Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 8 July 1909, Page 25

Irish News

CAVAN— A Long Life The death of Mrs. Rose McGaghran, aged 114 years, took place at the- residence of her son, Terence McGaghran, Swanlinbar, County Cayan, on May 15. Deceased retained all her faculties up till the last few months, when she was confined to bed. Born in the locality, she lived her whole life in the district, never having travelled further than the itown of Cavan. Her. son is reputed to be close on 90. DON EG A I The Oldest Justice of the Peace The death occurred on May 17 at one of the leading hotels of Derry of Mr. James McGlinchey, Bedford Cottage, Culdaff, under rather sudden circumstances. Deceased, who, up till some years ago, was a prominent figure in the pubic life of Innishowen, was, it is believed, the oldest magistrate in County Donegal. A melancholy incident in connection with his demise may be mentioned. A few days previously he started from home and attended the funeral obsequies of his brother, the late Mr. Patrick McGlinchey, Killygordon. On his return, in passing through Derry, he was seized with«a weakness, necessitating his staying at the hotel. Mr. McGlinchey, who had attained the patriarchal age of almost eighty, was throughout his life an exemplary Catholic and a sterling Nationalist, and his death will be sincerely .regretted by a wide circle in the North-west. DUBLIN— The Carmelite Order The Father-General of the Carmelite Order, the Very Rev. Father Mayer, has been conducting a visitation of the Irish Houses of the Order. His visit to Terenure College, which has acquired considerable fame under Carmelite professors, was rendered specially notable by a speech delivered by him in reply to an address presented by the students. He said that he had had such experience of Irish hospitality in America, and he had been so much engaged with Irish people in America, almost ■ exclusively with them, that he had become enthusiastically Irish. Ha had been hospitably entertained in scores and scores of Irish houses; he had been acquainted with educated people and with common people, with people in high office, and with people in humble log houses out on the prairie, and he always found with them the same characteristics. They were straightforward, hospitable, honest, sincere, and dovoted to their Church. KILKENNY— The See of Trinidad ; The Most Rev. Dr. Dowling, who was recently consecrated in Dublin, as Archbishop of Trinidad, was born in Freshford, County Kilkenny, and for a while was connected with the National Bank in Dublin. He entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Dominick at Tallaght about 1881, and subsequently went to Rome, where he finished his studies and returned to Tallaght, where be became lector and master of novices. He then returned to Rome, and was master of novices at San Clemente, the Irish Home of the Order. It is called St. Clement after the Pope of that name, whose home it was. At San Clemente he was made prior; and thence, ; three years ago, he was transferred to' Trinidad, where he goes now as Archbishop. The house at Trinidad used to be the homo of the French 'Dominican Mission. Now it is an Irish and English Community. He was superior of the Dominicans there; and on the death of Dr. Flood he was elected to the high office of vicar-capitular about a year and a half since. LlMEßlCK— Parliamentary Vacancy The election to fill the vacancy in the representation of East Limerick in the House of Commons, due to - the death of Mr. William Lundon (Nationalist), resulted 'n the return of Mr. Thomas Lundon (Nationalist), son of the deceased member, by a majority of 978 over Mr. J. Moloney (Independent O'Brienite). The polling was : T. Lundon (Nationalist), 2664; J. Moloney (Independent O'Brienite), 1686. LOUTH — A Distinguished Lawyer The death took place on Sunday, May 16, of Mr. T. F. Byrne, one of the best known and most popular barristers of the Northern Circuit (England). Mr. Byrne, who was 55 years of age, was born at Drogheda in 1853. Having passed through Clongowe's College, he completed his education at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated in 1875, carrying off the gold medal in ethics .and metaphysics. He ~ was called to the Bar in 1878, and joined the Northern Circuit. Being not only a sound lawyer, but an acute, eloquent, and sympathetic advocate,

