Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 7, 15 February 1906, Page 9

Irish News

ANTRIM — A Generous Response Seventy thousand pounds have been raised in response to the appeal for the better equipment of Queen's College, Belfast. CORK— Discordant Elements Very Rev. Canon Sheehan, when distributing the to the pupils of the Christian Brothers' Schools, Doneraile, delivered an able address, in the course of which he said that by that singular perversity which .seemed to characterise the proceedings of all their public Boards of Education, there was no connection between the different grades of education in the country. Each stupid department had its own curriculum, its own management, its own programme, and to that perversity the best interests of the country were sacrificed. It was just as if outside the broad edifice of t education, ladders were placed for access to each landing or storey, instead of a broad, spacious staircase, or elevator, by which a boy could pass by easy gratTations to the summit of the educational ediuce. Some day, perhaps, a genius like Pestalozzi would arise and harmonise all the discordant elements of the system. DERRY— A College for Gaelic Students At a conference in Derry of delegates from the Gaelic League in Ulster, a. committee was appointed to select a site for the college for Gaelic teachers, the .establishment of which in Donegal has been suggested Jjy the Most Rev. Dr. O'Donnell, Bishop of Raphoe. A Successful Student A student of St. Columb's College, Derry, Mr. James M'Grory, has been awarded first prize for elementary drawing at South Kensington, London. GALWAY- Fiddaun Castle The report of the Commissioner of Public Works on the preservation ol Fiddaun Castle reminds the ' Freeman's Journal ' that the Castle was one of three belonging to the O'Shaughnessys, who were chiefs of the Inbe named Kineal Aedh na Achte ; one of them, Sir Roger O'Shaughnessy, was created a baronet by' Henry VIII., A.D. 1515. The O'Shaughnessy Estates were in part confiscated in 1697, the then owner, Col. Wm. O'Shaughnessy, having been attainted and obliged to fly to France, where he died A.D. 1744. The Castle was inhabited continuously by members of the O'Shaughnessy family intil 117(29, when Lady Helena O1O 1 Kelly died there. She was the widow of the last resident -O'Shaughnessy, and had married O' Kelly after (her "husband's death. There are many Castles in County Galway, but few of them have so large an enclosed - 4 bawn ' or courtyard surrounding them as Fiddaun. •The space enclosed is 127 feet 10 inches by 76 feet 6 inches, and the enclosing walls average 5 feet in thickness and 12 feet in height, with steps on the inside to give access to the top for purpose of defence. 'They are loopholed for musketry. The position is in the centre of a low level plain adjoining the small ..sheet of water called Lough Doo. It is about two miles from Tubber Railway Station on the line be--tween Athenry and Limerick. The Castle itself measures 39 leet by 28 feet 6 inches externally. It was ..originally is seven stories, including the ground floor .and attic, and rises to a height of 77 feet from the ground. KERRY — Intermediate Board Mismanagement The Most Rev. Dr. Mangan, Bishop of Kerry, when distributing the prizes to the successful pupils in St. Brendan's Seminary, Killarney, said that though they -were entitled on the passes of the students to over £700, they had received only £552 10s. His Lordship had not full information as to the reason for this disappointing state of things, but he hoped he was not going too far in attributing it to the mismanagement of the Intermediate Board, to whose working this year Iris Grace the Archbishop of Dublin had called the attention of the public. Death of a Religious At Tralee towards the end of December Brother 'Walsh passed away in his seventy-fifth year. For over half a century he taught successively in Dublin, Limerick, Dungarvan, Westport, and Athy. The last five years of his life were spent in Tralee. Congratulations On hearing of the promotion of Rev. T. Harring--ton to the pastorship of Bonane and Glengariff, the

people of Brosna, in which the rev. gentleman spent many years, met and adopted a resolution congratulating him upon his promotion. LIMERICK— An Explanation The Bishop of Limerick has received a letter from the Commissioners of National Education in answer to a protest recently made by his Lordship against the operation in his diocese of their rules relating to the amalgamation of schools. The Commissioners say that they do not advocate mixed education in general, but that as one-teacher schools are on educational grounds unsatisfactory, they have decided that their number should be diminished by all reasonable means. The Meaning of Devolution Lord Dunraven, speaking at Limerick the other day, said the object of the Irish Reform Association was Devolution in Irish affairs and the procuring for Ireland of the greatest possible amount of self-government compatible with the supremacy of Parliament and the maintenance of the Legislative Union. They had now a Government in office willing to help them, and the Irish people should keep the Government acting in this manner. -He thought that all might yet.be well. A Distinguished Visitor A despatch from Abbeyfeale, under date December 20, says :— The President of St. Thomas's Ecclesiastical College, St. Paul's, U.S.A., Very Rev. Dr. Moynihan, is at present on a visit to his friends in Abbeyfeale. Dr. Moynihan was for a considerable number of years secretary to Archbishop Ireland, who appointed him to the presidency of St. Thomas', the leading ecclesiastical training college in the Western States. Proposed Exhibition At a largely attended meeting of the Chamber of Commerce in Limerick it was decided to hold an Industrial Exhibition for Munster and Connaught in that city in the coming year. MAYO— The County Council The Mayo County Council at a recent meeting passed resolutions denouncing jury packing at Sligo, and protesting against the retention of Sir Horace Plunkett in office. TlPPEßAßY— Retirement of the Late Member Mr. P. J. O'Brien, who had been M.P. fop North Tipperary for some years, intimated to his constituents before the general election that he would not be a candidate, as he considered they should be represented by a younger and more active man. Discovery of Copper A rich copper mine has been near Borrisoleigh. Experts have visited the place recently, and it is understood that some of them are in communication with the owner of the lands, with a view to purchasing them for mining operations. WEXFORD— Death of a Priest The death occurred recently at New Ross of the Rev. W. P. Dundon, 0.5.A., .after a brief illness. Deceased was a member of an old County Limerick family, being born at Jockey lla.ll, Patrickswell, in 1843. Ordained to the priesthood at Wexford in '6)7, in company with the present Bishop of Sandhurst, the Most Rev. Dr. Reville, 0.5.A., he returned to his native county some years afterwards, and attached himself to the Augustinian Church, where he ministered until quite recently. He then ag,ain revisited County Wexford, *wherd he remained until his death. WICKLOW— The Miltown Art Collection The application heard the other day by the Master of the Rolls with reference to the delivery to the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of.thd celebrated Miltown Art Collection will recall the circumstance (says the ' Freeman's Journal ') that that collection is now at the seat of the Earls of Miltown, Russborough House, Blessington, County Wicklow, which is one of the most magnificent residences in the Kingdom, and can be seen on the tram line to Blessington by the visitors to Poulaphouca Waterfall, Russborough. It was built in the early half of the eighteenth century, .and was designed by Bindon, who was renowned both as an architect and a painter. It is of the Italian style, and is of a construction similar to Carton, the seat of the) Duke of Leinster, and to Castletown, the house of the Conollys. Bindon painted three portraits of Dean Swift, of which all are extant. One in the Deanery House, St. Patrick's, of which the portrait in the Examination Hall of Trinity College is a copy, is the property of the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral, and was preserved . from fire, when the

