Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 1, 3 January 1907, Page 27

Irish News

ANTRlM— Church Extension in Belfast The sum of £600 was. subscribed at a meeting of the Catholics of Ballyhackamore, Belfast, held for 'Jihe purpose of inaugurating a fund for the ""erection^ ot a church in that parish, which has been recently' created, . with Rev. Henry Skeflington- -as Administrator / ■ The' Most Rev. Dr. Henry,- who addressed the meeting, said_i,'he, district in pre- Reformation ' times seemed to h-ave^ been well provided with church accommodation fo"r-tlTe . Faithful. That could not be said at the present time:. The scattered population of the locality, especially .the Catholic servants, had been put td' great inconvenience for some years past owing to the want of a churchin that neighborhood. CLARE — School-book on Temperance The ' Irish Temperance Reader,' of -which Father Halpin, P.P., Scariff, County Clare, 'is the author has received hearty encomiums from Cardinal Gibbons, the Archbishop of Westminster, and the Bishops of New- - port, Salford, Ardagh, Kerry* Clogher, Galway, and Elphin. One .and all agree in the opinion that it is 'a treasury of the best and most varied information on the subject), and congratulate Father Halpin "on. "the fact that it is. ' sanctioned for use in National schools.'/ CORK — Temperance Progress The Kanturk Total Abstinence Society, - through the exertions of its president, Canon _ O'Cqnnell, and its vice-president, the Rev. E. Griflin, have succeeded in purchasing outright their present meeting rooms, which in future will be the property of the parish.. Charitable Bequests The late Mr. -Michael M'Naxnara" of Belleville, St. Luke's, County Cork, who died •on the sth of May, left the following charitable bequests : £100 to . the North Charitable Infirmary, 'Cork ; £100 to the South Charitable Infirmary.; £100 ' to St." Patrick's Hospital for Cancer, and £100 to the Mercy Hospital, Cork. DUBLIN— A Protest In connection with the conferring- of degrees at the Royal University -of Ireland, a vigorous protest was made by a number of graduates and undergraduates against _the methods adopted 'in the matter of cards of admission. A meeting of protest was held outside the buildings, and was addressed by, amongst others, JYtessrs. David Sheehy, M.P., and Mr. Sheehy-Skeffing-ton, • M.A. Spread of Temperance The Rev. Father Aloysius, O.S'fTC., Dublin, pre-. siding on November 4,- at the ' Workmen's • Temperance Committee, referred to the recent great temperance demonstration in the city, • and said he had it on reliable authority that not since the day of the unveiling of v the O'Cbnnell monument were there so many people assembled in O'Connell-street, and not a jingle case of drunkenness was recorded in the Police Courts next morning. Charitable Bequests The late Mr. O'Mukennin bequeathed £300 to Dr. Douglas Hyde and Mr. John MacNeill for the teaching of Classic Irish, and £300 to his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin for the education of Irish boys in the Christian Brothers' schools. Death of a Religious Rev. Brother Fleming, a distinguished member of the Christian Brothers' Institute, died, oh October 31, .at the House of the Community in Westland Row, Dublin. The deceased Brother had reached the age of 77 years, over 40 of which were spent in the" 'great teaching Community mentioned. For some ten years he acted as Superior in the schools of the Order at St. John's, Newfoundland, and subsequently he filled a similar position at Mount Sion, Waterford, afterwards becoming Superior at the Synge-street Schools, Dublin. During the last three • years he had been in failing health. , % °

Post Office Appointment

Mr. James MacMahon, who has been appointed - Chief accountant to the Post Office in Ireland, is a past pupil of Blackrock College, County Dublin. It is interesting to note that he is .the first to fill the position who enjtered the CMI Service by open competition.

