Irish News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 30, 27 July 1899, Page 9

Irish News.

GENERAL

ANTRIM.— A Church Damaged by Fire.— The Passionist Church at Arlovie, Blfist, ha^ b en seriously damaged by fire. A. building forming part of the ohapel wa-t completely gutted and the edifice was for ati'ue in gre±t danger. The origin of the fire is unknown. Ritualism in Belfast. — A movem nt hn^ been started for the purpose f erecting a Protestant cathedral in Belfast. A n.ecting was called the other il ay to discuss the subject, but those pres nt discussed Ritualism instead, and the meeting broke up in disorder A Well-Deserved Castigation— At an inquest held in Belfas on the remains of a man who was crushed to death in a row, cau 1 through the violent langu ga of a street preacher named Ball, Coroner Finnegan, a Protestant, said : ' He (Ballantyne) %b an apostle of insult and outrage, and not of the G-obpel. If tht one thing that would excite religious feeling a d bitterness in the city it was the attack which had been made upon the nuns of Crumlin Road. The Catholics of Belfast revered the ladies who were in that institution, and h<' must say, as a Protestant, that the work which they did merited the greatest praise. More insulting language could not have been used.' The jury, in returning their verdict, called upon the authorities to take more active measures to preserve the peace. OLARE-— A State Inebriate Reformatory.— The Lord Lieutenant, in pursuance of the Inebriates Act, has established a State Inebriate Refrmatory at Ennis, County Clare, which was opened on June 1. A Popular Selection. — Mr. M. A. Scanlon, Chairman of the Clare County Council, was born in Tulla in 1858, and after his schooldays terminated entered at once in-o a successful commercial life. He has a wide and varied experienced as a business man, and has eithir lived in or frequently visited Cork, Dublin, Belfast, London, and other great centres of population throughout the kingdom, and it need not be said that a=< a young, shrewd, intelligent, Irishman he gained much exp rience of the w:iys and methods of ' all sorts and conditions of men ' during his travels abroad and at home. Finally Mr. Scanlon settled down as a merchant in the capital of his native county, where he has prospered exceedingly, taken an active an honourable part in pub ie life, and won the esteem and affection of hia neighbours Eleven years ago he was governor of the Asylum and County Infirmary and a little later was chosen a member of the Ennis Town Commissioners, in which capacity he performed such valuable work that he retained his seat at the last urban election. He also successfully contested Ennis for the County Councillor-hip, and his election as chairman proved the high value placed on his services by his colleagues throughout the length and breadth of the brave county whose electors struck the crowning blow for Catholic Emancipation. Needless to s»y Mr. Scanlon is an ardent Nationalist, and his active part in the Home Rule movemeut was not the least of his claims on the suffrages of the people amongst whom he resides. CORK.— A Needy Baronet-— At Cork Police Offi. c recently an order of ejectment was granted wgainst, Sir Thomas O'Connor Moore, Bart., for the non-payment of Is a week for tworoo 'is which he held for himself and tauiily in a humb-e part of the ity fej r Thomas, whone baronetcy i-> one of the oldest in Ireland, dating from 1681, he being the eleventh in succession, is in very poor circumstances. His father, the tenth b ironet, who died in 1882. was also without means. Sir Thomas is 56 years of age, and the heir to the title is a brother who is abroad. GAL WAY.— Restoration of an Ancient Church — Baiimtubber Abbey, County Mayo, the only sacred building in Ireland in which the divine mysteries have never ceased to be celebrated since pre-Reformation times is being restored. Rust and ruin betel it like the rest, but a portion of the chancel remained roofed, or at least provided shelter of a kind, and here the poor worshippers and their pastor somehow were left unmolested through centuries of persecution. KERRY— The O'Connell Memorial Church-— The good work to which the late Canon Brosnan gave the last years of his life is beinsr zealously prosecuted by the Very Rev. Denis J Canon O'Riordan, P.P., who has succeeded him in the mission of Cahirciveen. The erection of a church in his native parish, as a memorial to Daniel O'Connell, was the ambition of Canon Brosnan's life. The church, which promises to be one of the chief architectural gems in Ireland, is a long way on its road to completion.

