Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 10, 10 March 1904, Page 6

Irish News

ANTRlM.— lndustrial Depression "*

During January there was great scarcity of work in Belfast owing to the linen trade being almost at a standstill, coupled with the fact oi the slackness in the shipbuilding industry, which has felt the depression prevalent in all centres of trade. The number of the unemployed was estimated at 7500, one thousand of whom were trades union men. ARMAGH.— A Serious Assault

A very serious assault was committed on January 15 by a party of Orangemen on the Rev. Father Brown, Markethill, Co. Armagh. It appears Father Brown and a Mr. M'G-rath were taking a walk when they were met by this party, who attacked, them, knocking them both down and beating them with sticks. Were it not for the timely arrival of cattle-dealers from Poyntzpass it is believed the rev. gentleman and his friend would have been killed. The police made five arrests. DERRY.— Death of a Religious

On January 12 were interred in Long Tower Cemetery, Derry, the remains of a remarkable member of the Order of Mercy, Sister Mary de Sales, who died after a severe illness at a very advanced age. The deceased lady, whose name in the world was Miss Connolly, was the daughter of Colonel Connolly, an officer of.distinction in army annals. Sister de Sales was highly accomplished, and her whole life formed an unbroken record of industry, piety, and unpretentious charity. She spent fully half a century in the Order of Mercy, and in the earlier part of her life as a nun she Tiad some perilous experiences in travelling through arid portions of the African Continent. DUBLlN.— Religious Equality

Speaking at a meeting of the Catholic University College sodality, the Archbishop of Dublin said that the Irish people were said to be on the eve of a. great reform, which when it came they would be justified in acclaiming as a happy termination of the long struggle of Irish Catholics for genuine religious equality. As for himself, he said firmly that he did not despair of justice, but that was about all that he could bring himself to say. The Catholic Association

In an interview with a representative of the ' Daily Independent ' the Archbishop of Dublin spoke of the irregular way in which the Catholic Association of Ire>land had been formed in Dublin. His Grace in a letter which was read in the churches of the diocese strongly condemned the organisation and said it had wrought enormous injury to Catholic interests. The King's Visit Punchestown, Leopardstown, and Phoenix Park races have been pbstponed to the end of April by the National Hunt Committee, so that the King may have a sporting week in Ireland. Retrenchment The Treasury have, by the transfer of Judge Barton, saved the Vice-Chancellor's salary, which must go to the Irish Fund created" by the Act of 1897, and i% is rumored at the Four Courts, Dublin, that more reductions are under consideration when vacancies next occur. A vacancy will, it is believed, be very soon created by the retirement of Mr. Justice Johnson, one of the King's Bench Judges, who was elevated to the bench about twenty years ago. Pending legislation, it is said, this vacancy will not be filled. In Memory of Clarence Mangan

A committee has been formed in Dublin with the object of erecting a memorial to James Clarence Mangan in some public part of the city. GALWAY.— The Chapter of Tuam His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Healy, Archbishop of Tuam, has appointed Very Rev. James Stephens, P.P., V.P.,Ballinrobe, Canon of the , Cathedral of Tuam, in room of the Very Rev. Canon Barrett, V.G., whose promotion to the dignity of Dean of the Archdiocese was recently announced. New Commissioner of Education

Lord Killanin, who, as Mr. Morris, sat for a period in, Parliament as ' the man for Galway,' has been appointed one of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland. Being a Catholic he fills the vacancy created by the death of a Catholic, in accordance with the principle laid down by the father of the present Earl of Derby when he was Chief Secretary for Ireland, and the virtual founder of the National Education Board, a little over seventy years ago. Ever since then, one-half

