Irish News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 5, 2 February 1899, Page 9

Irish News.

ANTRIM— The Parliamentary Fund— Mr. George J. Wake /k^, has given a donation of £20 to the trustees of the Irish .JRamentary Fond.

ARMAGH.— Transfer of a Christian Brother— Rev. Brother I. M. Spillane, superior of theGreenparkChrietain Brothers' School*, Armagh, has been transferred to Dublin. During nine years he had laboured with zeal for the educational advancement of the rising generation in the Primatial City, this without any desire for future worldly reward of any kind. But the people and pupils were not unmindful of the good Christain Brother's gre »t and unselfish labours; therefore, when hits removal was made public their regrets were deep and universal. Then, in some way to express their appreciation of him, they on his d. parture preseute I a most artistically engrossed addrer* and a number of h mdsume presents.

GLARE-— Success Of a Kilrush Boy.— At an examination (limited competition) held in London, Oct. 13, for a clerkship in the Army and Navy Stores, Mr. John Lyaaght, Christiaa Brothers' school, Kilrush, obtained first place.

Tenants Purchase their Holdings— The tenants on the Fitzgerald estate have concluded negotiations for the purchase of their holdings, situate in Scariff. Seventeen years' total of the annual rent ia the basis of the agreement.

CORK.— Fairminded Unionists.— Colonel Johnson and those who usually act with him at the Fermoy Board of Guardians are out-and-out Unionists of an uncompromising type. On Saturday, November 26, however, they joined readily and enthusiastically in support of a resolution urging upon the Government the necessity of establishing an endowed Catholio University in Ireland. Their fair-mindedness in this respect does them credit. General Massey, D.L., ia yet another Irish Protestant gsntleman who has such hardihood. General Massey frankly confesses that he would hesitate to send a son of his to a university which was entirely controlled by Roman Catholics, and the students almost entirely Roman Catholicß, and he can, therefore, ' quite understand the Roman Catholics having 'the same feeling.' Being anxious that all Irishmen should stand on the same footing in such matters, he heartily joins with the Catholics of Tipperary in their demand for justice.

DOWN-— Presentation to a Priest.— Rev. Father M'Evoy of St. James', Renfrew, was lately the recipient of a very practical token of the esteem in which he was held by his congregation. He had just recovered from a very serious illness, and a short time ago the parishiouerß assembled in the Town Hall to offer him their congratulations and present bim with a purse of sovereigns. Father M'Evoy was born at Castlewellan. His preliminary studies for the priesthood were made in France, He was ordained in Newry in 1883. Since 1890 he has been in Renfrew.

DUBLIN.— The Result of Curiosity— A rat got into an electric main pipe in Dublin, and went to work on the insulating material, grawing away until he struck the electric current, then . However, he managed before he pegged out to place half the city in darkness by interfering with the current.

The Catholic Boys' Brigade-— The annual meeting of the Catholic Boys' Brigade was held on Sunday, December 4, in the Brigade Hall, Church street. The Lord Mayor presided, and there was a large attendance of prominent citizens. The objects of the Brigade are to suppress vice and evil habits amongst boys, to encourage them in obedience to lawful authority, ecclesiastical and lay, and to promote their spiritual and temporal welfare. To attain these ends the boys receive religious instruction, are trained in drill and athletic exercises, and ate afforded rational and instructive amusement.

KERRY.— A Heroic Woman.— A writer in the Kerry Sentinel recently received from an Irish- American friend a letter, from which the following is an extract : — ' Much space is given in the New York papers, notably the Herald, to the doings of that band of noble women who, at the call of their Government, went into the pest-utricken camp of the South to nurse the heroes of Santiago. Almost the first to respond was Miss Annie Scanlan, daughter of the late T. S janlan, of the Mall, Tralee. She is doing heroic work at present at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Annie Soanlan has been the gate of Heaven to many a weary, troubled soul.' The lady whose heroism is so well acknowledged is a oousiu of Mr. Thade Scanlan, J. P. Lehena, Killinardriah, County Cork, and has many friends end relatives in the South.

