Irish News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIII, Issue 47, 27 March 1896, Page 8

Irish News.

(From Contemporaries.")

Antrim. -ORANGE ASCENDANCY AND INTOLERANCE.— Bays Reynold's Newspajier : — Bslfast, that chosen home of bigotry and prejudice, presents a greater aoamoly in ita local government than any other place in the United Kingdom. If we taka its Municipal Corporation we find that it employs eighty-two Protestants at a total salary £19,483 a year and only two Catholics, with a total salary of £294 a year. Id its lunatic aeylumß fifty-three Protestants are employed and only eighteen Catholics. The Board of Guardian 9 emjJoyß 147 Protestants and six Oatholicp, the former taking £7,890 of public money every year, the latter £170. The same iB true of the Harbour Board and the Water Commission. There are Beventyone I roteatant and only twenty-four Catholic magistrates, while all the petty sessions clerks are Protestants. If we take all the Local Boards together there are but thirteen Catholic representatives as compared with 142 Protestant. Now, there are numbers of ignorant people in England who suppose that Belfast is an almost exclusively Protestant city, and that, therefore, this extraordinary discrepancy is to be folly justified. Such persons, however, will be surprised to learn that, according to the census of 1891, there are in Belfast 70,234 Catholics out of a total population of 273,114— that is to say, that more than one fourth of the population is Catholic. Carlo w.- DEATH OF » HONEST JOHN. I '-John Carroll, commonly known as " Honest John," was found drowned in the River Barrow, at Bagnalstown, Christmas Day. Tne body jay near Brown and Crosth wait's Mills. Clare.— A FIRE IN KILRU3H.— The premises on the Leadmore Quays, Kilrush, were destroyed by fire on December 19, causing a lose of about £2,000. H. 8. Vandeleur was}the!owner of the stores, but he had leased them to Simon McAuliflEe, of Knock, a large fishery proprietor. The latter it is stated has the jpremises fully insured. Toe other sufferers by the fire, besides Mr^Sheebao of Limerick, who owned the hay and steam pressing plant on the premises, are John MacMabon, ship carpenter, whose workshops and trade implements were mined, and Mr Burton, of Carrigholt Caßtle, who lost sails and other fittings of his yacht. Cork.— DEATH OF THE PARISH PRIEST OF LEAP.— The death iB announced of the Rev David Fitzgerald, of Leap. He was close on forty years in the priesthood, it being full thirty-five Bince he was curate in Sherkin Island, parish of Baltimore, and he had been for eighteen years parish priest of Leap, A DISASTROUS FlßE.— Velvetstown, Buttevan', ihe splendid residence of O. J. Crofts, was burned down oi December 27. Tha premises, furniture included, was valued at £20.000 and tbe damage is estimated at £8,000 The place was insured. AN EX-TASMA^IAN PRIEST AT MALLOW.— The Rev T M. O'Callegban, says the Launce-ton Monitor, iakett an >ctivepartin social and public matters in the parish of Mallow, County Cork, where he is row stationed. On January 8 he de ivs vai a lecture on " Joan of Arc " to tt c members of the Cork Young Men's Society. The rev lect.irer, who was warmly received, dealt, i:i the course of his trea' merit of bis subj ct, with the condition of France previous to the advent of Joan of Arc and of the important even'p w.nch lmmedia'ely preceded the sifge of Orleans. He treated ably of the difficulties which the Maid had to encounter, giving a good id< a of tbe great extent of her heaven-sent mission to rid her country of its foreign oppressors. He referred at length to the mem trable siega of Orleans, the coronation of the French kmg, and subsequent battles in which Joan of Arc took p^rt until at length she was taken prisoner, by the English, and aftpr being removed from pr.s d to prison was finally burned by the English as a witch at Rouen. Derry.— A NOVEL BREACH OF PKOHISS.— The ca<se of Miss Sarah Morrison, a nurse in the County Derry lufirmary, who lately sued Rev Alfred Torrenp, Preßbyierian minibteT, of Ramelton County Donegal, for breach of promise of marriage, was settled, the lady accepting £130 in full settlement of her claim, the money being immediately forthcoming. Dublin.