Irish News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 49, 6 December 1900, Page 9

Irish News.

CLARE.— A Sad Occurrence— A disaster, resembling in ■ome respects that which took plaoe at Gneevequilla, County Kerry, some years ago, ooourred in the Loch district, a remote part of the County Clare, lying between Lisdoonvarna and the Cliffs of Moher. Recent heavy rains had swollen the mountain stream to an abnormal extent, and consequently the bogs for miles around were flooded to a degree which gave the country the appuarauce of a vast lake. This culminated in a great bog slide in the district mentioned. Fortunately but one house lay in the direct iine of the moving bog. That was overwhelmed like a house of cards, and two inmates, a Mrs. Margaret M'Carthy, aged 68, and a young woman named Egan being killed. CORK.— A Protest against Jury Packing.— At the quarterly meeting of the Cork County Council the following resolution was passed unanimously :—: — • That we, the members of the Cork County Council, condemn in the most emphatic manner the foul system of jury packing as practised at the Cork Assizes held recently.' The resolution was a proper one, no doubt, but until the Catholic jurors take strong steps to resent the insults to which they are publicly subjected because of their faith, at the various assizes, they may expect nothing else. The time is ripe for decided and combined action on the part of Catholic jurors who are insolently ordered to ' stand aside.'

An Address on Temperance- — On the occasion of the openIng of St. Finbar's West Working Men's Temperance Club, Cork, his Grace Archbishop Ireland delivered a powerful address on temperance. He said he had celebrated the anniversary of Father Mathew's birth in many cities in the United States, but never before had he the pleasure of celebrating it in Cork, where Father Mathow lived. It refreshed hia soul to see Cork, because of the memories of Father Mathew. DONEGAL.— The Representation of the Northern Division. — Discussing the defeat of Mr. Arthur O'Connor in North Donegal, the London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian says : Mr. Arthur O'Connor's rejection for North Donegal is to be regretted, for the House of Commons possesses few abler members and none who were more complete masters of its procedure than this rewrved and self-contained man. The event is also a further blow to Mr. Healy, in whose following Mr. Arthur O'Connor was perhaps the most powerful figure. No one of his many losses is comparable to thiß. There can be no doubt, indeed, that his own Beat would have been lost had the United League been able to put forward a candidate of the type of Mr. Davitt instead of a stranger and an Englishman, for whom the Nationalist electorate could not be induoed to vote. However, the way in which the Irishmen are closing their ranks is a fresh testimony to the keen political sense of the country. Mr. Healy is, no doubt, a power in himself, but this time no man of much individuality is likely to stand by his side.

DUBLIN.— The Study of Irish.— An Irish class has been opened at the Female Teachers' Training College, Baggot street, Dublin, which is under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy. Miss Frances Sullivan, daughter of Mr T. D. Sullivan, has undertaken the tuition.

The Anniversary of St. Vincent's Hospital.— The sixtyninth anniversary of the foundation of St. Vincent's Hospital was oelebrated recently by a dinner in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin. Dr. Cox presided, and among those present were the Right Rev. Mgr. Gargan, President of Maynooth ; the Rev. T. A. Findlay, S.J., and Mr J. E. Redmond, M.P. In the course of his address the chairman said they looked back with pride to the work of that great woman, Mary Aikenhead, who founded the Order to which the ladies of the hospital belonged at a time when so little was done for the poor of the city and of the country. She planned how she might best relieve the poor around her, and it was in accordance with her splendid idea that that hospital was established. It had never since lacked public favor.

Death of a well-known Journalist.— The death is reported of Mr Theophilus M'Weeney, chief reporter of the Freeman's Journal. The sad occurrence deprives Irish journalism of one of its oldest, brightest, and best-beloved members. Mr M'Weeney was a familiar figure to the oitizens of Dublin of two generations. The personal friend of the late Sir John Gray, who promoted him chief of the reporting staff on the late Mr M-Ilwee's retirement, Mr M'Weeney was in his way a local celebrity. He reported the speeches of Daniel O'Connell, Shiel, Smith O'Brien, Whiteside, Butt, O'Hagan, Sullivan, Keogh, Ball — in short, the eloquence of every Irish orator of the Queen's reign. His reminiscences were teeming with interest. He had an inexhaustible fund of anecdote of men of the time. Energetio and resourceful, he did, as the phrase is, yeoman service for the Freeman's Journal^ which, thanks to his efforts, was always abreast with and generally before its contemporaries in the news of the day. Hence when the Freeman was converted into a limited liability company his services were recognised. Of late years — though he may be said to have died in harness— his failing health prevented him from doing much ; but his heart was in his work, and he would not feel content unless he turned up regularly at the office to see how things were going on. Mr M'Weeney leaves two distinguished sons, one of them a Fellow of the Royal University, and the other Dr. M'Weeney of the Mater Misericordite Hospital, a leading analyst and bacteriologist.

