Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 46, 14 November 1907, Page 27

Irish News

ANTRIM— A Friend of the Poof and Needy The death is reported of Mr. William Downeyywho had beefi,. for upwards of fifty-two years connected with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Belfast, thirty- - three ; :of which he spent as President of the Central' Council of Down and Connor. Stirring up Strife . Speaking at a recent meeting- of the Belfast Trades . Council, Mr. A. Stewart referred to the recent strike,and said it was* staged that three Protestants, had - been dismissed and Catholics put in their place. Everybody knew that was the most absurd thing in .. .the - world, and an unfounded lie. Mr. . Farrell, an Orangeman, and a Protestant, said the ' question of religion "was never introduced. Everything, in connection with ,the strike was done above board; . CORK-— Pioneer of Technical Education The Right .Rev. ' Dr.^ O'Callaghan, Bishop of Cork, unveiled recently a memorial bust of the late Rev. Brother Burke in front of the Christian Brothers' Schools, at Our Lady's Mount, Cork. Deceased has been described as the pioneer of technical education in Ireland by those who followed his laborious career with close attention. His name will long be remembered throughout "the country ¥ wherever a branch of his Order exists for his devotion to the noble cause of Christian education. ■ - A New Church . .. . On Sunday, September 22, his Lordship the Right "Rev. Dr. Kelly, Bishop of Ross, laid the foundation stone of the new Catholic church proposed to be erected at Timoleague, in presence of a large body of clergy, and of an immense crowd of laity from various parts of Cork County and city. ' The proposed church commands a splendia view of Courtmacsherry Bay. The design is Celtic Romanesque. DERRY — Consecration of the Bishop On Suinday, September 29, the Rig/ht ißev. Dr. McHugh, Bishop-elect of Derry, was solemnly consecrared by his Eminence Cardinal Logue in St. Eugene's - Cathedral, Derry. DUBLIN — Immunity from Serious Crime _ Addressing the Grand Jury at the opening of the Michaelmas Sessions, at Kilmainhairi Courthouse, the Hon. the Recorder referred to the peaceable aivd orderly character of the County Dublin, and said there - was reason to be justly proud of the position which the county held in its immunity from serious and grave crime. KERRY— Evicted Tenants Reinstated After being evicted for several years from their farms and- homes,- two tenants named L. Darnel and David Loughlin, on the Saunders estate at Cord>al, convenient to Castleisland, County Kerry, have been reinstated and allowed to purchase with their co-tenants on . the estate. Two more tenants named Buckley and Murphy,. , residing a few miles from Castleisland, after • being evicted for . a number of years, have also been restored, whilst negotiations are in progress, for the restoration of an evicted tenant named Nolan on the Drummond estate convenient. The restoration of these tenants has occasioned considerable public satisfaction and rejoicing. KlLDAßE— Kindness Appreciated The Rev. Mr. Elliott, Methodist minister, Ballina.sloe, who has been lately transferred to that' town " from Athy, to' show his appreciation of " the great kindness of the people of Naas, has sent a subscription of £5 .to the free library. LIMERICK— In Memory of Gerald Griffin Fromi the spirit of tfie meeting held after the bust of Gerald Griffin had been unveiled in >the Griffin Memorial Schools .(says an Irish exchange), it may be 'inferred that the citizens of Limerick will make- a special effort to liquidate . the. debt of £2500 incurred by • the Christian Brothers 'in making the schools worthy of the^narre of the novelist and poet. That, indeed, the people regard it in the light of a debt of honor on the city was the sentiment of the speech delivered by Alderman J.oyce, M.P. Limerick desired- some'years ago to .honor the memory of . her distinguished son, and it being generally agreed that the reconstruction ' and-* enlargement of the old schools would effect the most