of the Board is Catholic and the other half non-Catho-Hv, TTvh +v P^l N ! WW * S ' recalls that Lord Killanin's father the late Lord Morris, was also a memtier of the Irish Education Board for many yearsi This is really the most remarkable of the great public departments. Its..members are all the nominees of successive Viceroys ; their meetings are all held in private ; and although they have the .spending of considerably over a million of public money per annum, they are to all intents and purposes independent of Parliament, as the Irish Attorney-General admitted recently. KILDARE.— A Duke's. Possessions That entertaining vagabond, Gil Bias, recounts that, in the course of his wanderings, he met a young lady whose father was lord of four towns. After parting with the agricultural portion of his estate the young Duke of Leinster will be able to boast of possessions exceeding those of the Spanish grandee. He will still be owner ot the towns of Athy, Kildare, Maynooth, Rathangan, and Castledermot. Not a bad endowment- for a young gentleman who will also have £1,250,000 and its accumulations in hard cash. Castledermot was the chief seat of the clan O'Toole up to the time of the Norman Invasion. Two Parliaments were held there, one in the reign of Henry IV., and the other in 1499. The gieat ecclesiastical foundations which existed in Castledermot were finally destroyed buring the Cromwellian wars. LIMERICK — University Reform Important meetings in favor of a speedy settlement of the University /question were held in many centres in Ireland during J anuary. The gathering at Limerick was one of the most representative yet held. The Corporation, the County Council, and all the District Councils were strongly and ably represented. Amongst the speakers were several Protestants, including Mr -Alexander Shaw, J.P., President of the Chamber of Commerce, and Lord Monteagle. The latter in concluding an able speech said he did not hesitate to admit that a University would increase the legitimate influence of the priesthood, the influence of an educated priesthood on an educated laity, and he was glad of it. If the priests wished to keep the people in subjection they would not be asking for a University. Ignorance, not education, was the instrument of the enslaver. He for one did not fear the light. Mr. Shaw in the course of his address said the Catholics of Ireland were as three to one in the population, and yet there was a University for the one, while there was no University for the three. University education should be available for all sections of the community. It would help to build up the fabric of industry and benefit the entire country. The leading speech, at the meeting was delivered by the Most Rev. Dr. O'Dwyer. It was characterised by great power and eloquence. Memorial to Gerald Griffin

Arrangements are beiog made to promote a memorial in his native city of Limerick to Gerald Griffin, and a meeting of the committee was held at the Town Hall, under the presidency of the Mayor, to receive the report of a deputation that had waited on the Superior of the Christian Brothers in Limerick, Rev. Brother Nolan in reference to the project. The proposition of erecting a memorial school was put before Brother Nolan, who stated the Christian Brothers would be in favor of giving twice the amount collected in the city towards the erection of schools in Quay-lane, on the site of the present building. MAYO. --Death of a Newspaper Proprietor

Mr. Martin Sheridan, proprietor of the ' Mayo Examiner,' who died at his residence at Castlebar, was in his 70th year, and engaged the esteem of colleagues in the Press and the public with whomi his duties brought him into contact. MONAGHAN. — Demise of a Journalist

The death is reported of Mr. Charles MacAleese, a well-known Ulster journalist, which took place at his residence, Monaghan. He was the eldest son of the late Mr. Daniel MacAleese, one time editor of the ' Belfast Morning News,' proprietor and editor of the ' People's Advocate,' and Member of Parliament for Monaghan. On the decease oi his father, Mr. Charles MacAleese succeeded to the editorship of the ' People's Advocate.' TIPPERARY.— ResuIt of Emigration

In a speech recently made by him at Newbirmingham, Mr. T. Harrington gave some details of the effects produced by emigration in the County Tipperary. -The population, he said, in 1841 was 435,553, while in 1891" that number had fallen to 173,184, or to 261,369 persons less in their own country in that short space of time, and the number was still reducing with emigration going on at the rate of 40,000 per year. The strangest part of his figures was the following :— ln 1841 there were 449 English and Welsh born persons in Tipperary, 149