— A WOMEN'S TEMPRANCE ORGANISATION.— A total abstinence organisation for the wi men of Dublin has been formed. The president is Mrs A. M. Sullivan ; vice-president, Mrs William Bury ; tre surer, Mrs Joßcph Mooney ; secretaries, Mrs Cos e^o a>nd Mrs Healpy. UNION OF LIQUOR TRADE ORGANISATIONS —A pnject i<j on foot in Dublin to arK ct a union of all the liquur tiade organisations in England, Scotland and Ireland. A conference is being arranged at which it is expected that 800 delegates will be present. Fermanagh. — OKANGE ATTACK AT TEMPO, — a serious not occurred in the village of Tempo. The members of the Tempo National Flute Band proceeded through the village lor practice. When going up the main Btreet they were surrounded by

a crowd who declared they wouldn't 1 ! allow them to piss on. The members of the band decided to retnru to prevent a row, bnt when doing so the attacking party fired a volley of stones and broke n bottles at them, The Btone-throwing continued for balf an hour, and several persons were injured. During the row a couple of Catholics were coming up a lane 80-3 tbev were met by showerß of bricks and stones. Several windows in the village were smashed, and np to a late hour the village was in a 6tate of excitement. The old Orange tactics. The people of Ireland are mainly Catholics, with vastly increased political power compared witb years ago ; then, 'when the-e few ruffians, who are the minority of the people, attack the honest and peaceable portion ct the community now, what must not the Catholics have suffered who livad in the days when they were looked upon and treated as enemies, outside the pale of the law — legally non-existant. Kerry.— GREAT FLOODS AT KILLARNEY,— Since tbe January of 1879 such floods did n t occur in KiUarney, owing to the almost incessant rain. The river Flesk, into which all the mountain streams flow, overflowed its bar;ks. Almost from its very source large fields are under water. Down about Boss Caetle the lake bug found its way into the roads, cutting off communication witb Robs Island and the demesne from that point. The Muckross demesne is flooded in many parts, and the road to Dinieh is impassable In fact, there is not a district round tbat is not under water more or less. REPLY OF A KILLARNEY WOMAN.— A Killarney woman who was congratulated by some visitors£on the appearance of her children. " Speaka well for the climate," said one of the visitors. " Faith, your honour," was the prompt reply, " it's the climate that half of them lives on, for, to tell the truth, they're very badly off." Kilkenny.— LONGEVlTY — Becently the papers recorded the deaths of centenarians, but there is a record of longevity unparalleled as regards a stretoh of life over the reigns of English monarcha. It is in the Carlow Post of April 27, 1820, tbat " tbe widow Byrne of Ballysalla, near one hundred and eleveniyears (111), having lived in five reigns — Qaeen Ann, George I, George 11, George 111 and George VI. One of these, George fill, was ;the longest in English history." King's County.— ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE FROM CUSTODY. — A daring attempt to escape from custody was 'made by a man named Fox, at Raban, near Tullamore, recently." Constable Booney had taken the man and proceeded to bring him to tbe barracks. To do so he had to go some distance along the towpath of the Grand Canal, and while at this Fox tried to break away by endeavonring to trip the constable and pitch him into the water. However, the officer seized his charge, and in the struggle which followed both rolled into the canal. The prisoner then made a desperate attempt to swim across the canal, and being a man of strength, he succeeded in struggling into the naviga ion track, Constable Rooney never loisened his hold, and the encoun'er might have assumed h very serious aspect, as both we re] becoming c .hausted were it not for tbe timely arrival of Sergeant Donovan and another member of the fore?, witb whose ascistance Fox was conveyed to tbe barracks. Lrimerick..— RAlLWAY FROM NEWCASTLE WEST.— A movement which was before the public some time ago to conrect Newcastle Weit with o->e of the stations on the Great Southern and Weßtern line is being actively revived, andja great public meeting in connection with the project is to be held. Mayo. -BISHOP LYSTER ON THE IRISH" PEOPLE.