LIMERICK.-Bishop O'Dwyer and the * Irish Times'— In a characteristically trenchant letter to the Truth Times toe Moet Rev. Dr. 0 Dwyer aeka that journal to declare itself on the University question. As long writes his Lordship, m Catholics are deprived of a single privilege that Protestants enjoy., they would ba contemptible slaves if they submitted to it with patience. Now sir, an influential Protestant journal, such as the Irish Times, can do much towards bringing about that state of peace which we all desire. Much more influential for the same purpose ia the great y { th f- 1r i 6 \ P™^^ 48 I<* them speak out, not a few isolated individuals whose motives on the eve of County Council eleotions may be understood, but the whole body of the Protestant Sentry. Let the Grand Jurors assemble and state with ail the weight that ninst attaah to their words that they are in favour of granting Irish Catholics what they want in education: on the co c condition that no one interferes with Trinity College, with which the Protestants are entirely satisfied. Another Convert to Home Rule.— Particular interest attaches to the declaration of the Hon. William Cosby Trench, Clandafog Castle. Mr. Trench is a brother of Lord Aahtown The following is his address to the electors and ratepayt-rs •—' Fellowcountrymen,—l am a candidate as a representative in the county council, and beg to solicit your votes and influence. lam in favour of Home Rule, and will support the Catholic University Bill, also compulsory land purchase, and the labourers 1 demands for the full one acre, and I shall also support all other beneficial measures whoh may at any time be brought forward for Ireland The inte estB of the ratepayers I shall specially guard. Give me your votes, then, fellow-countrymen, and I shall use my best endeavours in your behalf, as I have no personal ambition. Your interests and those of my country alone I have at heart.' [ MEATH.-A Successor to Dr- Nulty.— Cable message received on Friday :— The clergy, who are voting for a successor to the late Bishop Nulty, have included Dr. Higgins (auxiliary Bishop of bydney) among the names to be submitted to the Pope, f Dr Higgins was born near Moate, County Westmeath. He began hia ecclesiastical career as a curate at Tullamore, after which he became President of the Navan Seminary. Afterwards he became Parish Priest of Castletowndelvin, and about 10 years ago he was appointed auxiliary Bishop of Sydney. He was also named recently for a vacancy in Rockhampton, Queensland.— Ed. N.Z T.] SLIGO-— A New Poetess.— A new Irish writer is soon to bring out a volume of poems. The author is Miss Eva Gore-Booth of Lissadill. Mr. Andrew Lang contributes a preface, Miss GoreBooth has been an occasional contributor to 'Longman's,' 'The Yellow Book,' and other periodicals, and her poems are said to be full of Celtic dreaminess— to be expected of a writer whose home is overshadowed by the precipices of Ben Bulben, the most enchanted and fairy-haunted region of Ireland. TIPPERARY.- Death of a Well-Known Solicitor.Much regret was expressed in Clonmel in the early part of November, at the sad intelligence conveyed by cable that Mr. E Burke solicitor, and last year's Mayor of the town, died in South Africa' whither he had gone twelve months ago for the good of his health. He was a brilliant member of his pro'ession and a writer of great promise. For years he acred as solicitor to the W. L. & W. Railway and the Fishery Conservatories. He was son of Mr. Samuel Burke Cahir. ' GENERAL. A FalB6 Rumour.— Owing to a rumour that had gained considerable currency, to the effect that Father Bernard Vaughau S J of the Holy Name, Manchester, had no sympathy with the Irish people, the distinguished member of the Jesuit Order publicly d«nied the imputation at a meeting held recently in the Holy Name Hall, and said that it was not because he praised Englishmen that he loved them more than any other nationality. He was not so narrow-minded asrthat. A person need only look at the history of the world, and he would find thai the Irish people held a place of high honour there. Having sympathy with Ireland, he naturally felt with her in her efforts to gain Home Rule. As for personal illfeeling for anyone, he said such a thought did not exist in his mind. Old Irish Titles. — It is not generally known that there are still several Irish Princes, lineal descendants of the holders of ancient Irish titles, to whom these titles are acoorded by courtesy with toe precedence in s xiiety which is their due accompaniment! Tne chiefs of the Irish septs are reoogniaed by 4 The ' prefixed to the surname, as ' The M Dermott,' ' The O'Donoghoe,' ' The O'Connor Don," The 0 Grady,' anl they are addressed oa occasion* of the utmost formality ' M'Dermott,' ' O'Grady,' ' O'Connor,' without any

prefix. The wives of these gentlemen are addressed by the prefix ' Madame.' There are,' moreover, the two Irish Knights, the Knigho of Glin and the Knight Of Kerry, who are members of the great family of the Fitzgeralds, and who take precedence immediately after ' The M'Dermott,' who holds the moat ancient of Irish titles, and is • Prince of Coolaviu,' a title held by his forbears for upwards of seven centuries.

Irish Protestant Gentry— Mr. George Bernard Shaw has lent the weight of his distinguished name to the assertion that the Protestant gentry of Ireland are the most irreligious men in the world, says the Aye Maria, ' Protestantism in Ireland,' he writes in M.A.P., ' is not a religion, it is a side in political faction, a class prejudice — a conviction that Roman Catholics are socially inferior persons, who will go to hell when they die, and leave heaven to the exclusive possession of ladies and gentlemen.'