Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 46, 17 November 1904, Page 9

Irish News

CAVAN.— A Calumny Refuted In the course of his speech at the Synod in Boyle, the Protestant Bishop of Kilmore accused Catholics among other things of exclusiveness, tyranny, and a desire to persecute if they but had the power. Not a single voice was raised in protest against these slanders at the meeting. A meinbei of his Lordship's own faith, Mr. Young, M.P., has, however, taken Dr. Elliot to task and published a striking refutation of his calumnies as far as the County Cavan, which forms a large part of his diocese, is concerned. Jle points out that although there are 78,000 Catholics in Cavan and only 14,0(10 non- Catholics, nevertheless the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, the Deputy-Lieutenants, the High Sheriff, Sub-Sheriff, Sheriff's Returning Officer, Stamp Distributor, Registrar of Probate Court, County Inspector of Police, Clerk of the Crown, Clerk of the Peace, Solicitor to the County Council, County Surveyor, the large majority ol the County Magistrates, Clerks of Unions and Bank officials, are all Protestants. One may fairly asik in face of this what religious body is it that practises the policy of exclusiveness in Dr. Elliot's diocese ? Mr. Young, in closing his refutation of the Bishop's slanders, points out that the would-be persecuting Catholics of Cavan returned himself and Mr. Vesey Knox, both non-Catholios, to represent them in Parliament. CLARE.— Vandalism by Tourists A short time ago (writes a correspondent of the 1 Freeman's Journal ') reference was made in your interesting paper to the gradual disappearance of the famous Treaty Stone in Limerick owing to continuous breaking of! of pieces of the stone by tourists. A similar state of things prevails as regards the monument to the Colleen Bawn erected some years ago at Burrane, a spot close to the village of Knock (near Kilrush), which is associated with the finding, of the Colleen Bawn's body after her murder. The memorial was erected by the late Mr. Robert C. Reeve&. As a result of the vandalism of tourists the stone is gradually disappearing. In fact, so much damage has been wrought, and bo little left of the stone, that it is with difficulty the grave is now to be found in the historic old burialground. DONEGAL.— A Diocesan Seminary un trie occasion of the celebration at Letterkcnny of the tweltth centenary of St. Eunan, first of the long line of prelates who. have adorned the See of Raphoe, the Most Rev. Dr. O'Donnell blessed and laid the toundation stone of the new diocesan seminary, which, as well as the magnificent Cathedral, will be an abiding monument of his Lordship's zeal for the promotion of religion. As the patriot prelate said in his powerful and scholarly discourse, no memorial of the twelfth centenary of St. Eunan can be more appropriate than 'he foundation of a college 'devoted to learning, piety, and the industrial arts. In this seminary, as in the teaching institutions which flourished twelve centuries ag 0 in Donegal, religious education will be given its rightful place. A school without Christian observance in the place of honor, and Christian principles the guiding lights, would, in the words of the Bishop of Raphoe, have been as foreign to the soul as an iceburg flung by some convulsion of nature b(y the northern seas finto an inland county. DUBLIN-— Deaf and Dumb Institute Prorrj the report of the committee of the Catholic Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Cabra, Dublin, which has just been issued, it appears that the number of mutes under instruction at present is 473. The Moore Memorial The movement inaugurated some months ago for the erection of a proper monument in the streets of DuDhn to Thomas Moore, to replace the monstrosity in College street, is progressing steadily. Without any fuss the promoters- of the project have already succeeded in raising close on £400. What limit they have put to the sum necessary for the successful carrying out of their plans we do not know, but iif they cajn go on gathering in subscriptions at the rate connoted by this £400 they ■will have very little difficulty in raising the amount necessary to erect a monument to the Irish National baid that -will be an honor to his name and fame. The Parnell Monument Mr. Augustus Saint Gaudens, the eminent sculptor, who is at work on the monument of Charles 1 Stewart Parnell to be erected in O'Connell street, Dublin, is making rapid progress with his work Mr. Saint Gaudens who intends to make the monument one of the greatest works, if not the greatest, of his life, expects to have the model oNthe figure of Parnell finished in

