Irish News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVI, Issue 7, 17 June 1898, Page 9

Irish News.

ANTRlM.— Catholic Belfast and the Distress— As it appeared that the wealthy merchanis of the northern metropolis had made up their minds to do nothing to relieve the faminestricken people of the West of Ireland, In-? Lordship the Most Rev. Dr. Henry had a collection made in the Catholic churches of Belfast on Sunday, with the, following highly creditable result : — St. Patrick's, £SO 19s; St. Malauhy's, £57 ; St. Peter's-, £55 17s; St. Mary's, £13; Bally macatrett, £12 6s 3d; St. Paul's, £35 ; St' Joseph's, £28 4s (>d ; Holy Cross (Ardoyne), £•_>(> 12s «d ; Holy Family, £2G , Holy Rosaiy, Cl 7 10a: St. Brigid's, £17 .h ud , Clonard, £15 ; Sacred Heart, C 9 10s ; Lig Niel, £0 5s — £4(>o in all.

CORK.— The Late Sir John Arnott's Will.— Full particulars are now to hand regarding the will of the late Sir John Arnott, to which reference was made in these columns last week. Probate was granted j ust sixteen days after the death of the decea-e<l, and the fir&t possible day owing to the Easter holidays, which, acjord ng to the rules of the Court, a probat j could be granted. The executors and trustees are Sir John Arnott (the son), and Lady Arnott (the widow of the deceased), but the entire control and management of the several businesses and estates which are all to be carried on aa heretofore are vested in the present baronet, who practically takes his father's place. The personalty is sworn at £(j.")(J.2b'rf, 10s 4d, and the realty at £200,000. The will confirms the jointure to Lady Arnott of £1000 a year under her settlement, and bequeaths to her £60,000. A similar legacy is given to the present baronet, £30,000 to testator's son Loftus, and £40,000 to each of his four unmarried daughters, and his other three sons, provision having* been made by settlement or otherwise for his married daughters. Legacies amounting to £30,000 are given to relatives and friends of the deceased, £40,000 in legacies to his secretary and several officials in the Irish Times and other businesses of the deceased, and £45,000 in charitable legacks, including £20,000 to Cork and a similar sum to Dublin charities. The legacies are all settled legacies, not to be paid unless testator's trustees so desire and at their discretion for a period of twenty years after his death. One third of the residue is bequeathed to Lady Arnott, testator's

widow, one-third to his son John, and one-third between all his children, save John, living at his decease. '98 Celebration in Mallow. — Irish exchanges to hand contain glowing accounts of a splendid demonstration held in Mallow on Sunday, April 17, in commemoration of the memory of the men of '98. The demonstration was organised by the Mallow '98 Club, and no smaller tribute ca'i be paid to the success of their efforts than to say that the extraordinary and splendid meeting was representative of the be»t and truest Nationalists of all shades and politics in the County ot Cork, and that the Rebel City sent to represent it its chief magistrate and a large number of sterling and patriotic Irish Nationalists. A great concourse of people, headed by the bands, which played splendid National airs, marched to the Royal Hotel, where Mr. O'Brien was staying. Mr. O'Brien, accompanied by Mrs. O'Brien, Muss McCarthy (Australia), Rev. Father O'Callaghan, the Mayor of Cork and others, took their places in an open carriage, and the whole procession, which was headed by the National Foresters, mounted and in full uniform, retraced its steps back to the market place, where the demonstration was held. The whole scene was one of most remarkable enthusiasm. The demonstration was marked by a spirit of the greatest unanimity, and the text of each and every speaker, whether lay or clerical, Parnellites or anti-Parnellite, was unity. The sentiments expressed were instantly endorsed by the thousands assembled, and were cheered to the echo. In other places great demonstrations have al-o tiken place. DONEGAL.— The Evictors at it again.— The evictors are still kept going at their ignoble work. Three evictions took place on the property of W. H. Boyd, D.L., outside Letterkenny on April 2. In Kirkstown, Denis Ward, who o;cupied a holding of about thirteen acres, with his wife and children were turned out on the roadside. The holding of James Parke, the next victim, was a short distance off. This holder is of larger acerage than the former one, ,yfaid includes about twelve acres tillage. The remainder is comprised, for the most part, of a practically uncultivated piece of mountain land, whose arid slope alfords, it is said, scarcely a vestige of pasture. The third unfortunate was a tenant named Bovaird, who occupied a small holding at Loughnagin. It was reported that all the tenants on the Donegal estate of the Duke of Abercorn had been served with processes for the half year's rent, but this is contradicted, and it appears that only a limited number have been served.