appropriate memorial the work was undertaken by -the ' Christian * Brothers, and accomplished to the satisfaction of all -citizens/ That creates an obligation which the., city will not shirk. It is noteworthy that- the controversy as to the birthplace of Griffin was settled at the meeting- by- the Rev-. W. R. Shanahan, P.T., St. Mary's,' who . said he. found in Hhe Register tof j his parish that the author of 'The Collegians ' was "baptized on December - 19, 1803, by the Very Rev-. Dr. Flynn. . . ,• - - ■ '- -.•-.": MEATH— Death of a Priest The death of Rev. Thomas M'Cormick, P.P., iwhich took place at the Parochial House, Summerhill, County 1 Meath, on September 20, is deeply regretted by a large circle of friends. ' _ "". TYRONE— New Schools Required On September 21 the Rev. P. "Quinn, pastor. .of - Stewartstown, left for the" United States for the -purpose of raising additional funds -to" discharge a .duty, " imposed upon him of - erecting new - schools in Coalis- - land, and also for the purpose of- building a parochial' house in Stewartstown. The~ present schools aTre ' : insufficient.to accommodate the number of pupils— now ex- ' ceeding over three hundred— in an industrious and jpopu- • . lous towm" like. "Coalisland". - The need for a parochial _ house i"s quite apparent, as the present house is "inadequate to meet requirements. An Octogenarian Judge * In Omagh this year the Revision Sessions were presided over by County Court. Judge Sir Francis Brady, who holds the title of" being the father of. the Bench in the United Kingdom, and is "well over eighty years of age. WATERFORD— The Ashtown « Outrage » Though Lord Ashtown has been awarded £140 damages (says the London ' Daily News') and declared by the County Court Judge of Waterford to 'be free from all suspicion of conniving at the explosion at his shooting lodge, the mystery of that occurrence remains for solution. It is quite clear that the" matter cannot be •allowed to rest where it was left by the County Court /Judge's decision. The terms of that decision make a. full and complete inquiry on the part of the Government absolutely essential. If we understand -the Judge's decision it conveys that some higher authorities than District-Inspector Preston Gave been- concerned in the production of this report, which, surely did not ' deserve to be described as ' egregious.' Inspector Preston's theory of the explosion was reasonable and consistent ;,j and, above all, it was backed up by Captain Lloyd, of the Home Office,' who entered upon his duty free" from suspicion of bias which prevails so largely in Ireland. That there was an explosion is undoubted; but throughout the entire case we have not -observed a single suggestion as to how a large pot "filled withy blasting, powder w t as conveyed to Glen&iheiry Lodge without - any trace of a footstep left on the, soft earth on a rainy night. We entirely • accept the decision acquitting Lord Ashtown of any complicity in the outrage. -But that is not .enough. There have been bdtter experiences of ' faked ' outrages in - Ireland in the past. In the very last issue of Lord Ashtown's own pamphlet, ' Grievances from Ireland,' a previously reported outrage is explained away as being, no outrageat 'all. The whole matter "of the explosion, we repeat, is one for thorough inquiry on the part of the authorities. , . . ,*, VWEXFORD—CIaims for Compensation At a recent meeting of the Gorey" District Council, a claim for compensation for alleged malicious injury, -by reason of the windows of his residence being broken, and his bicycle smashed, was received from Rev. Mr. Ridgeway, Rector of Gorey. Mr. N. Whitty said - the man who did the damage for which Mr. ' Ridgeway now claimed compensation was a Protestant, who was now in gaol for *"six months for the offence. MrLyons said that this occurrence, as he learned from a friend in England, was blazoned all over England in the papers as an outrage by the Catholics ', -on this" Protestant clergyman, and as due to an outbreak of sectarianism in Gorey. Those papers which published the calumny he knew would not publish the refutation. Capital was made out of it in the English press, to -make out that the Protestants and Catholics were at war in Gorey. As a matter of fact there 'was no sectarianism in it. It was decided to oppose the claim. Railway Collision ._ . A terrible accident occurred on the Great Southern, and Western Railway at Kilrane Station, one mile from ■ Rosslare Pier, shortly before nine p.m. on September*Tß, whereby seven men, including two engine drivers and