three or four months. The casting in bronze,, and tha erection of the triangular shaft, about 50 feet in height, will be done within a year. The figure of Mr. Parnell, in the position of making an address, stands by ; a taule, with a large Irish flag thrown over it. The statue is at the foot of the shaft, which will probably be surmounted by a bronze harp. Directly behind the figure, on the stone, will be the principal part of the inscription. If possible, the stone-work will be constructed of green Connemara marble. GALWAY.— St. Joseph's College At the distribution of piizes at St. Joseph's College, BallinasJoe, the new wing was opened. The Most Rev. Dr. ODea, Bishop of Clonfert, said that uhe students had passed in 93-J per cent, of the subjectsi for which they were entered. KILKENNY.— Death of a Priest The death is reported of the Rev. Patrick Meany, pastor of Glenmore, County Kilkenny. After a distinguished collegiate course, Father Meany was ordained in Maynooth. He labored in the important parishes* of Clara, Tullaroan, Castlecomer, and Mullinavat, and was subsequently promoted to the pastoral cnarge of Borris-in-Ossory, whence he was translated about ten years ago to the parisn of Glenmore. » LlMEßlCK.— Scarcity of Farm Laborers i ne effect of the continual exodus of young men from West Limerick for America was seriously felt during the past harvest season. Numbers of farmers, who found it impossible to secure sufficient hands to do their business, would have been this year seriously handicapped in their harvesting were it not for the continued fine weather. The scarcity of hands is now one of the most serious problems amongst farmers in We.sit Limerick. Visit of Archbishop Redwood His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Redwood was present on September 25 at a meeting of a division of the ArchConfraternity of the Holy Family at Mount St. Alphpnsus, Limerick. Addressing vie members, who numbered some 2,400, his Grace said he had never seen such a spectacle as the great Confraternity that night, which owed so much to the zealous Redemptorist Fathers 1 . The Archnislhop gave an interesting account of the vast strides made by the Catholic Church in New Zealand in recent years. ' MAYO.— A New Church Amongst the latest subscribers to the Ballyhaunis new church is his Eminence Cardinal Moran, who has forwarded to the Very Rev. J. P. Canning, P.P., a generous sum accompanied by an encouraging and sympathetic letter. Since the laying of the foundation stone by his Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Healy, in May, last, the work has made great progress. MEATH.— Pastor Appointed His Lordship the Most Rev. Dr. Gafiney, Bishop o£ Meath, has appointed the Rev. William Bracken, Adm., Mulhngar, to be parish priest of Kmnegad, in succession to Rev. W. P. Keeney, deceased. SLIGO. — Temperance Work In Grange, County Sligo, on the last Sunday in September, "a new temperance hall was formally opened by the Most Rev. Dr. Clancy in the presence of a Targe gathering of people from the district. Mr. T. W. Kusbell, M.P., who was present, met with a cordial welcome. In the course of an addressee saic^he came there at a time when eftorts were being made to kindle the ashes of a dying religious strife in Ireland. One of the reasons that brought him there that day was to endeavor to show by his appearance on that platform under the circumstances in which they were met that he, a Protestant, hailed with absolute delight every possible opportunity of joining with his Catholic fellow-country-men in their efforts to lift up the people to better and higher things. He supposed his Orange friends in the North of Ireland would be grossly shocked at his standing on a platform with a Catholic Bishop in the chair, but he was rejoiced to come there on such an occasion., TIPPERARY.— Death of an Indian Civil Servant ihc death is announced of Mr. Patrick J. Corbett, son of Mr. Martin Corbett, Nenagh. The deceased was an oiricial of the Indian Government, and passed away whilst acting; as Under-Secretary of the Board of Public Works of the Bombay Presidency. GENERAL The Irish Delegates in America Mr. John Redmond, addressing a crowded audience in Chicago said : Our race is dying. There are more old men and children and fewer young men and women in Ireland than in any other country. The death of the race can only be warded off by acting in the living present. The speaker predicted that before the oldest man

in that audience died Ireland vpul'd (have i"vvon a good measure of self-government. It was announced that 4000 dollars had been subscribed jin. Chicago to jthe Irish cause. Mr. Redmontl, a few days later, addressed a crowded meeting at Toronto, 1275 dollars being subscribed to the Parliamentary Fund. A New Use for Irish Aloss Now that the development of each new Irish industry is being watched with more than ordinary interest, trhc recent) comments bj the ' Textile Mercury 'on th<> uses of Irish soa moss for the finishing of cotton materials are worthy of special reference. This moss, which is known along the.lns'h western coasts as t' carngeen,' has long been useu. for various purposes. Some housekeepers produce trom it an excellent Wane mange, while druggists utilise it as a remedy for pulmonary troubles the naw uses which have been discovered for it promise, however, t« be more remiunerative. Many cotton manufacturers in Manchester assert that ' carrigeen ' is excellent for imparting a fine glazed finish to cotton stuffs. An English Opinion Tne ' Daily Telegraph ' says • — Mr. J. Redmond has teen telling his fellow-countrymen in Chicago that ' our race is dying.' Fortunately for the gaiety and the prosperity^ the worm the statement, as it will be generally understood, is very far indeed from being the twith. It is made a reproach to England that the Irish have done well everywhere except in Ireland. There is hardly a nation on the face of the earth that does not reel on amongst its most prominent men in erery department of hie someone with Irish blood in his veins. This United Kingdom of ours would be iho poorer in wit and capacity and virility if somewhere or other an Irish strain could ,not be discovered m the pedigrees o< ' the classes.' Certainly the House of Commons bears no testimony to the decadence of the Irish. On the contrary, the sober-minded Englishman complains 1 ot the too exuberant vitality lof his lnely fellow-subject, who has no respecb for the harness which the Saxon has devised for his own self-management. Mr. Redmond, however much he may convince 'his fell >\vcountfymen in Chicago, will never persuade Britons ihj,t the Irisih are a ' dying race.' The Future of Ireland in tne course of an article upon ' The Immediate FuUue of Ireland ' in the October ' Fortnightly lieview,' Mr T. P. O'Connor s>ays thab no party m its senses ever does attempt to ioreeast the tactics of a campaign that is not yet begun, with an army not yet formed, with commanders not yet appointed. Suflice it ■be say that no Irish party would consent to support a Government which did not regard the question of Irish self-government as an urgent one. With o ur population fleeing from our shores, after all our heart-breaking delays, with the desperate situation of our country, with six centuries behind us of struggle, of opposition, of waiting, we cannot allow any party to regard our demand as one of those vague ideals which men dicam about and do not seek to realise. Nor can we ever admit that anything short of the concession of a real executive, subject to a real assembly, will ever be taken by us as a satisfaction of the Irish demand. The reconciliation of these two principles with the tact icy and necessities of the political hour ought not to be beyond the intelligence of a Liberal Government, which consists of honest and resolute men, and which has behind it the support of a big majority elected by the constituencies of Great Britain John Bull is oiien slow to make up his mind, but when he makes it up he docs not as a rule go back. I have never seen the House of Lords that dared to oppose a big House of Commons majority, and a resolute Liberal Ministry. And so, in my survey of the immediate future of Ireland, I lean to the optimist rather than the pessimist view. But a final word. The fight is not over „ our forces, cannot •be disbanded. On the contrary, it is the hour of hours for union, for resolution, and for work in the Insn ranks.