DUBLIN.— A Tribute to the late Mrs. Parnell— With re"erence to the death of Mrs. Delia Parnell, whose funeral was described in our columns of last wei'k. the Times' Dublin correspondent writes that the event removes a picturesque figure from the political as well as from the social history of the Irish Nationalist movement. The closing years of her lite was deeply tinged with the melancholy that attaches to the dec iy of a great family. She succumbed to the effects of a terrible accident in the house where she had birth To her second and greatest son. Mrs. Parnell's lno^t notable relation was her father, Admiral Stewart, " Old Ironsides," of the Unit"d States na\y, who took a prominent part in the war of 1812. It was he who promised his wife the grift of a British man-ot-war, and the stoiy goes that he kept his word. There can be little doubt that Charles Stewart Parnell derived from hid mother his iron will, his c ildness, and his decision. In personal appearance he bore a curious resemblance to her. Mrs. Parnell's belief in her s >n's policy, and her absolute confidence in its ultimate triumph, amounted almost to a lvligious tenet. At the time when the policy was at its z mth of populaiity she wa9 its apo-tle in the United Sfcites. Wh n excitement was high with reg.ird to Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill in 18^6 she addressed an enormous gathering in Chicago, und wjs received with almost regal honours. It was about three years airo that Mrs. Parnell left Ainerio.i tor ever, an 1 came back to Avondale broken in health and happiness. Age and misfortune had unsettled a once singularly clear and original mind, and the evil days on which she had fallen were comfort d with the delusion that her son Charles was still alive. Sho leaves three daughters and two sons, of whom the elder, Mr. John Howard Parnell, M.P., is at present, as our readers are aware, City Marshall of Dublin.

The Mayor of Dublin on the Distress in the West.— A. special meeting of the Dublin Corporation was held on Friday, April 15, to consider matters coimejted with the distress in the West, and the Lord Mayor mada a speech on the occasion which should make it absolutely impo sible for the Government officials to ever again attempt to deny or to minimise the severity of the distress. We make the following extracts : — You are all aware that last year, owing to late planting, and an abnormally wet suaimer and autumn, the potato crop failed, especially in the West and South of Ireland, and as a consequence the. small landholders of all

these districts suffered acute distress, which has now become a oase of actual famine. A visitation of Providence has ever been recognised as justifying exceptional measures. The Government had ample warning of the impending distress, both of an official and of an authoritative character. The Irish Agri ultural Statistics for 1897, whijh were compiled by the Royal Irish Constabulary, and published in the end of August, contained warning of a most serious character, and all the more serious on account of their noncommittal official tone The Constabulary reports made it very clear that the pot ito crop was going to be a failure on the West and South coast of Ireland. . . . The Local Government on the occasions on which I applied to it for inforu ation has given it with a cordiality which lam only too happy to acknowledge. In a oom* munication of April 12, it states : " Relief works are in operation in the unions of Belmullet, Clifden. Galway, Killala, Oughterard, Swinford, and Westport, and the Guardians of the Ballinrobe Union have adopted schemes for the establishment of relief works. In addition to these unions there are other unions in the West in which sporadic cases of distress consequent on the failure of the potato crop will also be found. This may be said to apply to all ihe unions on the Western seaboard." la the eight unioua mentioned above are 39 718 houses, which at six inma'es each give a population of 238,308. Of course all these people are not distressed, but if there be added the " sporadic cases " to those that are, there is a population of about 300,000 people on our Western seaboard in distress, and the distress acknowledged by the Local Government, I take it to be, means that 300.000 people are without npcessary food, seeds, and clothes. When at length the Government tardily acknowledged that real distress existed it adopted a scheme most scientifically calculated to do the lea«t £ood and afford a minimum of relief. Adverting to the work of the Mansion House Committee, his Lordship said that one of its first and most urgent cares was to make an effort as great as its funds would permit to supply seed potatoes. We distributed perfectly free over 500 tons of seed potatoes, but all our efforts, supplementing the unions, the Government, and the Manchester Committee, have left numbers of people who are in the terrible position of having planted crops below the average. I find on the best authority that in the Killala Union about 200 families did not plant aver.ige crop^. In the Swinford Union about 7,500 families planted crops below the average, and I have this most alarming piece of information, on the authority of the clerk of the Union, that in the Cahirciveen Union 700 families