Control of Education . , "" . A great meeting of the Gaelic League was held recently in the Mansion- House, Dublin, and-,- was addressed* by the -Right' Hon. the Lord, Mayor," Dr. JDouglas Hyde, .Mr.- "John MacNeilli -Mr.'^Stephen Gwynn, Mr. Hugh Law, . M.P., ana other speakers^ Dr. Hyde said the National. Board" had 1 been tried' and found wanting, and r they demanded popular control of their national educational centre. '

Fifty Years' Strenuous Labour

•'- In the Church of -St. Francis Xavier, Upper Gardinerrstreet, on "Sunday, November 4, the Rev. Lynch, - S.J., preached, a sermon in _ aid of St. Brigid's? Orphanage, Eccles-street, which' was founded in 1856 by the late Rev. John Gowan, CrM.^ and Wiss Margaret Aylward. To save Catholic children from the" clutches of the prosely Users is the object for which the - institution was -established-, and. "that \t r has done this most- successfully ; -is well known. .^ During -ttie' fifty " years of its existence over 3000 orphans have been received within, its walls, of whom. 2798. .^have been taught trades, provided "with* situations, vor otherwise given a means of earning a livelihood.* There are four hundred and 1 ' forty - orphans now -in- the" institution, which is conducted by the Sisters of- the- Holy Faith. The Cost of Law and Order The ' Freeman ' publishes a letter- from J a correspondent •on the cost of what is called - ' Law ■ and Order ' in Dublin. The cost of the London Police Force is .£BB per head ; the cost of the Dublin Police Force is £139 per head. Why is that- t Dublin is much - more- law-abiding than London. The tax levied on Dublin citizens for the upkeep of the Metropolitan Police is eightpence in the pound, treble what it is in Glasgow, and more than - double ' what it' is in the other large cities of Great Britain. But, whereas these cities control their -• own police, Dublin's police are controlled by the Government', and instead :of being a municipal are an Imperial force. Worse still, this-eightpenny ra'oe remains stationary,' no matter how much the Valuation of the city- may be increased. The thing is the grossest anomaly and injustice.KERRY— An Enthusiastic Send-off An enthusiastic send-off was accorded to Rev. Father O'Riordan, formerly of Liverpool, but- now of Kerry diocese, by the people of Oastletown Befehaven, on, .his leaving for the United. States to collect funds for the erection of a~ much-needed parochial church in their distinct. WATERFORD—A Word of Warning His Lordship the Bishop of WaterfJrd, speaking at the annual Convention . of Affiliated Catholic Young Men's Societies 'in Ireland, referred to the education question. He said we could not conceal from ourselves the fact that in other countries with which we were brought closely into touch the . drift and tendency was to crea-te godless systems "of education, separating the secular instruction of the young from the religious— to bring up the children for the greater part of their lives in an atmosphere that was ungodly "when it was not actually atheistic, and to relegate to the Church the religious instruction of- the young men and young women who were to he the men and women of the ; next - generation. Although in Ireland no attempt had been made in that direction up to the present, still the day might come when Irish Catholics might be compelled to fight for religion in the schools as the English Catholics were fighting at the present moment If ever that time came there would be " invaluable supl „port to be derived from the young men if only they fought and trained -to stand out boldly and -as one body for thejCathplic interests. v WEXFORD— Evicted Tenants Reinstated T-* }\ is^ announced that the tenants "on "the Coolroe Estate who were evicted about nineteen years, ago are about to be reinstated at an eariy date, chiefly through the intercession of the Very Rev. Canon KavanagS, P.P., D.D., V.F., and Mr. John Cummins, J.P WICKLOW— Death of a Priest

, _ - Tn «- death has occurred at Wicklow ot the Very Rev. Thomas Carberry, P.P., V.F., who, previous to his appoinenicnt to the parish of Wicklow was for many years engaged in parochial work in Dublin and neighborhood. ~- .