— Bishop L)Bter of Acbonry visited Swinford recen'ly toloffi^iate at tbe reception and profession of religiouß at the Convent of our Lady of Mercy, 8t Ligouri's. The Bishop was presented with a metrical address at the school. In tbe course of his reply he said since he had left Irtland he had bern in many strange countries and bad seen a great many peopleß, but be shoul 1 candidly acknowledge that he bad seen nothing that could give him half so much joy as our own Irish people, He was glad to find the Catholic people in Ireland were so loyal to the old faith. A TALL MAN.— There lives in Shanwar, near Foxford, Patrick Reynolds, who measures 7ft high and weighs 16st 121 b, and is twentytwo years of agp. He is tbe sjo of a small farmer and goes over to England to the harvest each year where he is often asked by the recruiting sergeant to jjin her Majesty's army, but a soldier's life hag no charms for Pat, who prefers to return to his mountain home. Reynolds has a brother in the Boyal Irish Constabulary who measure 6ft 4m. SligO.— THE LATE BISHOP OF ELPHIN.-The anniversary celebration of the death of the Most Rev Dr Gilbcoly, the late Bishop of Elphiu, was made the occasion in Sligo of inaugurating a movement towards erecting a memorial to the g»eat and saintly prelate who gave tbirty-eight ye.rs of zeal and labour to the furthering of every good interest, spiritual and temporal, of ihe people of the diocese of Elphin. After the Requiem Mass a very i fluential meeting of the clergy and laity of the diocese, presided over by his Lord-

chip (he Most Hey Dr Clancy, was held to farther the project. The present Bishop of Elphin, in introducing the subjsct, paid a worthy tribute to the splendid qualities of his predecessor. The maenificeril Cathedral of Sligo remains, as Dr Clancy pointed out, a noble testimony to the zeal and piety of Dr Gilbooly. For one who had himself been a great builder of churches, no memorial could be co fitting as the erection, in his native town of Roscommon, of a sacred edifice, at once worthy of the late Biehop'a memory and suitable to the needs of that important town. The need for a church in Boscommon was great. The present chapel, which was at one time a court-house, is Dot, as Dr ClaDcy troly said, acceptable, either from its associations or on other grounds. The zealous pa; tor of Bossommon, Monaigacr M'Laughlin, has already done an immensity of work towards inaugurating the movement for a pi eat memorial church. He went last year to America to collect funds for his new church, and, as he announced, a sum of £1,500 rewarded his efforts. To this the Most Eev Dr Clancy has generously added the munificent contribution of £500. The movement is expected to be a glorious succes3. Tipperary.— PABISHIONBBS OF MULLINAHONE.— A large meeting of the parishioners was held in Mullinahone to oodfider the best means of BhowiDg in a peimanent way their regard for the late Rev P. Byan, parish priest. It wa decide i to form a committee to take the matter in hind. A BQbecription liet was opened and several subscriptions handed in. DEATH OP A WELL-KNOWN CLONMEL MAN —Mr PatTick Condon, Victnaler, Gladstone street, Clontnel, died Janaqry 2. widely and deeply regretted by his numerous friends and relatiTes in Ireland and in the United States. Tbe name of Condon, and of this family in particular, in the coonty of Tipperary is synonymous with love of country. Members of it have ever bsen fuimd in the van, struggling for the rights of Ireland. Mr Thomas J. Condon is raembsr of Parliament for Tipperary, and is doing herculean work in the national interest, as his father, Jeremiah Condon, did in the good old days. DISGRACEFUL ATTACK ON A WEDDING PABTY.— A report has reached Clonmel of an extiaordinary attack on a wedding party, which tonk place in a country dis rict near Thurles recently. An elderly widower married a young girl, and after tbe ceremony entertained some friends to a bridal feas f . Whilo the feant was in progress a number of young men attacked the house, and broke the door, windows, and furniture. The bride is said to have been illused and received a black eye, and finally had to fly to a nHpbbouring house for refuge. Having evicted tbe bridal party the raiders sat down and ie?ailed themselves en the wedding breakfast. No explanation is given of the extraordinary conduct of the attacking party. Wexford.