OUR IRISH LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 234, 4 October 1927, Page 19

OUR IRISH LETTER.

THE EARL OF RANFURLY.

DEATH OF JOHN DUXOIT.

IRELAND'S LABOUR TyßATnan

(From Our Special Correspondent.) / DUBLIN, August 17. The Earl of Ranfurly, P.C., G.C.M.G. (Uchter John Mark Knox), who reached his 71st birthday yesterday, is the head of a family very cloßely associated with Dunganntm and County Tyrone generally since the closing years of the 17th century, for in" 1602—two years the Boyne had been fought and won—Thomas Knox settled at Dungannon and became the ancestor - of-the Earls of Kanfurly. This Thomas Knox, was descended from Uchtred Knox, whose son, Adam Knox, held the lands of Ranfurly, in Renfewshire, in the 13th century. This Uchtred Knox is supposed to have been a - son of the Earl of Dunbar of that period, and who was allied by marriage to the blood royal of-Scotland. The great reformer, John Knox, was of the same blood and family, which held the lordship of'Ranfurly for centuries under the Scottish kings according to a charter still in existence in the Public Reedrds Office. The first of the family to be ennobled was Thomas Knox, who, like his father before him, represented Dun gannou in the Irish Parliament, .and was raised to the peerage in 1791 under the title of Baron Welles, and ten years later (1791) was advanced to the Viscounty of Northland. The viscount was very anxious to assume the title of Lord Dungannoh, but was barred by anothe? peer claiming that title before the vis count -could make good his very much better claim. Viscount Northland died in IRIS, and was succeeded by his . son Thomas, who in 1826 was created Baron in. the of the United Kingdom to enable him to sit in the House of Lords—the other titles being in the Irish peerage—and in 1831 he was advanced to the Earldom of Ranfurly— one of th'e first peerages created by William the Fourth. The Earl of Ranfurly succeeded to the • title In 1875 by, the death of his brother, the fourth earl, who was a captain ,In the Grenadier Guards, in East Africa, where he was big game shooting. The earl was a lord-in-waiting to Queen' Victoria, 1895-97; was Governor and Commander-in-Chief of New Zealand (where he had mttdh property) 1897-1904. rand has bsen a privy councillor since 3905. He married in 1880, the Hon. Constance Elizabeth Caulfield. only child of VUcojmt Charlemont, C.B.—a Crimean nero—Drumcairn.Stewartstown. Their, only son, Captain Viscount Northland. Coldstream Guards, was killed in France and the heir ia his son—grandson of the earl—Viscount Northland, born in 1913. The Earl of Ranfurly recently disposed of a large part of the family property and estates. , f .

M&ATH OP MS. JOHN DILLON. Th* unexpected death of Mr. John rSjjSiSLSgf*.memories. For f grMt jSgny years, first as the Kentenant, and afterwards as iffe bitter opponent of Parnpll, he occupied a prominent place 'in the political life of Ireland. He. was not a statesman, nor was he even an inspiring politician, but thero was a fugged hone§ty about his character which drew forth the admiration of opponents. In tinfes, of excitement J»e was wont , to use. strong language, but in private life he was a yery kindly man, whose principal hobby was good literature. 'He was in every sense of the term « cultured man, anil he W*a always more interesting discussing literature than dealing with politics. He met the same fate as -most political lexers in Ireland, and after Sinn Fein had destroyed the-old Nationalist Party, nearly ten years ago, he retired from [ public life, and only once did/ he break the silence when he denounced the Free State Government' for extravagance. • John Dillon was born a rebel, his father having been a Fenian, and he gloried in it, but in more recent years he mellowed down and lived to •' see his country gain liberty. The funeral took place at Glasnevin Cemetery oh Tuesday last in private, following a Requiem Mm* « St.- Xavier's Church, at which his Eminence Cardinal O'Donnell wai the celebrant, assisted by the Very Rev. P.IL Browne, Superior, SJ., the remains being placed in the family vault.

A GOOD LEGAL STOBY. A very amusing story was. related by Lord Justice Andrews at a luncheon in Derry given by Major James CoLhoun, High Sheriff, to the Judges of "Assize. Some years ago, he said, the Lord Chief Baron andNMr. Justice . Gibson were Bitting with another judge, who must be namteless, for several days hearing a case, and when it came to the' delivery of judgment, some time after lurich, the judge, who had been enjoying the snooze to which every exhausted judge was entitled, found that the.'best thing he could say'was "I concur.** So on One occasion when>the judge had been havihg his little sleep the Lord Chief Baron proceeded to deliver judgment, and Mr. Justice Gibsonfollowed. When; the latter had finished, the other judge said : 1 concur." "But, my friend," said the Lord Chief Baron,- "with whom do' you concur? Do you know that I have delivered judgment ode way and Mr. Justice Gibson the other? With whom then do youconcur?" The third judge never liked to be partial to one more than the other, and it was a very difficult situation for.ihin. He pulled himaelf together, however, and said:" "My Loid Chief Baron, v I concur with your conclusions for the reasons atated by your colleague, Mr. Jufetice Gibson."