KILD ARE.— The Chairman of the County Council— Mr. Stephen Brown, Chairman of the Kildare Council, was bora in Dundulk in 1853 and educated at St. Mary's, Dundalk, and Clon^'owes Colleye. whore he was imperator of the rhetoric class during: 1869 und IS 7O. Mr. Brown graduated as M.A. at Trinity College, and wsis admitted as solicitor in 1875 He took up bis abode in Nass, where he soon became a leader in municipal and political life, and was elected to the Town Commibsion, soon becomiut, chairman of i bat burly Mr. Hrown i« a ptrenuoue Nationalist He supported Mr. Parnell at the time of the *plit — but it is safe to sa,v that he is now, «<* he has ahvays been, an Irish patriot of the best type — one of the men who hold by their own convictions while respecting the opinions of others, and always keeping in view the ideal of a united Insh nation Last November Mr. Brown became a member of the Incorporated Law Society, which is the governing body of the solicitors profession in Ireland. Under the guidance of such a man the Kildare Counci) ought to improve upon the methods of the defunct Giand Jury. LIMERICK-— A Change of Name —The Dublin Gazette announces that the Queen has bet-n pleased to grant to Mr. Robert Stephen de Vere O'Brien, of Curragh Chase, in the County of Limerick, and his mother, Harriette Lucy O'Brien, widow, her royal license and authority that they may assume the surname of de Vere only, instead of O'Brien. TYRONE.— Opening of a New Church at Omagh.— The beautiful new Gothic Church of the Sacred Heart, Omagh, was on Sunday, May 28, dedicated by the Bishop of Derry. Cardinal Logue preached an eloquent opening sermon on the occasion. The church is a fine building, designed by a distinguished Irish architect, Mr. William Hogue, very lately deceased. It is interesting to note as indicating the solidality of Catholics and Irishmen all the world over that one of the altars is the gift of natives of the county Tyrone residing in New York, and the eeats and the confessional the gift of natives of Tyrone residing in Glasgow. The other prelates present on the occasion were the Bishop of Eaphoe, the Bishop of Elphin, who preached in the evening, and the Bishop of Down and Conor. Monsignor Kelly, of the Irish College, Rome, wrote on behalf of the Holy Father, congratulating priests and people on the good work and forwarding special faculties for the occasion. The Papal Benediction was accordingly imparted to the overflowing congregation by the Cardinal Archbishop. A sum of £400 was contributed to the building fund. A Significant Incident-— On May 28 his Eminence Cardinal Logue visited Omagh for the purpose of assisting at the opening of a new church. A feature of special and exceptional interest in connection with the occasion was the presentation of a unanimous address of welcome to the Cardinal from the Omagh Town Council, a mixed body c .imposed of Catholic and Protestant members. The address, after warmly welcoming his Eminence, concluded as follows? : — ' It is a happy augury for the future of Ireland that we, a mixed body, shoul i unite in presenting this address to your Eminence. The peaceful mission of Christianity we hope is being more fully realised in bringing to all peace and goodwill. We hope that your Eminence may long be spared to enjoy your exalted office, the duties of which you discharge with such advantage to the public' In the course r.t a dignified reply to the addres- his Eminence declared 'Hi- never eoulii that there was anything to prevent pi-ople of diffetcnt lelininu-uieiiuininations pulling together strongly and powerfully w uidu tn pnnnoie th>- general welfare and general interests of the people, and hence there was nothing mentioned in the address which gave him more pleasure than the fact that it was presented by gentlemen of the Town Council of different denominations, and he trusted that the spirit of charity, fellow feeling, and active co-operation for the good of the town of Omagh might extend over the whole country till every Irishman, whatever altar he kneels at, whatever shrine attracts his worship, may have but one object in view, one project, one design, and that is the welfare of our common country.' WATERFORD-— A Grant for Stoker Lynch's Mother— By an order in Council the Queen has been pleased to sanction a grant being made under special conditions from the funds of the Greenwich Hospital to the mother of stoker Lynch, who died from the effects of injuries received ' while gallantly attempting to save the life of a comrade during the accident to her Majesty's torpedo boat destroyer Thrasher on the 2'Jth September, 181)7.' A Sodality Procession- — The annual procession of the members of the Sodality of Mary Immaculate took place recently in the grounds attached to Mount Sion, Waterford. An altar was erected in the open air from which prior to Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the Mo-st Rev. Dr. Sheehan, Bishop of the Diocese, delivered an address, in the course of which he said : ' At thia

moment the beads of the Protestant Church in England are sorely puzzled at trying to devise some means that will enable them to patch up a peace between the dissentient forces within what is called the Anglican Establishment. For the want of better cause they are endeavouring to hold a court whose decision, as every man knows, will go out without force of action, but only to return with discredit upon the Church and upon the heads of those who may pronounce it.

