Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 19 November 1908, Page 27

Irish News

ARMAGH— Distinguish Visitors ~" His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons was on a visit to his Eminence Cardinal Logue, at Ara Coeli,- Armagh, during" the last week in September. Amongst the other distinguished guests of the Cardinal were Most Rev. Dr. Hendrick, Bishop of the Philippines, accompanied by his secretary; Most Rev. Dr. McSherry, Bishop of Port Elizabeth ; Most Rev. Drr O'Neill, Bishop of Dromore ; Right Rev. Monsignor McGean, St. Peter's, New York, and Rev. Father Briody, New York. His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons visited most of the places of religious and historic interest in the city and environs, and expressed himself as greatly struck with the architectural beauty of St. Patrick's Cathedral. CARLOW— The Patrician Brothers The popular Irish Order of the Brothers of St. Patrick celebrated, at Tullow, County Carlow, the first centenary of their foundation on Sunday, September 27. The order was founded by Bishop Delany, of Kildare, in 1808, to meet the educational needs of the time. The Right Rev. Dr. Foley was present, and spoke in the warmest terms of the work of the Brothers. There was a great gathering of clergy and leading laymen on the occasion. The Holy Father sent his Apostolic Benediction. After the church ceremonies, an address of congratulation was presented to the Superior-General and Brothers of the Order by the members of the Tullow Town Commissioners, on behalf of the people of that town and district. To this address the SuperiorGeneral, the Rev. Jerome O'Bryne, replied, and in the course of his remarks mentioned that not only were the Brothers of the Order cradled in their midst, but Tullow is the very spot where the Brothers of St. Patrick first saw the light. Though they had four flourishing establishments in India and six in Australia, it was solely due to the want of Brothers that their extension had not been more rapid, for during the past two years alone they had very desirable applications from Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and India, alt of which they had been reluctantly compelled to refuse. CORK — Assistant Under-Secretary The Lord Lieutenant has appointed Mr. Edward O'Farrell, barrister-at-law, to be Assistant Under-Secretary. Mr. O'FarrelT,' 1 who was called to the Bar in 1882, was Registrar of the Land Commission, and has been since 1903 the Secretary to the Estates Commissioners. Mr. O'Farrell, who is about 53 years of age was born at Midleton, County Cork. He comes of an old Catholic Munster family, his father having a small landed estate near Youghal, which he sold under the Ashbourne Act He was educated at Trinity College. There he had a distinguished career, winning a Classical Scholarship in 1878. He was called to the Bar in 1882, and joined the Munster Circuit; Havfng practised for a few years, he was appointed Registrar to the Sub-Commission for the fixing of fair rents. Afterwards he was appointed Registrar to the Land Commission Court, in succession to Sir John Franks, and devoted himself with energy to the work of that responsible office. He continued as Chief Registrar to the Commission dealing with purchase matters until the passing of the Land Purchase Act of 1903. Then he was appointed Registrar and Assistant Secretary to the Estates Commissioners and has since acted in that capacity. '. ' Death of a Canon Widespread regret (writes a Dublin correspondent) has been caused by the news that on September 27, at his residence, the Very Rev. John Canon Lyons, parish priest of Kinsale, passed to hISh 1S reward, after a career in the sacred ministry of forty-six years. Born beneath the shadow of Togher Castle, in the year 1836, from his earliest years lie showed dispositions which marked him out as a suitable candidate for the priesthood His classical studies were pursued at the Mission House, Cork' where so many of the older generation of priests were, under the Vincent.an Fathers. Thence he proceeded to the Irish Collet Pans, and was ordained in the year 1862. In 1884 he received the pastoral charge of the extensive parish of Kilmichael. The Bishop of the Diocese, recognising his merits, transferred him to the more convenient parish of Monkstown, and appointed him a Canon of the Diocese of Cork. He was a profound Gaelic scholar, and the leading Gaelic writers constantly consulted him on their difficulties, an* were desirous to receive from him a critique of their literary productions. His forte was the deriva-