old Deanery was burnt to the ground, by the Dean of the day, who sustained burns which placed his life in serious . danger. Another, the gift of Dean Swift to the Lord Howth of the day, is in Howth Castle, and a third, v/hich belonged to a Dr. Barry, an eminent physician and friend of the Dean, came "into the possession of the Breretons of New Abbey, County Kildare, and now belongs to Mr. Swift MacNeill. GENERAL A Record in Centenarians According to the annual report of the Irish Regis-trar-General, no fewer than 182 (Centenarians died in Ireland last year, and 711 persons over 95 years. These figures, having regard to the population of Ireland, constitute a record, while it is stated that sheer old age rather than any specific disease was the cause of death in 9840 cases. Old age ranks second highest in the classified causes of death, consumption heading the list. Flax and Linen Factories A return moved for by Mr. Wolff, M.P., is issued as to the number of flax and linen factories in the United Kingdom subject to the Factory and Workshop Act of 1901, and from it we gather that the total number of mills in Antrim is 68 ; Armagh, 32 ; Down,, 34 ; and Tyrone, 16". The power looms are represented by the following figures :— Antrim, 15,378 ; Armagh, 7616 : Cork 100 ; Down, 5-512 ; Dublin, 562 ; Derry, 582 ; Louth' 1346 ; and Tyrone, 1735. 'The total number of mills in Ireland during 1905 was 160, as compared with 145 in 18'99<, and the total power-looms respectively 32,831 and 25,556 i. Hemp mills in Ireland show an increase of from one to four in the corresponding period, while jute mills show a decrease of from three to two. The Christmas Festival Never (writes a Dublin correspondent) was the great Christmas festival celebrated in Ireland with greater devotion than on Monday last. Long before daybreak the churches everywhere were thronged with pious worshippers. Thq( demeanor of one and all was indeed edifying, and could not fail to impress the most lukewarm. Needless to say, the sacred ceremonies were carried out with great religious pomp, as befitted the joyful occasion. For the first time every public house in the country was closed, and fortunately closed securely. Not even the ' bona fide ' could slake his thirst, for although piublicans were not prohibited from supplying him under the Closing Act which came into force on that^ dayy they fell into the spirit of the new order of things brought about owing to the efforts of Mr. Nannetti in Parliament. That the statute should have been passed years ago everyone now admits. The sober and at the same time joyous demeanor of the people who thronged the roads and streets testifies .to the fact. Not a Happy Selection The action of the new Irish Administration (says ihe ' Irish Weekly ') regarding the vice-presidency of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland does not appear to us to be at all happy or calculated to produce a good impression ;on the country. Sir Horace Plunkett was appointed head of the Department by the late Tory Ministry, and acted in that capacity as a member of the late Ministry. No one pretends that his administration has been in any sense a, success. Great sums of money have been squandered all over the country with, it is to be feared, rather infinitesimal results. We fail to see what claims he has on a Government to which the entire Unionist party in Ireland are opposed, and we cannot think of the action of the Government in this respect as at all likely to please the Irish people. Irish Pipes One of the most interesting features of the Irish Celtic revival is the reappearance of the Irish pipes. There are two kinds of Irish pipes— the ' war pipes ' and the ' union pipes,' the latter being a development of the former and a much more perfect instrument. The .'last record of the Irish pipes in battle was in the Irish brigade at Fontenoy. It was curious that no attempt has been made to revive them for the Irish Guards, though, perhaps, such an introduction would fail to find favor in the eyes of the Celtic circle. The Irish war pipes differ only slightly from the hotter known Scotch pipes. The) union pipes have a range of two octaves. The wind is supplied by a bellows held under the right arm, the player being in a sitting position. The piper was looked upon as an important personage in the ancient Irish army, and ' his fall was regarded of an equal loss as that of an officer.'