Correspondence

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 5, 29 January 1903, Page 6

Correspondence

iWe are not responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondent?.]

'How is Poor Old Ireland?'

To the Editor. Sir, —This question has been put to me so often since my return that 1 fancy a few lines on the sublet will not be without interest for most, if not all, ot your readers. I may mention that I had iavorablc opportunities of seeing for myself the state oi Ireland ; lor 1 belie\e I visited every county in the country, and went around the circuit of the island twice during my recent holiday. The first thing that strikes the 'eye of thy visitor to the South of Ireland, is the almost total abandonment of tillage and substitution of grass I amis. 'ilns is noticeable paiticularly in tho County Limerick Improved methods of butter making became impeiatne owing to the successful competition of Denmark and other Continental countries in the London market Whether the financial condition of farmers who ha\e abandoned home butter making and adopted the- system of supplying the milk, to cieameries is nnpioved thereby is a moot question In the North of Ireland tillage still c-oes on as formerly, though it is lound that the climate is not now so fa\orable lor the growing of flax, and hence millowners are compelled to lease expensive tracts oi land in Continental counti les for the growing of the iilne which is brought to Ireland to be woven. The Purchase of their Holdings by tenant farmers in various parts of the country has given an impetus to the movement for pioviding' more comlortablc sun oundmgs in the homesteads, and the erection of laborers' cottages, which have a neat and substantial appearance, and which are now dotting the land up and down, has also contributed to put the farmers on their mettle and make them hteially set thenhouses in order. In a bicycle trip from Leenane through Maamtrasna to Balhnrobe 1 was \ erv much impressed with the benefits derivable from the utilising of the Congested Districts Board. In the parish over which lather Coibet presides the farmers have .succeeded, chiefly Juotigh their pastor's energy in making their holdings' their own, and an air of comlort and cleanliness is visible all over that once wretched district. The state of a neighboring parish is in marked contrast to the appearance of progiess and! thrift which meets the eve on the road to Balhnrobe. The Establishment of County Councils has been an invaluable boon to Ireland. The people now have the power to put men in position whose qualifications aie of a most piactical kind, and whose sv nipathics are of a warmer soi t than those of the defunct grand luries. This instalment of Home Rule has worked better than was expected, and lias made Unpeople keener to demand a full meed of justice in the shape of a restored Parliament. During his recent visit to Ireland Cardinal Moran did immense service to his country by the outspoken way in which he claimed for Ireland the same rights that are enioyed by the various colonies The progress and contentment ol the colonies he showed to be due to their possession of the rifht to manage their own afTans, whilst he pointed out that the languishing of Irish industries and (he consequent development of the hind were clearly the consequences of Ireland's unjust privation of legislative power When receiving the freedom of the City of Cork his Eminence spoke of New Zealand's land laws, and recommended the powers responsible to copy the example of this go-ahead Colony in the matter of land resumption, and, where necessary, compulsory sale in the interests of the working farmer. Tluat Home Rule is within view is the convic-

ti (^K Of &n Y- thoughtful Irishmen, but the necessity for th? Irish p C »r?v Wa + S neV ;t r SO P"»*"S- The leaders of memoriS-S ?K- rreta - ntn t* 16 . 1 ? 08 * grateful and -Peasant memories of their various visits to the colonies and am fandXn Vh** *?**?*■%* Irishtnen ever Tef? Thei^ nlttvS Southern H 1 Se tha t have made their home beneath tho ?£llv THih £ OSB ' Vl c m . ovemen t for making Ireland thmXht niJ fw C f Ught °? in a mann «- that could not be tnougnt possible four or five years ago. The Revival of Irish Customs, games, language, literature, music, and industries is going on with such extraordinary verve that "it a t to revolutionise the country in the course of a decade. Fancy the children of iS^i-r. most * respectable and intelligent citizens of Dublin not only learning to talk the language of Ireland, but discarding the Continental atrocities called waltzes, mazurkas, etc., in favor of the old reel, jig and rn°7l P J PMP M * wwanes ° ne of a vast assemblage that gathered t tneMansion House, Dublin, at the invitation of th« Jru Mayor in Jun e last, on the first evening of ' Oireacntnas, and was delighted as the evening wore on to hear the strains of the old Irish pipes and witness the eight-hand reels taken part in by a large proportion of the assembly. There is not a parish in Dublin city that has not one _or more active and live branches of the Gaelic League devoted to the cause of an Irish Ireland, and 1 witnessed the overflowing attendances at some of these branC u S u : , Was P resent at the Irish language procession which took place in Dublin on the eve of St. Patrick's Day last year. The weather was not very propitious, but the multitudes were enthusiastic. They marched at a brisk pace live or six abreast, and took a good hour to pasa a given point. Such a demonstration was not seen, I was assured, for years in Dublin. I was not a little jubilant when I saw leading that immense host a New Zealander of 45 years Btanding who had gone home to Ireland to get his pipes tuned, and who gave the Wearing of the green ' and other national airs on his war pipes with an energy that recalled the days of Brian Boru. * Pipe Clubs are now established in all towns of any pretensions to national importance. The fast-decaying race of old pipers are again in honor, and engaged in a systematic effort to hand down the old Irish airs and perpetuate the use of their sweet instrument The harp is again to the fi out at every entertainment and at many school demonstrations A beautiful harp, modelled on that of King Brian, which is preserved in Trinity College Library is now procurable at a very moderate figure, and no' girl is regarded as true to the spirit of the Irish revival who •slights harp music or neglects to acquire a knowledge of it. I heard Cardinal Moran tell the children of St Vincent's College, Sydney, at their break-up, that he had bought one of these harps, and expressed the hone that tho girls would devote their splendid musical talents to mastering it. Irish step-dancing is encouraged in a way it never before was- I shall never forget the wild enthusiasm with which a crammed house at the Rotunda received the eight-hand reel given by the now famous Limerick eight The president of the League (Mr. Douglas Hyde) remarked that it was the item of the evening. The extent to which The Teaching of Trish * is carried on now may be judged by the fact that in March last 1 3<>o national schools in Ireland were qualifying for the results fees which the Education Board offered in response to the appeals of the Gaelic League Besides, in the Christian Brothers' schools, an honored place is given to the subject, and one of the best Irish grammars has recently been compiled by the Brothers. The net result of a trip to Ireland at the present time is to leave on the mind of the returned exile a fixed idea that the Old Land is becoming more practical is realising what it lost by the destruction of its language, customs, etc , and the substitution of a Brumm-Tgr-ni civilisation and a contemptible shoneenism. If Irishmen now are only true to themselves the day is not far distant when she will take her place amongst the nations of the earth, and by developing her natural genius renew the old days when she educated and enlightened Europe. — I am, etc., J. O'NEILL, Milton.