Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 17 April 1913, Page 39

Irish News

GENERAL. Lord Mayor Sherlock of Dublin Las been installed fox a second, term of office as Lord Mayor of Dublin. Mr. Brenan, lately postmaster at Dungarvan, Co. .Waterford, has been presented by the staff of the Post Office with a beautiful illuminated address and testimonial in recognition of his service for more than 50 years as postmaster there. The White Star liner Olympic has come out of the Queen's Island dry dock, Belfast, after having had placed in position an inner hulla most difficult work. The job is the most expensive in the history of shipbuilding, the cost reaching £350,000. Rev. Cornelius O'Leary, the popular parish priest of Inchigeela, County Coxe, died on February 20 at the age of 56. He was President of the Irish Training College at Ballincarry, and did much in the Irish language movement, as well as for the improvement of education in general. The ancient name of Londonderry, which so nobly returned a Home Ruler to Parliament, was Dairie Colgach, Dairie being the Gaelic for oak wood, and Colgach signifying fierce warrior. It was afterwards changed to Derry Columbkille, and later to Londonderry by a charter granted to some London merchants by King John. Mr. Gerald H. Murphy stated at a meeting of Dalkey Urban Council that the Irish flag of the future was to be like the Canadian flag. It would be a Union Jack with the' arms of the provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connacht encircled by shamrocks. That, he understood, was,to be the new national flag of Ireland under Home Rule.

Great interest was aroused in the Dublin Cattle Market recently when it became known that buyers were purchasing cattle for shipment to Germany. The general impression amongst traders was that whilst the presence of German buyers would, have the effect of benefiting the farmers materially, it would seriously interfere with the prospects of the trade with England.

In the case in which Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., and Dr. Caleb Powell claimed damages, the former £3OOO and the latter £ISOO, from Autocars, Ireland, Ltd., for personal injuries arising out of a motor car accident in the County Donegal on the 21st of September last, the jury, after two hours' deliberation, failed to agree on all the questions submitted to them, with the result that the judge directed a verdict for the defendants.

The Most Rev. Dr. Coyne, Bishop-Elect of Elphin, has announced that Mr. Stafford King-Jiarman, son of Dr. Stafford, Medical Commissioner do the Local Government Board, and grandson of tho late Colonel King-Harman, is making arrangements; with the Estates Commissioners for the gift to the-- Catholics of Boyle parish of the fee-simple of the beautiful grounds on which the church and presbytery are built, and which carried a considerable annuity. . The Donegal family of Hilley come nfcar the record in the matter of the number of members: of the same family, all residing in the same house, in receipt of the old age pension. There were five of themthree sisters and two brothers. One of the latter, Owen Hilley, a well-known personage, being the town, billposter and bellringer, died recently, much to the regret of the community, by whom the Hilley family are held in high respect. His death reduced the pensioners in the house to four, but it is stated that another brother will be eligible for the pension ip, the course of a few months.

rm. The historic ale of Avoca, which the Irish poet, Thomas Moore, has rendered classic by his famous song, has been sold in the Land Commission Court to the numerous tenants who occupy the several farms along the banks of the Avonmore. The , estate belonged to the late Colonel Bayly, who was succeeded in the pro-

