Irish News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVI, Issue 6, 10 June 1898, Page 9

Irish News.

CORK. — A Munificent Bequest.— A few weeks ago we chronicled in these columns some handi-oine bequests made by a Catholic lady to various Cork chanties, but these are complete )y o\er-h>idowcd by a .statement whith j.ppears in a Cork paper that the late Sir .lohn Arnott has beque ithul the sum ot CJO.OOi) to the chumies of Cork. We ("»ays the Cork L'jdii'iiu >■) believe the statement to be substantially correct. We were aware of the matter, but hoi tat 1 * dto iw 1 it HI ii r i was in some degree authenticated. DUBLIN.- The Funeral of Mrs. Parnell.— The funeral of Mrs. Parnell. mother ot Ihe late Irish leader, took place on Friday, April 1, and, ;is might have been expect ed, the occasion ( yoked numerous sincere th 'U^h mbiued expressions of sympathy \s uh the Parnell tamily from the people. The interment took plac ■at Glasnevin cemeteiy. The funeral was of a private chaiaoter, but this did not prevent people attending to do honour to the remains of the deceased lady. Large bodies of people congregated m the neighbourhood of the House of Parliament and also at Nelson's Pillar, and considerable numbers accompanied the funeral on foot from Harcourt street terminus to Glasnevin. The body was removed from Avondale to Harcourt street terminus by train. At Rathdrum the bier was followed from Avotidale Hou*e to the station by a considerable number of the residents of the neighbourhood. The remains reached Harcourt street terminus shortly before eleven o'clock, and about twenty minutes past eleven the funeral started for Glasnevin. The hearse was immediately followed on foot by a large number of people ; then came the carriages containing the members of the Parnell family who were present, and succeeding them were the carriages of the Lord Mayor and High Sheriff. The funeral reached Glasnevin about hali-past twelve o'clock. A -very large crowd gathered round the Parnell Circle, where the interment took place, the mother being laid side by side with her great »on. The grave was opened recently and the side of the coffin of Mr. Parnell was exposed and proved to be in a good state of preservation. When the coffin containing Mrs. Parnell's remains were lowered into the grave, prayers, according

to the Prote«tant rite, were said by the Rev. Wyndham Guinness. M.A., rector ot Rathdrum. and Rev. Thomas Long, rector of St. Michan's, Dublin. 'I he grave was then closed and a very large number ot beautiful wreaths were laid upon it. The following is the text of the telegram which Mr. Dillon, on behalf of the Irish Party, de-p.itclied to Mr. John Parnell. M.P. :: — '• In accordance with the unanimous r< quest of a meeting of the liish Parliamentary Party. 1 bt g to convey to you the expression of their great sorrow tor the death or your respected and patiiolic mother. — John Dillox." Death of 'Rev. John Gaffney, S.J.— lrish papers to hand icpoit tne (iealh. alter a protracted illness, of Rev. John Gaffney, S.J., who died in Dublin on Mm oh '2.). Tne name ot Father Gaffney will be familiar to the It ish readers of the Tat, let, the dee-eased ha\ing been one of the must zealous and best-known members of the Society of Jesus in Ireland. Born in 18KS. he followed the example of his elder brother Dean Gaffney, of Maynowth, in his choi c ot a profession, and went to Home for his ecclesiastical studies, in which he uained a more than usual success, concluding with a Doctoral e vi the Gregorian University. On returning to Ire^ land, he worked for borne years as a .-.ocular priest, in the diocese of Dublin, and then, in 1813, entered the Irish Province of the Society ot Jesus. From that time, for nearly forty years, he was identified with t c Jesuit Church in Gardiner street. Dublin. He was a missionary too : and there are few dioceses iv Ireland in which he did not labour often and successfully. The Schools ci St. Francis Xavier, belter known as "Father Gaffney's Schools," will long preserve his memory. In '• the fifties " the district round Upper Gardiner street offered great facilities to those who would proselytise the child i en of i he Catholic poor. The '• souuers" opened a school in Rutland ar.d a considerable number of Catholic children were gathered into it. Father Gaffney hired a house almost opposite the school, made all his preparations quietly, and then entered the school announced, and invired all the Catholic children who desired to preserve th< ir faith to follow him to their own school, which he had provided for them. He used to tell with no little humour and simple gratification the success of his ruse — how all the Catholic children stood up and followed him. Splendid schools have takeh the place ot the modest work Father Gaffney then initiated. But, as a contemporary remarks, it is Father Gaffney's spirit, and men like him, that must still combat the work of proselytisin yet rife in Dubiiu.

