Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 1 April 1915, Page 39

Irish News

GENERAL* ■ Derry City has sent a third strong contingent to join the Irish Brigade in Fermoy, and altogether over 1500 Nationalists have now joined the army from that centre alone. Private Michael Glynn, of the Irish Guards, , a resident of Clough Dene, near White-le-Head, Tyneside, has been awarded the distinguished service medal for conspicuous bravery at the Yser. Flight Commander and . Capt. Hyacinth Albert Roche, youngest son of Sir George and Lady Roche, of Merrion square, Dublin, was killed while serving with the British Flying Corps in France. Addressing the Grand Jury at Magherafelt Quarter Sessions the other day, Judge Todd said it seemed to him that his circuit was turning into a pilgrimage of congratulations. There was but one small case to go before them. A London firm has been fined £2O for having offered for sale some socks for soldiers which were described as Irish hand-knit product, ‘ passed by military expert as the finest and most suitable for active service,' whereas they were ‘ German shoddy/ ‘ absolute rubbish, retailed at a profit of over 120 per cent.’ The Rev. Father Lane, who has just returned from Ireland, said in a lecture at Gisborne that there was no more prospect of civil war between the North and South of Ireland than there was between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The first contingent of Irish Nationalist Volunteers to leave Ireland to go to the assistance of England, he said, were escorted through a northern town by one of the Orange brass bands. Did that look like civil war? Mr. John Dillon, M.P., acknowledging a cheque sent through him by the Ballaghadereen Division of the A.O.H. in aid of the Belgian Refugee Fund, says that Ireland, in proportion to her means, had probably done more than any other country in the world to help the Belgians. To anyone who knew anything of the history of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, it would indeed be strange, he said, if the members of that Order did not feel for the Belgians in the hour of their martyrdom. Cork, which has now taken back the freedom of the city conferred on Professor Kuno Meyer in 1911, conferred it recently on the Marquis of Aberdeen and Tara, the retiring Viceroy. Having signed the roll of freedom, his Excellency, in the course of his acknowledgment of the honor, said it would be a source of regret both to himself and Lady Aberdeen to leave so many friends behind them, but he hoped that their separation from Ireland would be more nominal than real, and he could, at all events, assure them that that would not be their last visit to Cork. The election of the Lord Mayor of Dublin took place on February 5. On January 25 Alderman Clancy was elected to the position, but died within a week. A new election was thus rendered necessary. Great interest attached to the proceedings by the fact that the contest was between a well-known Nationalist, namely. Councillor Gallagher, and a Sinn Feiner, Alderman Kelly. The voting resulted—For Councillor Gallagher, 50; for Alderman Kelly, 13. The former was then declared elected. PROSPERITY OF IRISH TRADE. At the annual meeting of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce the president, Mr. Richard K. Gamble, referred to the effect of the war on Irish trade. Reports from all sides, he said, showed that trade in nearly all cases was in an extremely flourishing condition. The Irish woollen and linen manufacturers were working at full time, and overtime in some cases. The commonsens© and absence of panic shown by the Irish commercial community had been well repaid, and the banking reports showed that Ireland was in a very prosperous