tiofl of the Gaelic names of places, and he displayed Jiis profound ' knowledge of this subject in a series of lucid articles in the Cork Archcßological Journal. Archaeology was for him a lifelong study,, and there are few raths or Oghm stones,, or other subjects of archaeological interest in the diocese of Cork .that* were not visited by him. - ' • DUBLIN— The Parnell Monument . ' Sir William Butler is to lecture in Dublin in aid of the funds required to complete the Darnell monument there. Sir William was an intimate friend of Mr. Parnell, and is naturally interested in his memorial. About £3000 is still wanted.KERRY— Death of a Religious - " The death occurred on September iS of Mother Emilian, of the Mercy Convent, Killarney, after a brief illness. The deceased, who was a daughter of Mr. Wm. Duane, Churchtown, County Cork, was 54 years of age. A Lesson for the North The • Cahirciveen Board of Guardians, composed almost entirely of Catholics, have unanimously elected a Protestant, Mr. Shuel, as solicitor to the board. On the occasion Mr. Sloane, one of the guardians, made a speech which might be taken to heart by his co-religionists in the North of Ireland. Mr. Sloane said : 'Asa Protestant member of the board, in the first place, I thank you for electing Mr. Shuel with such unanimity ; you have given the lie to those bigots who say that a Protestant cannot live in the South of Ireland, but you have given those narrowminded bigots on the north of the Boyne a flat contradiction, and those bigots, who are so narrow-minded as to say that a Protestant cannot live in the South of Ireland because of the Catholics, are not worthy to be men. lam in public life for the last thirty-two years, and during that long period I always experienced the greatest courtesy from the Catholics, and never got the slightest insult from any Catholic, or never got any disrespect from any of them. When the King of Portugal was assassinated the narrow-minded Protestant bigots of England asserted to King' Edward VII. that he had forfeited his Crown, as he had attended a Requiem Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul of the King of Portugal, but King Edward did not mind those narrow-minded bigots. A broad-minded Protestant never stoops to 'this mean narrow-mindedness. I, a Protestant, who was practically unknown to the Catholic electors of the Emlagh Electoral-- Division, elected me as one of their representatives on the Cahirclveen District Council on June 3 last, which is another proof of the calumnies of those bigots in the North.' LIMERICK— Boxing Exhibitions Condemned In the course of a letter" to the local press, the Right Rev. Dr. O'Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick, says : ' With great regret I observe by public notices through the city that it is proposed to hold pugilistic matches, one of these days, in the theatre. I regard this as nothing less than a scandal, and I beg publicly to protest- against it. These boxing matches are brutal and degrading exhibitions, and must debase the tone of the society which tolerates them.' Freedom of the City The Limerick Corporation have decided to present the freedom of the city to Mr. Joseph O'Mara, concert and opera singer, who is visiting some of the principal Irish cities, before his" departure for the United States to fulfil professional engagements. Mr. O'Mara is a native of Limerick. MAYO— Given over to the Beasts of the Field Rev. Father Bernard Vaughan, addressing a large audience in the Town Hall, Castlebar, recently, said he could not help referring to what he must describe as a lamentable sight to be seen on one's journey, with rare exceptions, all the way from Dublin to the far west of Mayo. That beautiful stretch of country seemed to have been given over to the beasts of the field, with the result that it had deteriorated even in his "memory. They were told that negotiations between landlord and peasant • for the transfer of land to the value of forty millions "had actually taken place. How long were they to wait before these ' negotiations were to be realised and carried out? He wanted the people of Ireland to be given reason to feel that it was worth - while staying at home, and becoming scientific farmers on lands that could yield them a decent livelihood. Anyone wAs a benefactor to his country who got them to take more interest in the - productiveness of their country; The Gaelic League was pioneer* ing in that direction. WEXFORD— Enniscorthy Castle Enniscorthy Castle, the residence of Mr. Roche, J.P., where Cardinal Gibbons took a week's rest after his numerous visits to