A Belated DiSCOVery. — The English members, who recently visited Ireland, returned full of admiration for Irish scenery, and are loud in their paise of Irish hospitality. At Valentia in Kerry they visited the cable station, and sent the following message to New York : — ' The English members of Parliament touring in Ireland wish to tell the American people that they have discovered one of the loveliest countries in the world.'

MaynOOth College Union. — The annual meeting of the Maynooth College Union took place on May 21. One of the most important papers read was that of the Rev. A. C. Yorke, an ex-student of Maynooth, and late editor of the San Francisco Monitor. It dealt with ' Certain Aspects of Clerical Education.' He dealt with the literary training of priests and their training with a view to popular organisation. He thought they should be encouraged to specialise Another of the papers advocated the establishment of a Catholic Truth Society in Ireland.

The Celtic Revival. — The outlook for the revival of the Celtic idea is brightening all round. Considerable progress has been made in preparation for the Pan-Celtic Congress, which is to be held in Dublin next year. At the meeting of the General Committee, held in the Royal Irish Academy, Mr. E. E. Fournier, hon. secretary, read a most encouraging report of the work done up to the present. Amongst those who are supporting the movement are the Presidents of the Highland Association, the Manx Language Society, L'Union Regional istique Bretonne, Le Federation de Bretonne de Paris, the Gaelic League of America, and most of the honorary officers of the Welsh Gorsedd, the Honourable Society Cymmodorion, and the National Eisteddfod, as well as the bestknown Celtologists in Ireland and abroad. A Gaelic deputation will attend this year's Eisteddfod at Cardiff and formally invite the Gorsedd to the Dublin Congress of 1900. In this there will be Bections for living Celtic languages, National music, Celtic archaeology, ethnology, philology, National customs, etc. A Pan-Celtic concert will be held, as well as open-air meetings of the Welsh Goraedd. Arrangements will be made for holding Congresses in the five countries in rotation, the first to be that of 11)00 in Dublin.

Colonel Sanderson's Amiable Side.— Here is Mr. Justice M'Carthy's tribute to the well-known Orange leader, Colonel Sanderson : — ' Everybody likes the impetuous, kindly-hearted, generous Orangeman, and I can only say for myself that if I wanted a friendly office done, I hardly know of anyone to whom I would more readily apply than to the gallant Colonel, who has so often expressed a desire to meet my comrades and myself on the battlefield. On one occasion, when he made a speech in the House of Commons in which he expressed his willingness, if needs were, to die in the last ditch of Ulster defending that province against the Nationalist rebels, 1 had a pleasant talk with him in which we arranged our plan of campaign. I was then leader of the Irish Party, and I pointed out to him that, if the battle were to come off, it would be my uuty to marshal my forces against him, and that I had the strongest possible objection to slaying htm, or a yet more likely contingency, to being slain by him. He saw the humour of the situation, and between us we hit upon a plan which might save the honour of both sides and yet not compromise the life of either leader. So we came to a genial understanding that each leader should stand by his flag to the last, and that when the latest in the Orange ranks and the latest in the Nationalist ranks had fallen in the ultimate ditch, he and I should walk off arm in arm in quest of the nearest bottle of champagne and nearest box of cigars.'

The Managerial Question- — A Dublin correspondent, writing on May 24, says that the clerical managerial question of the Irish National Schools was again under discussion at a most representative Conference of Clerical Managers, held at Caremorris, County Mayo, under the presidency of the Venerable Archdeacon Kilkenny, D.D., and representing the Archdiocese of Tuam and the dioceses of Achonry, Clonfert, Elphin, Galway, and Killala. The Conference took strong ground. In the authorised report of the proceedings it was noted that the Central Executive of the National Teachers' Association had not even yet apologise! for the ' ooviously false, offensive, and unjust memorial forwarded to the < lommissionera of National Education on the 21st of June, 18'J8.' Allusion was made to the eagerness with which teachers seek appointments under the clerical management so vehemently denounced in the memorial in schools built and equipped by the untiring exertions of the priests. Finally the resolution of the Armagh Conference was unanimously adopted. The operative part of that resolution, it will be remembered, was as follows : ' We hereby pledge ourselves not to employ any teacher in future until the applicant has supplied satisfactory proof that he or she is not a member of the Irish Teachers' Organisation as at present constituted, and given a written undertaking to have no connection with that body.' The Belfast Teachers' Association, at a meeting recently held, unanimously resolved not to further concern themselves, as an association, with the claims made by the Protestant teachers for a court of appeal on dismissal by the managers.