GENERAL

The Commission on Poor Laws

The Most Rev. Dr. Kelly,- Bishop of Ross; Ireland has" heen appointed a member of the Commission on Poor Laws, in succession to The O'Connor Don

Gaelic Literature

Over two thousand copies o! the publications of .the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Languages were sold during the half year ending on the 20th of June last. The Potato Crop

In reply to Mr. O'Malley, the Chief Secretary for Ireland said the potato crop had partially failed jn some parts of the West of- Ireland. -The extent of the distress likely lo arise could not at present , be foreseen, but the Government; were paying the -closest attention to the matter, and were considering the "action proper to be token; An English Opinion

Mr. William Wrathall, an English merchant, who has just concluded a holiday in Ireland, . says <in the course of an enthusiastic eulogy of the country : ' I have travelled the wide world over, and were, I able to retire to-day from' the cares and turmoil of business I would come to live in Ireland on' account of its beautiful scenery, . its salubrious climate, its* courteous people, arid ~^ts wonderful- opportunities for spoit. The hunting is' of the best, the shooting is most varied ; there is excellent fishing, fine opportunities for yachting, and some of the best golf links in Great Britjain. In fine, i t is, in my opinion, an ideal spot and leaves nothing- to be desired.' - Catholic Scholarships

Five first-class scholarships in Modern Literature offered by the Catholic Scholarships Committee-shave all been won this year by pupils of the Christian Bro- _ thers, as well as Mr. Sweetman's scholarship for .excellence in Irish. Mr. Kelly's scholarship in Classics has been won by Clongowes, and in mathematics by St. Colman's, Feimoy. Among girls' schools, the .firstclass scholarship in Modern Literature goes to Loreto College, St. Stephen's Green ; three of the four secondclass scholarships to' the Dominican Convenit, Eccles street ; and the fourth to the Loreto Convent, , Wex- ' lord. . A Candid Opinion . - ' The Statist,' reviewing Irish finance since the famine, sums up the ' story thus : • When everything is said, the fact remains that jUie decay of Ireland during the past Uo years is mainly the result of the policy of England— a policy adopted not, of course, to \ injure Ireland, but to benefit England ; still, a policy . which incidentally has had the result of, in the first place, destroying the one "great Irish' industry, and, in the second place, of burdening Ireland with a taxation altogether *out of proportion to her resources.' This' candid verdict from a leading British financial journal slurvs, how -the light, is spreading" even -through the opaque obstruction oCefed by the prejudice and interest .of the British financier. ' ■ , The National School Teachers A vigorous' agitation (writes a Dublin correspondent) has been set on foot for reform of the , system under which teachers of primary schools in Ireland suffer. ~ In their demand for justice the teachers have the sympathy of people of all creeds and classes, and will receive the earnest support of the Irish Parliamentary party. Large and thoroughly representative meetings in furtherance of this object were held in Tipperary, Kilkenny, and Kildare the other day. Strong speeches were delivered, and letters of encouragement from friends , unable to attend were' read. 'Very Rev. Canon Ryan, P.P., presided at the Tipperary meeting. The Most Rev. Dr. -Fen-nelly wrote a letter, .in which- he said the initial salaries were entirely too low./ He hoped the'meeting would rivet attention on the fact- and demand that the equivalent grant be devoted to its proper uses. At Kilkenny, Very Rev. Canon Doyle, P.P., presided, and a letter from Rev. Dr. Brpwnrigg, Bishop of Ossory, was realT, in which he said the • Irish teachers writhe under the galling knowledge that they are the worst paid class in the British Empire'; the managers of schools might apply for grants to repair them, or to replace them with " new buildings and new equipments, but each application for relief only afforded an opportunity for " a game of ' shuttlecock between the Commissioners in Marlborough street and the, officials of the Treasury in London. At KMdare, Very Rev. Dr. Cole, Pro.testant Dean, presided. He criticised the action of the Government -in appropriating' the £185,000 voted for education to the floating of Land ,Stock, and . declared that it should be applied to the purpose for which it was voted, and to no other. A domestic ser-

vant with from £15 to £2U a year and board and lodging was .better off than the male and female "teachers commencing at £56 and £46 a year respectively.- :