perty by his son, Captain Bayly, who has now parted with his interest to his tenants, though he will still continue to reside at his beautiful seat at Balyarthur. i AMERICA AND HOME RULE. ;?i The series of messages in support of Home Rule for Ireland received from representative public men, and State Legislators in the United States of America," constitute a very remarkable testimony to the sympathy with Ireland and her cause which exists in. the great English-speaking Republic of the West. It is an open secret that Mr. Roosevelt, when he visited England as President of the United States, spoke out his mind very clearly and decisively in high quarters on the Home Rule question, and that he found very little hostility entertained to Home Rule in principle. Now that he is no longer President, Mr. Roosevelt speaks out as strongly as possible in favor of Home Rule, not only as a policy of justice, but in the interests of peace between the Empire and the Republic. The value of such support cannot be ignored, even by Tory Statesmen. But surely, unless in the case of Home Rule itself, there is no precedent for official declarations in favor of Home Rule for Ireland from State after State of the American Union? These declarations, be it noted, are couched in terms of respect for England* and of gratitude for the triumph of the policy of justice and good will between Ireland and the Empire, and they exhibit the keenest appreciation of the merits of the Anglo-Irish difficulty in all its bearings. Everybody knows that an Anglo-American Alliance has been for years the dream of British Statesmanship, and that the one obstacle to that Alliance is the failure on the part of England to satisfy Ireland's reasonable demand for Home Rule. In view of this, these expressions of American opinion cannot fail to have a most salutary effect. A WELL-DESERVED TRIBUTE. Mr. John Dillon, M.P., in acknowledging a resolution of the Sligo County Council, expressing confidence in the Irish Party, pays the following well-deserved tribute to the Irish leader:—'Mr. Redmond and the Irish Party have undoubtedly passed through a very strenuous time during the last year. Constant attendance in Parliament and absence .from home have entailed an unparalleled strain upon the members of the party, and I do not think that any political leader in modern times has been subjected to such continuous and exhausting labors as has been the case with Mr. Redmond for the last three years.' After paying a tribute to Mr. Asquith, Mr. Dillon goes on to say:-—'lt is in the highest degree encouraging to the Irish Party and their leader to receive from the representative bodies of Ireland such resolutions as that which I now acknowledge, proving that the mass of the Irish people are solidly behind the party, and that, in spite of an unparalleled and cruelly unjust tempest of criticism to which Mr. Redmond and the party have been subjected during the past two years, the confidence of the people in Mr. Redmond's leadership and in the honesty of the Irish Party remains unshaken. One more year of effort is all that is. required to carry the cause to victory, and I feel quite confident that the appeal which will be made by the leader and the party for a continuance of trust at the hands of the people and a renewed effort in this last struggle will meet with such a response as will silence all our enemies and all our unjust critics.' A LIMERICK EXPERIMENT. A very interesting experiment is about to be initiated in Country Limerick. It has been shown that the soil of that county is specially favorable to the •cultivation of hops; indeed an analysis has proved it to be more suitable than the soil of Kent, most famous of hop-growing districts. Limerick agriculturists can now avail of a kind offer made by Baron von Horst who is largely engaged in the raising of this crop, principally in America. The offer, made through Alderman Joyce, M.P., who at the request of Mr. Joha . Redmond drew attention to it in Limerick, is to supply a number of hop roots, with full instructions as to cultivation, free of cost.

WEALTHY COMMONERS. Mr. Patrick Mahon Power, a venerable Co. Waterford man whose death took place the other day (says the Irish Weekly), has been generally referred to as 'the richest commoner in Ireland.' Mr. Power was a D.L. and J.P. in Waterford; but his name and fame were unknown to 99 per .cent, of his fellowcountrymen until his death revealed the fact that he had existed and disclosed his only title to public consideration. The fact that he has been described as ' the richest commoner' seems to indicate that, in the opinion of persons who deal authoritatively with matters of wealth, there is a person not a ' commoner' in Ireland whose riches exceed Mr. Power's; otherwise we should have been told simply that the latter was 'the richest man in Ireland.' Who is the richest person in this countrythe individual whose command of wealth is greater than that of any other Irishman? We were under the impression that if ' the richest commoner' was to be sought for, the seeker should come to Belfast; but an almost unknown Co. Water ford squire appears to have been better equipped with ' worldly gear ' than any ' merchant prince ' or ' captain of industry' amongst us. Lord Pirrie is a rich man; but it is probable that both Lord Ardilaun and Lord Iveagh Brothers Guinness— ' made ' more out of the manufacture and sale of porter than Baron Pirrie has to his credit after his long career as the world's greatest shipbuilder. If hoarded wealthmoney and securities,' apart from 'real property'— were the basis of comparison, the Most Noble Marquis of Clanricarde, whose estates are now the subject of an application for compulsory acquisition by the Congested Districts Board, would, in all likelihood, have a fair remainder after producing a sovereign for every twenty shillings to the credit of any other Irishman, peer or commoner— even excluding Lords Ardilaun and Iveagh and the late Mr. Power from the interesting competition. The amiable nobleman and legislator has ' enjoyed ' a vast income during the past forty years ; and during that long period he has led the existence of a miser—a Gaspard without any redeeming quality. He has never expended the price of a third-class ticket between his dreary London lodgings and the great area of Galway County whose people have provided him with countless thousands since he succeeded another Clanricarde of whom, with strict regard to the charitable motto, ' de mortuis,' etc., it may truly be said that he was worthy of his paternal relationship to the present Marquis. THE DERRY CORONERSHIP. A special meeting of the Derry Corporation was held on February 21 to appoint a coroner for the borough, and Alderman O'Neill moved that Dr. O'Kane be elected to the position. Alderman McCarter, seconding, said that Dr. O'Kane had performed the duties for three years for the late coroner without emolument. If the Unionists insisted on a division it would leave in the minds of the Nationalists a feeling of bitterness. Councillor Hime proposed Mr. IL Babington, solicitor, and said the Unionists, who had a majority on the Council, should not be intimidated by threats of bitterness. Councillor McGahey seconded, and on a division Dr. O'Kane was elected by 20 votes to 19, the majority consisting of Nationalist members and the Mayor, Alderman Ballintine, Alderman Harper, and Councillor McFarland. Councillor McFarland is the ex-Mayor, who in January refused nomination at the hands of the Unionist caucus, and who voted for a Nationalist—Councillor McCarron—was put forward for the Mayoralty.