GAL WAY.— Another Interesting '98 Relic— We have already described, in the columns ot the Tablet, \anoim remarkable relics of '98, but few of them surpass in interest tMat which is now in the possession of a farmer of Knockaah. Near his residence rises ji Hh.trp hill crowned by huge rocks. It was amon? these rocks that Mass wa* celebrated in the "dark and evil days." A huge slab, iv«tmg on two upright boulders, served as an altar, and the blurted marks ot human fee', cm be distinguished on a smooth ruck where the priest stood while offering up the Holy Sacrifice. A hole scooped in a rock to the right of the altar served as a holy water font. A rabbit made a burrow under one of the rocks, and while scooping out the earth exposed something bright to view. A farmer found the bright material to be a silver candlesiick, tmd (in furchor mv^ti^dUuu auothci oandlojtlck was also discovered burnd in the soil. LIMERICK.— SaIe Of Galtee More.— The Sydney Freeman is authority for the statement that the Russian Government has purchased from Mr. J. Gubbins the famous four-year-old racehor-e Galtee Mor.i for £20,000 This great horse was '-raised" in Limerick, and our contemporary gives the following account of the remarkable record which he has already achieved :— Galtee More wa.- the^uudoiibted champion of last season, for he won such races as the Two Tnou-and Guineas, Ne a market Stakes, Derby, Ascot Prince of Wales Stakes, Sandringham Gold Cup, tit. Le^er, and Sandown Foal Stakes, representing prize mont j y to the amount of C?2,t>37. Previous to all these he had wo.i the Middle Park Plate and other races, so that in w.w proved to be a olt of surpassii g excellence. For a long time Gal tee More's sale to home one or other has been expected, several big oilers having been made privately for him. and at last he has been well sold. After the colt had won the Two Thousand Guineas, an offer of 2.1,000 guineas, '• on the nail," and half the Derby and St. Leper Stakes prizes, in the event of his winning- them, was said to have been refused, though it waa probable the biggest offer ever made for a three-year-old. It would be interesting- to know to what extent Mr. Gubbins' exchequer waa enriched by Galtee More. We know ot upwards of £25 000 in st ikes and a similar sum in Pale price, but there is probably a much bigger amount still in bets, and yet it is told that Mr. Gubbins got Gal toe More's dam for less than X.M. Big as Galtee More's sale price was, it is beaten badly by the figure which was given for that

great stud failure, Ormonde, that horse having been knocked down to his present owner for £30,000. MAYO.-The United Irish and the Poor Law Elections.—The United Irish Le igue, recently formed by Mr. Win O linen. M.l\. has already had a trial of strength with the landlord and grazing classes in the poor law elections ot the Westport Union and the result has proved eminently satisfactory. In Clare Island ihomas Joyce, who is connected with the grazing interest, has been replaced by Prendergast, Nationalist. Iv Knappagh. the sitting Guardnn, T Moore, who h.id the support of the 'landlord waa defeated by the League candidate, Edmund Carney. In Clog-her, Stephen Kirbey. sitting Guardian, was defeated t.y the League candidate, WilJiam Joyce. In I-landeady, Patrick Fitzgerald 0 , a grazier, who has represented the division for many years, was beaa-ri by John O'Brien, a small farmer, the nominee of the League In L.iilajih Patrick Mdlley, who had the support of Lord Sli»o, was opposed by John Bourke, Nationalist. The result was a tie In Croagh patrick, p. McGreal. sitting Guardian, a grazier, defeated Henry Gill. In Newport, Hugh Dever, the vice-chairman, and lhomas Fergus, who have represented the division many years, wete defeated, because Dever is connected with the grazing and Fergus with the landed interests, the League candidates. Giblin and Halre being elected. ' LOUTH. -Death of Mr- Thomas McCann.— Ey the death of Mr. Thomas D. McCann, Drogheda has lost one of its best known and widely respected citizens. Mr. McCann was partner in the firm of Messrs. Joseph McCann and Son, oatmeal millers whose name is well known in the United States and throughout the ihree Kingdoms for the high quality of Drogheda oitmeal. Recently Messrs. McCann and Hill amalgamated, and the deceased was appointed first chairman of the company. He was a nephew of the late Air. J.unes MoCann, who represented Drogheda in Parliament as a Catholic and Nationalist many years ago. As a sportsman deceased was largely instrumental in keeping up the Bellewstown race meeting, one of the leading fixtures in the country The interment took place in the family burying ground K>lbharvin. TIPPERARY.-How "Irish" Criminals are Manufactured.—The following despatch, which appo ired in the Irish papers of April (sth, tells of the execution of an Irishman named Ixreutze, -who happened to be born iv Germany. The despatch