— EXTRAOBDINABY INCIDENT— An extra, ordinary incident happened in connection with the funeral of the late John Edwards, Kilmore, on New Year's Eve. Mr Edwan s, who was about 72 years of age, had died suddenly. He was a well-knowrj man in the locality, where he posseted considerable land, and was esteemed by all his scquain'ances. Cn New Yeai's Eve the funeral office was held in Kilmore Church, and on the terminauon of the service the funeral bad pioceeded on its way when, to the astonishment of all present, policemen ordered the proceesion to Btop, When the officers informed the bearse driver that in cons(qaenco of Mr Edwards' suddtn df ath it was necessary to hold an inquest, and that the body should b°. brought back to the deceased's residence until an inquest would be held. GENERAL. JOHN DILLON AND CATHOLIC EDUCATION.— A mone'er education meeting of 10,000 Cntholics whs recently hela id Liverpool. The chair was taken by Cardinal Vaughan, The entrance of Mr John Dillon, M.P., was maiked wnh cheers. Mr Dillon was introduced to the meeting by 'be Cardinal. His Eminence, Biys the Dublin Freeman said be bad to introduce to them a gentleman whose name they had long known, and whose name he (bis Eminence) h^ped they would long know in tbe future, and that was Mr John Dillon, M.P. (_continuous cheering) —Mr Jjhn Dillon, who, on coming forward, was again cheered lustily, the audience rising en masse, Baid the resolution which he bad been aßked to propose was one that he thought ought to recommpnd itself to every liberty. loving people. It ran as follows :— " That justice and freedom demand that no part of tbe nation Btaould be placed under disabilities on account of their religious convktiors, and that monies raispd from all sections of the community should be shared by all schools equally " (applause). One

undoubtedly of the principles of every free people was, at least in modern days, that there should be no disability placed upon any citizen on account of his religious convictions, and he (Mr Dillon) could not understand how any man in England could question the fact that now at the present moment disabilities and grievances, most heavy disabilities, had been placed upon the Catholics of England because of their convictions. The Catholics of England could not, and would not, allow their religious schools to go down (applause). The Catholics of England were, he thought, composed of a great number of his (Mr Dillon's) own race (hear, hear, and load cheers), and not only j n that land had they, by long years of sacrifices, proved thtir devotion to the principle of Catholic training for the youth, but in their own country they had withstood for generations tnd for centuries every form of bribery to abandon that principle (applause). When banished from their own country by cruel laws they had been driven to the furthest ends of the earth, but wherever to-day the scattered Irish were to be found, they had, while struggling with the force of nature, almost before they had erected a roof under which their children might be born, erect-i a Bchool and a ,'cburch (applause). They could not and would not abandon tbut principle (applause). There never was a time, and perhaps in their'i lifetime there never would again be a time bo favourable for the final settlement of the education question (hear, hear). There was a Government in power which he (Mr Dillon) did not love (loud cheers)— a Government which, he confesecd, he did his very best to keep out (hear, hear), but that Government wbb in power by an enormous majority. He did not know th*t it would do much for his country, but it was pledged to this one thing (near, hear), It had an enormous majority. It won tnat majority, to some extent at all events, by pledges in favour of the voluntary Bchools, and not only had the Government got a majority of 152, but they knew, and if they did not know, be (Mr Dillon) conld tell them that on this question they, in addition to the 152, had 80 Irish votes, which would count as another 160 added to the mo j mty (lond cheere). He (Mr Dillon) said that in their case there could be no excuse for timidity in dealing with tbe question (hear, hear), and there was no excuse for delay with this question. It was not the deßire of the Catholics of England to inflict one iota of injustice on the Nonconformists (hear, hefr): Now was the time and now was the hour t settle this question on a permanent and lasting basis (loud and prolonged applause). A QUICK RE^LY.