iT?i,2 T 6 ?'- and - , Rlchard c *rr, locomotive foreman, a CNr, > !« it imerick ' Were shocki ngly injured, especially ntw' ™ cie i rec . over y llttle hope is entertained. Two other men belonging to the Rosslare locomotive staff SSnP H?" Set T SIY hUrt ' At aboUt 8 - 30 P- m -> a Pilot Wh ' 4 7- en b / a o man named Lawler » left Wexford South Station for Rosslare Harbor Station. The night was very foggy and it is conjectured that the engine £w?w nt iH Kl l ra ? e Station re S aidless of the signals! which could not be seen in the thick fog. At Kilrane the up nine train to Wexford lay stationary. There were no passengers in the train. Suddenly the stationmaster and other officials were terror-stricken by a fierce crash, the pilot engine running into the train. Both the engines were smashed almost to pieces by the force of the impact, and .the escaping steam fearfully burnt the unfortunate men, some of whom became deGENERAL The Lowest in the Decade The Irish Prison Board in their annual report express their pleasure at being able to record a decrease in the number of prisoners under sixteen years of age While prisoners of this class numbered 343 in 1897, they fell to 155 last year, being a decrease of 41 on the previous year and the lowest in the decade. Housing the Workers There is at least one gleam of brightness on the horizon, (says the ' Freeman's Journal '). At last it, would seem as if the labourers are within view of decent' homesteads The kennels and piggeries in which they were herded heretofore are doomed, and it will soon. be possible for the masses of agricultural Ireland to be brought .up amid clean, healthy - surroundings The mud hovels will disappear from the landscape, and something like homes will take their places. Time alon& can tell whether this gigantic improvement will stay the emigration and whether Goldsmith's halcyon village can be made to flourish on Irish soil. It is at all events gratifying to see how keenly the local authorities in various parts of the country are tryingto apply the Laborers Acts, and thus taking the first' measures to plant the mass of the Irish people firmlvm their native land. The Police Force Seventy-one years ago (says the ' Belfast Weekly '> the population of Ireland was (roughly speaking:)' double what it is now. There were then 7400 policemen in the country, and their total cost was but a. fraction of the present enormous -and badly-distributed' total. Now, half the number of people of 3 836 have placed amongst then:, over 10,000 armed and disciplined! men, better paid than their predecessors of the day when the ' Tithe War ' raged, and counting ' on the establishment ' a multitude of officers and spies and. anti-spies whose place on" the public estimates is quite as indefensible- as the position occupied by the ladies; whom George 11. cast on to. the Irish Pension List, about 170 years ago. The population has fallen by 50' per cent. ; crime has decreased more than relatively " gaols are deserted ; peace is the rule throughout, seven-eighths of the country, and where ' disturbances ' are, so also are professional liars to invent and circulate exaggerations. Yet the actual number of policehas increased by 40 per pent, as compared with 70' years ago, and the expense of maintaining these men— and their officers— has been far more than doubled What do we get for the withdrawal of strong; youngmen from the profitable work they should be doing in: any well-governed country, and for the vast increase in/the cost of maintaining these idlers ? A Talented Young Lady • Writing of the success of the various Catholic-, schools at the intermediate examinations the ' Freeman's' Journal says :— We have merely space to note that the convents repeat the victory of the btoys' schools, though* not with the emphasis of a few years ago. St. Louis: Convent, Monaghan, heaJds the way this year with 39 successes, while Loreto Convent, Wexford, ties with theexcellent Alexandra School in Dublin. The Dominican Convent Eccles street, is, of course, prominent, and has' produced a record-breaker in the person of a young lady who carries off no fewer than three medals, qualifies for fh t! * toT . lichl she did not compete, and stands at, the .head of the Senior Grade. Land Purchase Transactions * The report of the Irish Land Commissioners for the period from April 1, 1906, to March 31, 1907, says that since the passing of the Act of 1903 to March 31, 1907, 6,255 applications, representing £1,175,828, have been received. Of these advancesamounting to £1,045,810, in respect of 5,667 applications, have* been provisionally sanctioned.