runs :— " Clonmei, April s.— Private Kenny, aged 27, of the Bth Hussars, was executed at Clonmei Gaol this morning for the murder ot Private Goodwin, of the same regiment at Cahir barracks under revolting circumstances. The murdered man was done to death with a carbine in one of the underground kitchens, Kenny subsequently removing the body by night to the exercise ground The motive of the crime was robbery." The condemned man was really a German named Kreutze ; but he had assumed various English aliases, one being Kenny. He served a &hort time in the German army, and on coming to England enlisted in the third Hussars under the name of Williams. In im, while still in the Hussars, he was sentenced to three years' penal servitude for stealing valuable bonds from a Liverpool hotel, and forging signatures thereto. On his release he joined the Hampshire Rciment but deserted and afterwards entered the Dublin Fusiliers from which he was transferred, shortly before the muider, to the Bth llussnr« His Irish name was thus purely an assumed one, but the crime for which he suffered will, no doubt, be duly registered in the English criminal reports as affording fresh evidence of Irish depravity. 0 TYRONE. — The Influenza Epidemic — The influenza plague is still very prevalent in County Tyrone, and is spreading JNurnber* of families in Omagh. Dungannon, Strabane and Cookstown districts have been stricken down with the malady which has brought on distress of an acute form. Several deaths have taken place. The disease appears to be more virulent than we have it in the colonies, and is accompanied by complications of a dangerous character. WEXFORD.-Death of an ex-Mayor of Wexford -The death is announced of Alderman Joseph Lacy, ex-Mayor of Wextord, who died recently at North Main street, Wexford When a lad of twelve, young Lacy moved to Wexford from his native place Jvillincooly, and entered into the employment of Mr. Moore as an apprentice. On the death of his employer he succeeded to the business, and carried it on in the same house in North Main street until his death. He built up for himself a flourishing trade as a vintner and also was the proprietor of livery stables. He took a great interest in municipal affairs, and about thirty years ago he became a member of the Wexford Corporation. In 1890 he succeeded the late Mr. John Greene, J.P., as alderman for St. Selskar ward He was unanimously elected Mayor of Wexford for the years '9,5 '96 and '98. Personally, he was an amiable, kind-hearted gentleman' whose principal desire was to see Wexford prosperous and flourishing. He was sixty-two years of age at the time of his death