GALWAY.— The Diocesan Cathedral— Preaohing at the Pro-Cathedral, Loughrea, the Moat Rev Dr. Healy, Bishop of Clonlert, eaid the new Cathedral, now rapidly nearing completion,

would be one of the handsomest churches in the West of Ireland. As soon as the Cathedral was finished a new Beminary would be built.

The new Member for the Borough.— Writing on the elections, the Speaker says : — We heartily congratulate the Irish people on their successes in the present elections. They have returned for Galway a young man who is indeed separate from and opposed to the National political organisation, but one who is the eldest son of a distinguished Irish family, patriotic, bearing a name deservedly popular among his fellow-countrymen attached to them by hia reliKion and training, and enc moreover pledjod to neutrality on the question of Home Rule and to the active support of Mr. Balf our's scheme for a Catholic University. It is emphatically no+ a victory for the ' ascendancy ' party, for the ' Castle ' or the ' garrison.' In Dublin the two successes of the Nationalists are again matters that should rejoice every sincere Home Ruler.

KERRY.— The new Member for the Southern Division. — Mr. John Boland, who has been returned unopposed for South Kerry, and whose name, new to public life, baffled most enterprising biographers, is, says the Daily Chronicle, a young man whose adhesion is a distinct gain to the ranks of Parliamentary Nationalists. A nephew of Dr. Donnelly, one of the most respected of the Catholio Bishops of Ireland, Mr. John Boland was entrusted to Cardinal Newman's Oratory School for his early education, which he completed at Oxford. He has been called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, and he not long ago became a newspaper proprietor by his purchase of the Weekly Register, formerly the favorite organ of Cardinal Manning. Mr. Boland, who brings to his new career the great expectations of his friends, will find at least two of his old schoolfellows from Birmingham at Westminster — Lord Edmund Talbot and the Hon. Martin Morris.

An Award at the Woman's Exhibition.— The proprietore of the Kerry Knitting Company at the Earl's Court Woman's Exhibition — Messrs. Thomaa Galvin and Sons — have received from the Duchess of York, who was particularly attracted by the company's stand on the occasion of her recent visit, an order for several articles manufactured in Tralee. Messrs. Galvin and Sons have been awarded the gold medal for their exhibits at the exhibition, now about to close.

KILKENNY.-Archbishop Ireland Visits His Native County. — His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Ireland on returning from Rome to America spent some time in Kilkenny, his native county. He was the guest of Father Dunphy, P.P., Cuffesgrange. In the parochial church hia Grace delivered an impressive discourse before a large congregation. He afterwards visited St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny, where he was the guest of Dr. Doyle, the esteemed President.

KING'S COUNTY.-Death of a Venerable Religious--The announcement of the death of Sister Mary Gertrude Dunne, which occurred at the Convent of Our Lady of Mercy, St. Joseph's, Tullamore, created deep regret in the town. The deceased Sister had attained the eighty -second year of her age.

LlMEßlCK.— Assisting the Pilgrims.— The Most Rev. Dr. O'Dwyer has on many occasions given practical proof of hia interest in the people of Limerick, and one of the latest is an arrangement by his Lordship by which two members of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family attached to the Redemptorist Church will be enabled to visit the Vatican during the Jubilee celebrations. The Most Rev. Dr. O'Dwyer will not alone defray the incidental travelling expenses, but will also pay the men selected their weekly wage during their fortnight'a trip. The two men, selected by ballot out of 50U0, were Messrs. John O'Shaughnessy and Michael Bourke. Mr. E. Moloney, one of the secretaries to the confraternity, has also been elected by that body to go to Rome.

WlCKLOW.— Finding a Snake.— St. Patrick did not banish all the snakes from Ireland. Mr M'lntosh, steward on Sir Robert Hodson's estate, Hollybrook, Bray, happened lately to come across a specimen measuring 26 inches in length. The unwelcome visitor was quickly despatched.