did not plant average crops. The clerk of the Union, Ou<rhterard, states that upwards of 900 families did not plant average crops. ihe clerk of the Union, Castletown Berehaven, is of opinion thai, the number of families which did not plant average crops is very large. In the Clifden Union 800 families were unable to pluit average crops, and 1,700 families in the same union only pi mted average crops with charitable and other external ..nl. The Chairman of the union has given me thi., mformdtiun on April 11. As regards the future of the outlook there can be no more alarmingcircumstances than this inability of the people to --ow their crops, and that is why I ask the Government to prowde for nr:t yen. The people in the distressed region-*, having lived for twclv" months on insufficient and di^c^cl Icol, a:v :u\v uiYei:"g ii'yi those epidemics which pray on the bo lies ot msulHciently nouri -hod I people. It was a reproach to the Covcr:.raL..t that the pc -pie should be left in this condition. At the present time we luar a lot about the condition of Cuba, and we can <co one ol the. greate-t nations in the world about to take the a^vful step of declaring war in order to end a condition of things not even os bad as that which prevails in Connemara. I appeal mo=t confidently to the Council to pass the resolution which stands in my name, and which is a last appeal to the Government to do its duty, as these unfortunate people must be supported either from public f-mils or private charity until August 1 : '-That thi. Council b g* to dm or, the immediate attention of her Majesty ' h Government to the acute and widespread distress and destitution at present exi-ti .g- in the oounties of Kerry, Cork, Mayo, and ti.uw ..y. 'n,a L we c ill upon the Government to send immediate rel> 1 and Luke si<> h steps as may prevent a famine in these distiiots Ui..ro t ,<■ pr, sen', , )O p comes to maturity, and to euable these poor piOt 1- to m..ke piovision for thp coming winter and spring mot.th* ol i,e^ }eui.' We need hardly add that the resolution w .is passed. Assisting the St. Vincent de Paul Society .-a most successful bazaar and Jett was hdd at the Rotunda, Dublin recently, in aid of the e^haiis-itd funds of th« Society ot at' Vincent de Paul, the Dublin co:iiuenoes of which duri-w the past year visited and relieved :,.>, >\ ]> V nv tamilies, con isting"ot 22 031 individuals, and were obhg d to r< tu-e many other deserving ca-et. through want of fund.s. The Lazur was opened by the Is nt Mayor, and there was a \ery 1n g - a'.iendance. The room was arranged with scenery to leniv-cn. Old I'aii-. as i 4i 4 - -\\,}> at t!.'-tiiK.-of the foundation of the Society. J I or wa-, the Lhuiun a Xoru Dame, besides that of tit. Kulpicj, the li ;i>t >! il. , hnaKlo- below the Bastille, and the Madeleine was i(_p>..-uitt,d in tlio circe ol buildings that extend around the ki.-torio Jiound lloom. The Archbishop of Dublin, enclosing a cheque for C 2.">, wrote as follows to Mr. Carton, President of the Society :— People nowadays are so easily attracted by new forms of charitable work that I am sometimes apprehensive of a serious faUing-ofi" in the suppjrt ghen to our old and tried chaiitable oig'iuisuiiuns. 'ihe poor of Dublin could ill afford any curtailment ot the relief which the generosity of the public, as well as of its. o.\n menibca. lias now lor so manj years enabled your Sociity to gi\e Apart j'lom the sulwt uitial ail in money which it may be nlieu on to biing to j-our fundi, the bazaar will have the fuiihei aihantage ot ki cpmg the Soriay'aru its work from bci:i^ forgotten or overlooked by the public ' You will kindly excuse my dol.iy in nm.ng thL letter. The lact id th.it I have been obliged during the las;, ljw weeks to give a »\» d deal of consideration to the que-tum whether bazaar,^can any longer continue to be sanc.'iomu ...«, una-i, ol raiw.jg luud^ for"Catnoiie purposes in this dioev-o. I'ndcu'.ittdly abut, s, some of them of a very serious kind, have bee ; alhi.wd to creep in witnin the List lew years. If there ib not a speedy and oikctr. c icrorm it will become my duty to do what hi:, aiready had to b<> done eKewlure, by refusing altogether my bahct.ua to ba-uain, or to works, however good, in aid of which they aie In Id. lam \ery conJ-i.ient, however, tiat in connection with the pr jeetel bazaar m aid of the St! Vincent de Paul Society there w ill b- nothing that could iuid to hasten the taking of such a bU-p. Jjut I aai' bound to add I am not without fear that the taking or it mu-t bj looked upon as inevitable in the near future. LOUTH.— New Church at Tullyallen.— a memorable and impressive ceremony took place on April ] 7, when his Einineiue Cardinal Logue laid the foundation of a uo'v church at TullyalleM, County Louth, in the presence ol a l.uge nun.bjr of tiie oleigy ol the' archdiocese, the Mayor of Drogkedj, tiie ILuli SlieiJi.the mcuibeisct t le Corporations of Dundalk and Droghe'la.aii'i an immense gathering of people from the surrounding districts. The no.' church when completed, will be dedicated to St. Chri.ti m O'Conareny. the ii'rst Abbot of historic Mellinfont-Abbey. i!ie rum-, ot which a>. m th" immediate neighbourhood. Alter the cuv/n ir, it la > nig th ■ foundation-stone High .^a-ri was <-c\ hiat, c i i u.e o3a cJ.uu'h hi.Eminence presiding. At the co'ielu >io ior the ii: ,< Uo-j.el. •he \\vl' T. A. Finlay, S.J., preached the xtuioii ol the o,:\ Jl-t-.o- r. r his text the iollow ing passage .—"I. — "I haw c ;io-e; io-e i airU/n^ s.i icLii >d this place that My Name may be there Jor v\ cr." 'i n • j, : -- .idi^. in eloquent language, reviewed the history ol Meilxf^iu. aud a} j> Iwd to the congregation to assist the Rev. F-.thu- 'in U'd to cet a church which would be a fitting mo'inment o! Hie i.irli and fidelity of those to whom the tradit ons of old ilclluont had descended, and who, in passing tJi"in on, had proved l!l ni^-ho.i worthy of the inheritance. At thr ,c o'clock lienedicti jh was gi ,'en by the Cardinal Primate from an enclosed u)tar on the «mv t?v\aid adjoining the ancient and historic abbey. The oeret'icny w.ts moil solemn and impressive, it being the nr.-t time for '.)'>'.) \.ai~th>i ;■ Catholic celebration took place theie. 'Ihe M^yor and iui nib '1-, ot' the Corporations of Dro^heda, with the civic suuni and mate. Lhclt ia front of the altar. MEATH.-A fall of "Black Rain."-A fa I .] of •• w IC .. rain" occurred one day in Meath lLCjntiy. A numbe/ of ]ieo[)!e saw it, and its fall was preceded by two thunder claps. One {.Tinicman said it fell over an area of country thirty miles long by six-