he was briefed in a large number of cases, and was very successful with juries. His methods were gentle and persuasive. At times (says the Manchester Evening News) he used the Irish brogue in delightful fashion. As Deputy Recorder of Manchester he showed judicial qualities of a high order, and among his numerous friends at the Bar and with the general public the fact that he was not invited to fill one of the numerous legal offices that have to be distributed from time to time was a 'matter of considerable surprise. Mr. Byrne was throughout his life a devoted Catholic and a Liberal in politics. In 1895 he contested North-west Manchester against Sir W. H. Houldsworth, suffering defeat by 1471 votes. / For many years he lectured at the evening classes at Owen's College, and for a long time he has been reader in common law at the University. Mr. Byrne had a singular charm of manner and troops of warm friends, by whom his death will bo deeply lamented: The funeral took place at Drogheda. MONAGHAN— A Serious Fire On the morning of May 15 a very destructive fire occurred in Clones to portion of the extensive premises of Messrs. B. Hall and Son, Fermanagh street, totally destroying a large amount of valuable property, together witn the various articles of goods stored in the buildings, most of which were of a highly inflammable nature^ containing quantities of gunpowder, petrol, oil of various kinds, coal, etc. TIPPERARY— Technical Scholarships The Clonmel County Committee have adopted a scheme of awarding scholarships in the Technical Institute for suitable candidates. The scholarships will be awarded on examination, but they are limited to children whose parents are unable to afford to pay for the full course. The pupil will be awarded a scholarship only where the business house of the parent if in a town is under £20 valuation, or where the farm and buildings in a rural district are under £30 valuation, and the parents or guardians' income from all sources must be under £100 a year. The scholarships are awarded to boys or girls. The committee decided that a scholarship in the Technical Schools should not be regarded as an academic honor, but should be awarded to assist young people, who are anxious to engage in technical or trade pursuits, but whose circumstances prevent their acquiring the necessary training. GENERAL Marked Immunity from Crime About the middle of May Mr. Byles asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland in the House of Commons whether the records of the recent Spring Assizes revealed the fact that in the 32 counties the number of indictments only reached a total of 138, or about 35 per million of the population, and whether, in view of this ma*fked immunity from crime in this part of the United Kingdom, the Government would consider the wisdom of repealing the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act, 1887. Mr. Birrell: The number of indictments for the 32 counties in Ireland, not including the cities of Dublin, Belfast, Cork, and Derry, was 224, or 60, per million of the population. As regards the concluding portion of the question, I hay., nothing to add to the opinions which I. have already expressed in debate as to the wisdom of retaining Ihe Act referred to permanently on the Statute Book. The Archbishop of Melbourne's Impressions On the education question and on the state of Ireland his Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, speaking at. the public reception in the Exhibition Building, Melbourne, said:' With reference to my visit to Ireland, you will be glad to learn that on "aff "sides I observed a notable improvement in the comfort and hopefulness of the people. If the transfer of land were completed, I have no doubt that a new era of progress and peace and prosperity would be inaugurated in Ireland. But the pity is that money is not forthcoming to allow the agreements as to sales between landlords and tenants to be executed. It will take some time before the land question is finally settled. When that barrier, which hitherto kept the owners and occupiers of land separated, is removed, there are already strong indications that the former landlords will become Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores, and will be amongst the foremost in demanding self-government for Ireland. The Tobacco Industry An Irish correspondent of the London Morning Post says that it bears significant testimony to the extent and the solidarity of the newly-developed tobacco-growing industry in Ireland -that those engaged in cultivating tho crop throughout the counties of Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Meatfy and Wexford have constituted themselves a trade association, and in their, corporate capacity have disposed to a Dublin firm of what is practically the entire output of the country. .

Contrasts in Tolerance Take the County of Tyrone in Ulster (says a writer in the Irish Weekly). It has a population of 150,567, of which 82,404, or 54.73 per cent., are Catholics and Nationalists, and 68,163, or 45.27 per cent., are Protestants and Unionists. The County Council numbers 29 members, and of these twelve are Catholics and seventeen are Protestants, while thirteen are Nationalists (one Protestant being a Nationalist) and sixteen are Unionists. The officers employed by the council and its committees (exclusive nf asylums) are — Catholics, five; Protestants, forty-seven. Many of these officers are ex-Unionist registration agents, who have been appointed as a reward for their services to the Unionist cause. The composition of the committees appointed by the council is as follows : Technical Education Committee — Catholics, 8 ; Protestants, 15. Agricul- , tural Committee — Catholics, 9; Protestants, 22. Asylums Committee — Catholics, 6; Protestants, 12. Now let us turn to Galway, an intensely Catholic and Nationalist oounty in Connaught. It has a population of 192,549, and of this 94 per cent, are Catholics. The County Council consists of 32 members, all Catholics, but of these one is a Unionist. The officers employed by the council and its committees number 61, and of these officers, though there is not a single Protestant on the council, 11 are Protestants. This is a strong contrast to Armagh, which, with its Catholic population numbering over 56,000, and its council of eight Catholics and twenty-two Protestants, has a staff of officers consisting of three Catholics and fortyseven Protestants — Unionists. A False Statement In replying to a question in the House of Commons by Mr. Kettle as to the administration of the Old-age Pensions Act in Ireland, Mr. Hobhouse said the Government was not responsible for the circulation, of 'the statement ■ that many pensions had been improperly obtained in Ireland. The lie, however, had got a start, and it was exceedingly difficult to catch it up. Unfortunately miscalculations had been made with respect to the cost of old-age pensions, not only as regarded Ireland, but also as regarded Great Britain, and, whatever the cause, there was undoubtedly a serious discrepancy between the number of applicants in Ireland over 70 years and the number of septuagenarians shown by the census. Therefore, he thought the Government had been absolutely justified in deciding to have an inquiry into the circumstances which had led to the discrepancy, not for the purpose of finding fault or reducing the number of pensions, but with the object of obtaining an explanation of the circumstances, which were undoubtedly abnormal. There was no desire to prevent the grant of pensions or to cast upoa the honesty of the people of Ireland, and while there was no foundation for the charge of fraud levelled against Ireland/ he was also able to assure the committee that it was not true that orders had been issued to pension officers to appeal wherever possible from the local Pensions Committee to the Local Government Board in Ireland. The inquiries which were being made had not .yet been completed, but since January 1 2500 had been taken away, of which 1300 related to Great Britain and 1200 to Ireland, so that he thought, on the one hand, the Irish people were exculpated from the charge of obtaining pensions fraudulently, and on the other hand Irish representatives might have conceived an exaggerated idea of the number of peusions which had been revoked. A Change of Opinion Mr. John Dillon, M.P., in the course of a speech in Swinford said that the changed attitude of the brewers and distillers towards ,the Irish Party was amusing and instructive. Before the introduction of the Budget we were, said Mr. Dillon, ruffians of the darkest die — ' cattledrivers ' and gentlemen who ought to be put into gaol ; but now, when the new whiskey tax is in the air, the big brewers and distillers are all appealing to the Irish Party to protect them. Mr. John Redmond is now a statesman, in, the opinion of these gentlemen. 'My answer is, we will do our best for the interests of Ireland. I would like to know whether they are 'prepared to help us in applying the only remedy for the over-taxation, of Ireland — namely, Home Rule.' Referring to the new Land Bill, he said that, as far as Connaught was concerned, it was a good Bill — the best Bill that had ever been introduced by British Ministers. ,