GENERAL.

New Members Of Parliament-— The following new Nationalist Members of Parliament have been elected for Irish constituencies : — J. Boland, South Kerry ; James Boyle, West Donegal ; E. Haviland Burke, Tullamore ; J. Campbell, South Armagh ; D. J. Cogan, East Wicklow ; John Cullinan, South Tipperary ; W. P. Delany, Ossory ; M. Duffy, South Gal way; J. Jordan, South Fermanagh ; Alderman Joyce, Limerick City ; P. J. Kennedy, North Westmeath; E. Leamy, North Kildare; William Lundon, East Limerick ; James McCann, Stephen's Green ; F. MoFadden, East Donegal; Thomas McGovern, West Cavan; William McKillop, North Sligo ; John J. Mooney, South Dublin ; John Murphy, East Kerry ; Joseph P. Nannetti, College Green ; Colonel Nolan,North Gal way; Joseph Nolan. South Louth; William O'Brien, Cork City ; K. B. O'Brien, Mid-Tipperary ; William O'Doherty, North Donegal ; Thomas O'Donnell, West Kerry ; John O'Dowd, South Sligo ; Conor O'Kelly, North Mayo ; James O'Mara, South Kilkenny ; P. J. O'Shaughnessy, West Limerick ; M, Reddy, King's County (Birr) ; Patrick White, North Meath.

Some of the Officers of the Irish Guards.— Major Douglas J. Hamilton, who was appointed from the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) to command the new battalion has seen warservico in the land of the Pharaohs, in the Arabi Pasha Campaign in 1882, and in the Soudan three years later. Of the six second lieutenants appointed, four are Irish and two Scottish, and strange to say, all are at present in South Africa. Lord Settrington (the future Dnke of Richmond and Gordon) and Lord H, A. Montague-Douglas-Scott (brother of the Duke of Buocleuch) are serving on Lord Roberta's

staff ; the Earl of Kingston is attached to the Connaught Rangers ; Lieutenant Bruoe (a grandson of Sir H. H. Bruce, of Downhill, County Kerry) is with the Highland Light Infantry ; while Lieutenant Spencer Chicheater (eldest son of Lord Adolphua Spencer Chichester and nephew of the Marquis of Donegal) and Lieutenant M'Calmont (son of Colonel J. M'Calmont, M.P., and nephew of Major-General M'Calmont, C.8., in command of the Cork District) are with the 6th (Militia) Battalion of the Royal Warwicks.

The Lord-LieutenanCY. — Lord Cadogan retains his position as Viceroy of Ireland. The Irish Catholic speaks of him as ( a practical aud sympathetic btatesin&n. Ao English. Viceroys go, it would be hard to replace him.'

Emigration Statistics.— Acoording to statistics compiled by the Board of Trade the number of emigrants from Ireland in September waß 6158, as against 6529 in September, '99. The total number for the nine months ended September 30th was 39,371, as compared with 36,745 during the corresponding period of last year.

A New Irish Opera-— lt is of interest for lovers of Irish music to learn that Sir Arthur Sullivan had practically finished a new Irish opera just before his death. The story is Irish of, it is understood, about the same period as that seleoted for Dr. Stanford's Irish opera a few years ago. The plot is, however, of course entirely different. It is a matter of congratulation that the great Irish oomposer had gone to his own oountry for his last theme. Pilgrimß leave for Rome. — On Tuesday morning, October 16, the first section of the Irish pilgrims, cumbering about 290, left Dublin for the Eternal City. Many of the pilgrims reached the metropolis on Sunday, and wended their way to the Church of Mary Immaculate, Inchicore, where they were received by the Very Rev. Father Ring, 0.M.1. The first to arrive were six delegates from the Holy Family Confraternity, Limerick. They were the guests of the Oblate Fathers during their stay in the city. The second section of Irish pilgrims were to leave a week later. They will go by a shorter route and for a briefer «tay than the members of the first party, whom they will meet in Rome and with whom they will join in the various ceremonies. The pilgrims will be introduced on the occasion of the audience with the Holy Father by his Eminence Cardinal Logue. The associates in connection with the pilgrimage number half a million. Their names are inscribed in ten magnificent albums for presentation to the Holy Father. The ranks of the pilgrims are recruited from all over Ireland, and the entire party can truly be said to be representative of Catholicism in the country.