the object of his mission. He gave a resumd of the early history of Ireland. For 300 years after St. Patrick had converted the Irish it was the most civilized nation on the face of the earth. It was the seat of learning, and students from all parts of Europe flocked to the Irish Schools and Universities, where they received a free and liberal education. The Danes came, and destroyed many of the monasteries and schools, but they after another 300 years were expelled. -He next traced the history of the country up to the enactment of the penal laws, when it was a crime for a Catholic to teach a school, or to be educated, or to own a horse worth more than £5. In fact, in those days a Catholic had no legal right to exist in Ireland, and any of them that received any education had to go to the colleges of France, Germany, or Spain. It was then that Daniel O’Connell was born. He believed he was ordained by Providence to be the Liberator of the the Irish people, for had he not Divine assistance be could not have achieved all he did under the circumstances with which he was surrounded. After a brief sketch of the life of O’Connell, and the difficulties which he surmounted, the rev. gentleman said the object of his mission was to collect money for the purpose of erecting an O’Connell Memorial Church on the spot where he was born, When the matter was submitted to His Holiness the Pope, he approved of it highly, and gave his blessing to the work and to all who would contribute towards it, and sent a magnificent block of beautifully carved marble to be used as the first stone in the Church. This stone was inscribed “ The gift of the Pope to Ireland to raise a monument to the memory of her Liberator.” He had heard of the liberality of the people of Temuka, but, had he never heard of them before, the beautiful church which they had erected showed plainly what they were. It was the most beautiful church he had seen in all his travels. He trusted they would give liberally to him for the object he had in view. He would call on them all during the week, when he would be happy to receive their donations. The rev. gentleman will be in the district the whole week collecting for the abovementioned object.