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New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 150, 17 March 1876, Page 7

It' any reliance can be placed on the statements of geologists the carnivorous animals which arc now confined to Africa were spread at one time all over Europe. The snowy mountains of northern Greece were infested by lions whon the Persian army of Xerxes invaded that country. They hung on the rear of the invading forces and devoured the stragglers. The remains of hyenas have been found in England, and those of elephants have been exhumed in Ireland and Siberia, There is certainly no evidence to prove that the lion ever existed in Ireland, but he mayhave been imported from countries less remote than Africa. He is repeatedly mentioned in Irish manuscripts. The lion is not necessarily an inhabitant of tropical countries alone. He is perfectly capable of living in the temperate, if not the arctic zone. " When St. Patrick landed in Ireland, he spoke of the glories of the woman who was the Mother of God upon the earth, and instantly uprose the ting u{>on his throne ; and when he heard for the first time in the Irish language the name of Mary, he took off his golden crown and bowed to the sound of that name. Up rose the bard, the poet, the musician, the historian, the prince of his people, and he knelt before Ireland's great apostle, and laid down his harp at the feet of the saint and said, • I swear that no sound shall ever come from this harp at the bidding of my hands ; that no sound shall ever come from my lips on the wings of song, except the glories of Patrick's God, and of the Mother of that God, — the Virgin — the blessed Mary.' " — Father Burke.