condition. So far as her limited commercial and agricultural interests were : concerned there was' plenty “of room for the development of other industries in Ireland. '*•. > ■ ' MR. W. REDMOND JOINS THE IRISH BRIGADE Mr. William Redmond, M.P. for East Clare, writing to Mr. Linnane, J.P., of Ennis, announces that he has offered himself to the Irish Brigade, stating that he does so because he is absolutely convinced that the future freedom, welfare, and happiness of the Irish people depend upon the part Ireland plays in this war. • There may be a few/ he adds, ‘who think that the Germans would not injure Ireland, and that they would even benefit her. I hope the Clare people will rely on no such statement. If the Germans com© here, and they will if they reach Great Britain, they will be our masters and we shall be at their mercy. What that mercy is likely to be, ; judge by the treatment given to Belgium. If in the time to come we in Ireland could not show we had struck a blow for Belgium, then indeed I believe that our name would be disgraced. Apart from this, I regard the Act which will restore our own Parliament as a treaty of peace with the people of Great Britain. The British democracy have shown help and sympathy. Every reform we now enjoy we owe to their loyal help and constant support. It would be ungrateful and inhuman if we stood idly by while the English, Scotch, and Welsh people were in danger and their women and children killed in cold blood, as happened in Scarborough. Australia and New Zealand have been our loyal friends in our hour of strife. Their Parliaments and their statesmen have ever pleaded for our rights. If Germany wins this war, these people will have 'their homes, their property, and their lives in danger. Are we to leave these people who were our friends without our aid ? If we did so we should be justly disgraced. I am far too old to be a soldier, but 1 intend to try to do my best for whatever life remains in me to show that Ireland at least is true to her treaties and not in any way ungrateful to her friends throughout the world.’ IMPORTANT APPOINTMENT. Commander G. E. Holland, C.1.E., D. 5.0., Dock and Marine Superintendent, Holyhead, has been appointed Director of Inland Water Transports at the front, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel R.E. At the outbreak of the war he was in charge of the crossChannel transports. Lieutenant-Colonel Holland is the second son of the late Mr. Denis Holland, Dublin, and married a daughter, since deceased, of the late Sir Edmund Dwyer Gray, M.P., Ballybrack, Ireland. He joined the Royal Indian Marine in 1880, and retired from that service in 1905, taking rip the appointment of Marine Superintendent at Holyhead two years later. He served with the Burma Expeditionary Forces in 1887-89, was made Lieutenant in 1882 and Commander 1893. He received numerous medals and orders, and was frequently mentioned in despatches. PRESENTATION TO MR. J. T. DONOVAN, M.P. On a recent Sunday night in the Linen Hall Hotel, Belfast, Mr. John T. Donovan, 8.L., M.P., was the principal guest at an interesting and enjoyable social function, when the formal ceremony took place in connection with the presentation to the member for West Wicklow of a valuable library and an illuminated address from his many personal friends in Belfast on the occasion of his marriage to Miss Alda Ralph, of Auckland. A very representative company was entertained to dinner, under the presidency of Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., and interesting speeches • were delivered by the chairman and others felicitating Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, and recalling Mr. Donovan’s distinguished services to the National cause in Ireland and abroad. From start to finish the proceedings were of the most auspicious and successful character, and were indicative of the warm personal regard felt for Mr. Donovan in his native city, as well as the admiration elicited by his brilliant advocacy of Irish claims.

- THE LATE GENERAL SIR LUKE | , O’CONNOR, V.C. A London correspondent gives the ‘following particulars regarding the passing away of General Sir Luke O’Connor, V.C., whose death was reported by cable at the time:—For some time before his death ho had been in failing health, but he always retained that upright carriage and that alertness which were most characteristic of the famous soldier. Irish, born and bred, and always proud of his nationality, his was a case of distinction won by sheer merit, as he had risen from the ranks to become commander of the regiment in which he had enlisted so very many years before. Sir Luke was a devout Catholic and took a great interest in the Catholic Boys’ Brigade. The funeral service took place at Farm street Church, at which the King was represented by Col. Norie, A.D.C. Present in the church were many old comrades and friends, and the service was very simple. Requiem Mass was said by Father Considine, during which the coffin rested on a catafalque in front of the altar; a Union Jack covered the coffin, and the General’s plumed hat and sword rested on it. Eight sergeants of the General’s old regiment carried the coffin to the waiting gun carriage outside, and thus the gallant Irishman was brought to Kensal Green, accompanied by the fifes and drums of the Scots Guards with a firing party of the same regiment. A REPLY TO LORD MAYO. 'An Irish Officer,’ writing in the London Daily Chronicle, says: —The tactless and ungracious attack on the Irish National Volunteers by Lord Mayo in the House of Lords has naturally caused much indignation among Irishmen. As an example of how the Irish run away from the Germans, the following account by an eye-witness may help to show. Sapper M. J. Cassidy, R E., in the Irish Postal and Tclcgraphic Guardian, writes:—‘Before going into action the Irishmen knelt for a moment in prayer, and then, with the same slogan that I have heard so often on the hills of my native Mayo, they charged with the bayonet and completely routed the Prussians with indescribable slaughter. They did their day’s work well, but when the roll was called next morning it was found that over 1000 of the Irishmen had “gone west.’’’ I could give dozens of similar accounts from the front, all portraying the gallantry of the Irish regiments, but one will suffice. Of course, Lord Mayo may say that his remarks were intended for the Irish Volunteers, and not for the Irish regiments in the British Army; but he knows, or ought to know, that the same men who .fill the ranks of the Irish National Volunteers make up the bulk of the Irish regiments in the British Army. We Irishmen are very proud of the way in which our fellow-country-men are behaving on (he battlefields of France and Belgium in this great fight, against the common enemy. It is, however, only what we should expect of them. We desire no praise or glowing tributes: the composition of the roll of honor is tribute enough to our brave lads. We do, however, expect justice and fair play.