GENERAL. St. Patrick's Day in England and Ireland.— St. Patrick's Day was more generally celebrated in London than usual. The shamrock was to be seen on all sides, and at Birmingham Assizes the Lord Chief Justice, Baron Russell, of Killowen, appeared on the bench with a sprig- of shamrock pinned to his robes. The Duke of Connaug-ht. escorting the Duchess of Connaught, who opened the Irish industries' sale at Lansdowne House, London, had a bunch of shamrock in his buttonhole, and Rear Admiral Lord Charles Berestord and other Irish members of Parliament of note all sported the emblem. At the <ruard mount at St. James' Palaue the band played Irish airs. A brilliant crowd attended the Irish industries' sale. The list of patronesses included almost all the royal family' Ladies Lansdowne. Waterford. Dufferin, Bland ford, and Fingall were among the indefatigable saleswomen. Many of the stallholders wore green. At Dublin, the principal e\eut of the day was the troiping of the colours in the Castle yard, a full report ot which has already appeared in the>e columns. Lord Roberts of Candahar the coaimauder-in-ohief of the forces in Ireland, commanded the troops, which went through the evolutions brilliantly before the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, E.irl Cado»an, and a distinguished party, including the Duchess of Manchester and the Marquis of Ormonde, all displaying clusters ot shamrock. The Irish Colony of the Argentine 'Republic— in the Argentine Republic there is a prosperous Irish colony, according to the San Francisco Monitor. The South American Irishmen are noted for their devotion to the Ch arch and are model citizens. The following tribute was paid to them recently by Father Martin a Passionist priest, who laboured two years amongst them and established a house of his Order in Buenos Ayres : •• I laboured more than two years among the Irish community of the River Platte I gave them missions in the city and piovince of Buenos Ayres and in the camps of Santa Fc I established for them in Buenos Ayres a Passionist foundation, to which I gave the name with which you are so familiar. Holy Cro~s. Therefore I had every means of knowing them well. They numbered in my time not much 1- s> than a half ot our numbers in B> lfu«fc. We are serenty thousand. They w. re nearly thirty thousand. 1 am proud and happy to tell you that, taken without selection, they would compare t.ivourai-ly with any other t .irty thou-and Irish men and women in any countiy in the world, not excepting Ireland itself. Their faith and devotion are as deep and sincere as in the old land. God has signally lik's.sid them Their prosperity is such that many of the-n could come ho no and buy out tneir former landlords. Yet prosperity had not made them proud. But they have one other quality, one other virtue which has sustained their faith, devotion and charity, and laid the foundation for their prosperity. They are sober. In this particular I must say— and I say it with shame and sorrow — they are far ahead of the men of Belfast. There is not one drunken Irishman in Argentina for every t>o in this great self-satisfied city. Let one even go further, and add that in the whole thirty thousand Irish of the River Platte I do not remember having seen half a dozen drunkards during my two years among them. How is this to be accounted for .' Perhaps largely in this way. They left Ireland during the time of Father Mathews temperance movement or immediately after it. Many of them probably carried with them his pledge as a sacred treasure. However this may be, they have, against great educational difficulties

brought up their children to be more sober than themselves. Their sons and daughters who, in the language of the country are called of- nv°of a t) P r rte " aS ' arG aS free frCHn "^"Peranoe as the natives mVhY thin t°l Lvi '° pean foUntnesf oUntnes J have mentioned. And, l, bt you might think 1 exaggerate in my description of the Irish and their children in Argentina, I can .how you a living specimen"" aS tt °U A Pla ," ° rm « tO - ni<rht ' a h ° n ot ' deaf f r."nd, EdJa 1 Mulhall, ot Lambaro. Buenos Ayres. Young- Master Mulhall. you SvYtobrsimiS l^ the umtormof — * w* The Shamrock in the Nayy.-We have more than once reierred to the humiliations and petty tyranny to which Irish soldiers w i^^V 11 , G Bnt r h SG r ice are Bub^ ected iri the "atter of the wearing oi then- national emblem on St. Patrick's Day The Son n^'nTT" th f account of the latest " n faction .-Loid Chaile, Doiobford, an admiral in the foo t,n aVy ? SayS 0U I r , Contem P ol - ar y)~ an d a distinguished admiral' too-appeared m public on St. Patrick's Day wearing a bunch of shamrocks beneath which you could have hidden several ot GulliH%r\ RR P f r'f !' Ir , lSh sailOTnam edPilkington, on board the HJ\I S. Retribution, dare.t to put a tiny spray ot the ■■ chosen leaf " but for refusing to remove it when ordered. Disobedience. sa<d Mr Goschen, m tones which thrilled with horror and emotion, was a most se-ious offence. Now, it the actual wearing of the spri Jof green was not a punishable offence, how can the authorities defend the action ot the creature who manufactured this awtul crime of disobedience by insolently ordering the poor sailor to remove his shamrock? Mr. O'Brien and Mr. William Redmond peppered Mr Goschen with pertinent qu< no, until the Speaker, who is beoomina very arbitrary gentleman ot late, and whose conduct may demand attention one ot these days, ordered the member for East Clare out ot the House This is a short, sharp, and decisive way of settling a question. Mr. Gully may try it once too of ten. g