so many parts of Ireland before embarking for the United States, is a massive Norman building standing on. a slight, hill above the River Slaney. The' great pile was built soon after ihe Norman invasion by Gerald de Prendergast, about 1230 to 1240, one of . the Norman -knights who settled in this vicinity and who seized the lands in the neighborhood. Technical Instruction A joint committee of representatives of the Technical Instruction Committees of "New Ross and Enriiscorthy ' Urban Districts held a meeting recently for the purpose of electing a principal anu a domestic economy instructress for both towns. There .were eight candidates for the fiist-named^ position. The Departmenr of Agriculture, etc., wVote that on reviewing the qualifications they would be prepared to sanction only the appointment of Mr. Thomas Lungley, Kilkenny, who was unanimously elected, the salary being with locomotion allowance. For the office cf * domestic economy instructress there were nine applications, all approved of by the department, but two of which were withdrawn. On a poll being taken, Miss O'Mara, Limerick, received the majority of votes and was declared elected, the salary being with locomotion allowance. Mr. W. H. Howard. 8.A., New Ross,, was reappointed commercial instructor at to include locomotion and night allowance. GENERAL National Education The report of the Commissioners of National Education, Ireland, for the year 1907-8, states that the total number of schools on December 31, 1907, was 8538. Of these 335 were convent schools and 129 workhouse schools. „ The average number of pupils was 732,460, and of these 74 per cent, were Catholics. The total number of teachers was 14,771. The Commissioners protest against the action of the Irish Government in abandoning the bonuses, which were a- part of their scheme of improved salaries. They consider that a great deal could be done in the way of attracting a better class of teacher by the combination of this ' bonus ' scheme with a better system of pensions. Alleged Increase of Lunacy The increase of inmates in lunatic asylums in Ireland of recent years has been the cause of spreading abroad an' idea that lunacy has been increasing in that country to a greater extent than in England and Scotland. Some light was thrown on the subject at a recent meeting of the Richmond Asylum Committee by the Resident Medical Superintendent, who stated, in the course - of his report, that the number' of inmates on the asylum books ' was 1566 males, and 1587 females. Since the last "meeting i3 males and 23 females were admitted. Dr. Donelan also.reportjd that a large proportion of those admitted latterly were in a very feeble state of bodily health, and many were cases of senile, mental, and bodily decay, who, up to recent times, were scarcely regarded as eligible for admission to asylums. The growing tendency on the part of union officials particularly, and, indeed, of the public, to send those suffering from bodily enfeeblement to the asylum was an important factor tending to give an exaggerated impression of the number of the insane. In fact, to a considerable extent, these institutions seem to be now regarded as district infirmaries as well as district asylums. Irish Envoys in America Mr. John E. Redmond, M.P., Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in a cablegram to the Freeman's Journal from Boston, says: ' In- twenty-five years' experience of Irislf-Amefican - gatherings I have previously witnessed no such triumph" as the present successful Convention. The Convention has been an unparalleled success, unequalled in my experience of any previous Convention. A hundred thousand dollars has been pledged of which eighty thousand dollars is already practically subscribed' Irish National spirit is higher than ever before witnessed. Con^ tributions are pouring in steadily. The declarations of the delegates, the public, and the press are outspoken and unanimous in favor of a pledge-bound party and endorsement of the league. American sentiment is decisively and outspokenly with us. Ireland need not fear for American support, for she has got it overwhelmingly. There is confidence in the speedy triumph of the Home Rule cause. The universal unanimity and derermination " and patriotism of the Convention constituted an unparalleled event. " The Bishops, clergy, and people are subscribing. The envoys ani five hundred delegates of the Boston Irishmen's Harbor Excursion were received officially at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, by Commander Clark, who paraded an Irish-American military company in the qnvoys' honor. The envoys were banqueted by the Charitable Irish Society, the oldest Irish organisation in Boston, antedating the Revolution.