Scotch born, and 100 born in foreign countries, making a total of 698 foreigners, as England, Wales and Scotland are as foreign to them as other countries. Now, what were the figures in 1891, when the population of Gallant Tipperary had diminished by 261,369 ? They would be surprised to find the foreigners had increased nearly sixfold, as the following figures would show : English and Welsh bom, 2558 ; Scotch, 274 ; foreign countries, 637 , total in 1891, 3269 foreigners, or nearly 3000 more than in 1841, when they had nearly three times as many people ! This was a very sad state of affairs in this great Catholic county of Tipperary While the! population— and he should assume their Catholic population—was being drained out, the foreigners were gradually coming in, and if this continued it must ere long be a serious question for the Church as well as for the country. WEXFORD.— The Late Mayor A handsome holy water font has been erected in the Franciscan Church, Wexford, as a memorial to the late Mayor of Wexford, Alderman John Clancy, J.P., whose death occurred last August. The memorial, which is of polished white marble, has been subscribed for by the late Alderman Clancy's fellow-townsmen. GENERAL Higher Education The Irish Catholic Hierarchy, as the result of their meeting on January 12, are, it is understood, prepared to accept as a settlement of their claims to higher education in Ireland a University founded on the lines laid down in Lord Dunraven's recent letter In this letter Lord Duniaven urged that all claims to University education should be satisfied by the establishment of two new colleges affiliated to the University of Dublin, which would then consist of Trinity College, Queen's College, Belfast, and the new college, King's College, Dublin. A Consistent Supporter Since the beginning of the movement for Home Rule, almost thirty years ago, Mr. Edward Blake has been one of its staunchest and most consistent supporters In Canada, in Great Britain, and in Ireland, he has been its eloquent champion. Many years ago he left a great position in his native country to join the Irish Party and to give the weight of his influence and great abilities to the cause of the people and the land from which his forefathers sprang ; and from that day to this, notwithstanding all the troubles Ireland has since gone through, he has never looked back We have many faithful exiles in the West (says the ' Freeman's Joinnal ') in the first, second, and third generations , but. none who has sacrificed so much for the Old Land as he. His letter to Mr John Redmond, enclosing 100 guineas for the Parliamentary Fund, is short, but eminently characteristic of the man, and of the practical and unostentatious patnotism which inspires him ' You knowT' he writes, ' I have always wished to be early in the discharge of this pleasant duty.' Mr Klake has iust returned from a well-earned holiday, and loses no time in taking his place in the National army, a.s it once more goc ; into the fray He will be heartily welcomed back to the ranks by his colleagues and his countr>men. Old Feudal Castles It is to be hoped (says the ' Freeman's Journal ') that the transfer of the soil of Ireland from landlord to tenant, which it may be anticipated will take place in the near future, under the present or future Purchase Acts, 'Will not interfere with the preservation of the remains of the old feudal castles which dot the country In what was recently the Geraldine territory in South Kildare there are many such memorials of the timo when the descendants of the Norman invaders maintained themselves by the strong hand Close to Carlow border is Castleroe, or the Red Castle, at one time occupied by a branch of the Fitzgerald family , near Moone is Bolton Castle, evidently intended as a fortress from which to guard the Wicklow border , at Athy aie White's Castle and Woodstock According to local tradition, Woodstock was the scene of the famous ape incident which supplied the Geraldines with their ciost It is on the west, or Irish, side of the Barrow, and was part of the dower of Dorothea, daughter of Anthony O'Moore of Leix, who married Thomas Fit/gerald, in 1121 Dunne; the wars of the Confederation, Woodstockwas taken by the Marquis of Ormonde, but was re-cap-tured by Owen Roe O'Neill, who put the garrison to the sword. Two miles up stream from Woodstock stands Rheban Castle, a stately pile which guarded a pass on the river This was also part of the dower of Dorothea O'Moore In the 2nd century Rheban was one of the inland towns, and is marked, on Ptolmey's Map Inch Castle stands in the -midst of a rather desolate country, a few miles cast of Athy.