teen miles wine, and his account ot the phenomenon v that the d.irkn<\-,s of the r.«ia was due to soot tioiu th" inanufacturing towns of North England and South S.;otlmd, wh.c'i reinainel suspended in the dnltiuy clouds until they broke. GENERAL. Letter from the Author of " Who Fears to Speak of '93 ?"— \i',ythii,g from the authoi of tin. ha i.onai song, the words and music ot winch we published as a mi, pl.-me/it to our 'i)S number, will be read with interest ny every In-hman. The Jio\ton (,'lobe of a rerent date had ih< I(.l'o\\ing lvUn-wee to, and letter from, the \encrable aurhor : —Dr. John Ivi I> , lng.am. Ll^ ]).. m',-o provo.-t of iriur.y ( ulkgL 1 , Dublin, in, \. „ii.wk ..mi.oiol. the t'.in li.g p.^ in whicti w ill this year be tin- ra!i\ ing m « ot ' he &• attered children of the Jtisli r.tce, ha- b..en much jnuie-li v ijj J.u bkctiJi of l.i» life, pub!i-hed in tiie (JI the, a* couipaiij m^ the music and woids ot his famous song. He ha^ taken oc. u-ion to cxpres.- hi^ granriciiion in the following letter :— " Ji hn u'Callaghan, E-q . ]l<>*t»n (rlobr, tto*tou, ilass., U.S.A. Dear Sir— l lei m thank you for the to> kind things you ha\e s-aid ot mem > our article in the J!u>.to>i S-mdttij O'lnbr of tho (ith of Maich. and lor your courttsyin ser.dmg iu'e copies of the ]iaper cnntaming the aitiele. The biographical parti - cul'us given m 1! — though not in all lvspects exact — are much more correct th tn some that h;ne app.-aral in English and Iri^t journals. There is m icb to be sdcl on the political topics to which j'ou refer, and I may in the intuit 1 find an cuuoitunity of explaining my views on these subjeit-! n\> r, t ili\ than J have yet done. — Believe me to be. dear sir. faithlully yoin - .Ic.ix K. IxGHAM.