—The late Mr Porter, who was for twenty years police magistrate in Dublin, has placed on record some amuging Btories of the car-drivers. Here is one of them :— Tbree Protestant gentlemen took an outside car for a drive in the suburbs of Dublin. It was Corpus Christi Day, and they observed a religious procession incident to the festival moving round the court outßide a Catholic church. They directed the driver to Btop, and then stood up on tbe seatß of the outßide car to obtain a full view. " Well that beats the devil 1" said one of them. The carman touched his hat and replied, " Yes, your honour, that's what its for." DKCBEABE OF SPIRITS, INCREASE OP BESB.— The Irish Temperance League has issued its annual report, a masßive document. From it the interesting facts are gleaned that the arrests for common assaults, which were 29,011 in 1886, bad fallen to 21,853 in 1894 ; and that arrests for drunkenness, which had increased from 79,828 in 1886 to 100,528 in 1891, had fallen tc 88 215 in the same year. Tbe quantity of spirits entered fot consumption in Ireland fell from 5,304,438 gallons in 1883-84 to 4,939,927 gallons in 1894-5 ; while the quantity of beer made in Irelaad — \ good deal for export increased from 74,625,624 gallons to 96,148,908 gallons. The growth of the beer industry would be even more satisfactory than it if a larger percentage of its returns went in wages. According to the Board of Trad* returns, while £55 of every £100 received in mining, and £29 of every £100 received in agriculture is paid away in wages, only 7 per cent of th« receipts, in the case of breweries and distilleries goes into the workers' pockets. Hence, do doubt, the high dividends. The brewrrs should be generous employers. For the rest the League has not much progress to report, LBTTEB FROM MB GLADSTONE.— The following is the text of Mr Gladstone's letter in reply to a Catholic gentleman in Derry, who placed the municipal inequalities of bis co-religionißts in Londonderry before him :—" Dear Sir, — I view with regret and sympnthy tbe state of municipal matters at Londonderry ; but my engagements disable me from giving the case tbe attention it deserves, and I fear that Irish affairs are not likely to prosper until the

deplorable dissensions in the Irhh Parliamentary Party are so far composed as to restore it to what was once its admirable efficiency. — I remain, dear sir, jour obedient servant. W. K. Gladstone," IRELAND AND THE CONFESSIONAL.— The Rev Canon Humble, a Protestant clergyman, in The Church, and the World 1866, aaya :—": — " The high morality of Ireland is owing, in great part, to the habit of the people— Catholics — going to confession, and the, low tme of morals in Scotland is, I fear, to be greatly attributed to the Impossibility of having resource to this sacramental ordinance." BARNEY BARNATO NOT AN IRISHMAN.— We have Been it itated somewhere that Barney Barnato, the South African millionaire, is a lucky Irishman. It is now asserted that the real name of Barnato is Isaacs, and also that he is the son of a Whitchapel old-elo 1 dealer. He and brother Harry were trained as pu^B, and wrre reckoned clever with their fists. Barney is also a brilliant billiardist. " Mrs " Barney Barnato is known in South Africa as Fanny Bees. She ie the handsome daughter of tin Africander resident at Simeon's Bay, where, before she met Barney, she used to keep a ccSee-stall. REDUCING THE IRIBH BENCH.— Truth sajß : " A Bill will be brought in by Mr Hanbury, on behalf of the Government, to reduce the strength of the Irish bench by three judges, and new appointments will be stopped until the reform has taken place. This is a piece of economy which was strongly recommended by Lord Welby when he was at the Treasury."