CHARITABLE BEQUESTS.

New Zealand Tablet, 24 June 1915, Page 41

CHARITABLE BEQUESTS.

Mr. Edmund J. Byrne, of Northumberland road, Dublin," whof died on * March 13 last, youngest son of the late ."Michael John: Byrne, of Bays Well, County Kilkenny, left unsettled personal estate in the United Kingdom valued for probate at £40,380. The testator left bequests to a- considerable amount to Catholic charities, including £2IOO to tire priest-in-charge of the Catholic congregation at - King William's Town, South Africa, upon various trusts; £SOO to the Superior of Manresa House, Roehampton, for the benefit of the Zambesi Catholic missions; s the ; rents of about a dozen houses in different Dublin streets in trust for division among a similar number of Catholic charities in Dublin, including . the Particular Council of Dublin of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the conference of the same society for the relief of the poor; and a rent of £75 6s from lands in County Tipperary to University College, Dublin, for the endowment of scholarships. One-half of the residue of his property is left to the Archbishop of Dublin for the benefit of the Catholic religion in and around the city, and the other half to the Vicar-Apos-tolic of the Eastern District of Cape Colony for the benefit of the Catholic religion in that district. The late Mr. Edward McNamara, of 4 Mount Verdon terrace, Cork, who died on the 22nd February last, left real and personal estate in the United Kingdom valued for probate at £25,700 odd. Portion o? the estate is in England. The deceased left close on five thousand pounds, to be distributed amongst various Cork charities and institutions in Cork, in amounts mentioned in the will, and also sums for the celebration of Masses for the repose of his soul and the souls of relatives.

IRISH IN' AMERICA AND THE WAR. Mr. John E. Redmond, M.P., has received the following letter from Mr James W. Synan, who occupies an important public position in Boston as one of the three members of the Highway Commission of the State of Massachusetts: I My dear Air. Redmond, —I received with very great pleasure the box of shamrock which you sent me, as it arrived at a very opportune moment, reaching my home in Pittsfield on Monday morning, March 15. 1 am sending you parts of the two newspapers published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, printing a short statement of my feelings in relation to the enlistment of the young men of Ireland in the present war. It may also be pleasing to you to know that, in my opinion, 80 per cent, of the substantial men of the Irish race in America are heartily- supporting you, and that comparatively few men of Irish descent have any following whatever or any success in their attempts to create public sentiment favorable to Germany. Massachusetts, as you know, is in many ways one of our strongest States, from the Irish-American point of view, as a very large per cent, of the nearly 4,000,000 population are of Irish parentage, and I can fairly say that almost all of this entire population are heartily supporting you in this present crisis of the Irish people, and wish you the best of success.

‘ The men who are endeavoring to creat sentiment in favor of Germany are making a lot of noise, and are trying to cover up their lack of numbers by their constant appearance in the public press and in public meetings. The vast majority, who are in favor of the Allies, are endeavoring to carry out the wishes of President Wilson, by observing strict neutrality, and, accordingly, are not showing their great strength ; and on this account the public possibly at times does not understand the true feeling of the millions of men and women of Irish descent in the United States.’