Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 13 October 1910, Page 1673

Irish News

ARMAGH—Evicted Tenants Restored Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., had a very happy experience at Lurgan, when he paid a visit to that district to inspect the happy homes and smiling farms of a number of evicted tenants, who, after 20 years' exile from their old homesteads, have, through the efforts of the Irish Parliamentary Party, been reinstated in their holdings. Mr. Devlin was accompanied by Father Lowry, of Lurgan, by Mr. Richard McGhee, and by Mr. T. J. Hanna (Mr. Redmond's secretary) in his visit to what was formerly the Lurgan estate, but what is now happily the estate of those who were once Lurgan tenants, and are now, by the labors of the Irish Party, the owners, the unevictable owners of the soil they till. An address of welcome was presented to Mr. Devlin, signed by eight of the tenants replaced in their old holdings. The address recalled the exactions of landlordism in Ireland twenty years ago, the slavery of the tenants, who were mere tenants at will, the cunning of the agents who kept the tenantry divided by maintaining sectarian strife while they impartially plundered Catholic and Protestant alike. The address said although the earliest victims of the landlord, the evicted tenants of the Lurgan estate had never lost heart, although they suffered much privation, and never for a moment despaired of the ultimate recovery of their holdings, had never complained, and had never lost confidence in the fidelity and power of the United Irish Party to settle them again on the land from which they were driven. Mr. Devlin, in his reply, said it was a great satisfaction to him to receive such a tribute of indebtedness on the part of the tenants to the efforts of the Irish Party. Gratitude in politics was rare, but it was characteristic of Ulster men and Ulster women that they never forgot any honest service given. Dire necessity had opened the eyes of the Protestant farmers in Ulster to the fact that their interests were identical with those of their Catholic fellow-countrymen, and Mr. Devlin trusted that a new feeling of kindness and brotherhood between Protestant and Nationalist might grow and flourish in Lurgan. Father Lowry and Mr. McGhee also delivered appropriate addresses. CORK— A Generous Gift A wealthy Catholic lady in the South of Ireland, Miss Honan, of Cork, has bestowed a gift of £IO,OOO on Cork University College for the" foundation of scholarships. The Honan family, which originally hailed from Limerick, have been for some generations resident in Cork. Another branch of the family is in Liverpool. They have all been wealthy and all benevolent. A brother of the present benefactress, who died in 1894, left £45,000 to establish in Cork a home for merchants in reduced circumstances, and he also left £IO,OOO for the rebuilding of his parish church — St. Patrick's, Cork. Miss Honan's gift to the University is by no means the only instance of her practical generosity. She built and equipped one of the best surgical institutions in Ireland for the hospital in Cork, and she also provided a chapel for St. Patrick's Hospital for Incurables in Cork, all this work being carried out by Irish labor, and as far as possible with Irish materials. Her present gift will be devoted to provide scholarships for natives of Munster, with no barrier as to creed. Irish in the National University In the course of a speech delivered at Macroom on August 21 the Very Rev. Canon Murphy, V.F., dealt with the Gaelic movement, saying that it had been taken up all over the country, and one of its results was the Irish College in Ballingeary. The spirit of enthusiasm which had seized upon the people, and brought them from long distances to this college, to spend their vacation there in hard work, studying the language, showed their hearts and souls were in the work. They had schools of the same class established up and down the country, and he did not think he would be exaggerating if he said Ballingeary was doing the grandest and most useful work. Referring to the making of Irish compulsory in the new University, he said this would give an impetus to the study of the language all over the country. He was from the start anxious that Irish should be made compulsory in the new University, because they had been fighting for a Catholic University and had been refused. They wanted a Catholic University, but in the end they gave them two for the Protestants and another for themselves, which was open to the Grand Turk, and everybody else, as well as to the Catholics. He thought from the beginning that the one thing that would make the University Catholic was to make Irish compulsory, and then the students themselves would work it out a Catholic University. That was his reason for being in favor of compulsory Irish. It had been made compulsory, and it was now in the hands of the people themselves. The future graduates would be the young men of Ireland, who must know the language of their own country, and who would imbibe the traditions of their own country, and make Ireland what it ought to be —an Irish Ireland. DONEGAL—An Extraordinary Phenomenon The remarkable effect of a violent rainstorm in Donegal on August SO was seen on the farm of a man named Shcri*

dan, near Ratlnmillan. A column of water descending on a field of oats made a ravine 15ft deep, from 20ft to 80ft across, and 200 ft long. The top layer of peat, 10ft thick, was carried bodily and laid on the growing corn lower down the field, and the underlying strata were laid bare. Crowds visited the scene of the extraordinary phenomenon. Reports show that nearly twenty bridges in different parts of the county were destroyed by the almost unprecedented torrent. DUBLIN—The Archbishop's Protest His Grace Archbishop Walsh, becoming aware that it was proposed to exhibit in Dublin during Show Week a cinematograph display depicting the recent prize fight in America, wrote .to the Lord Mayor protesting against such an exhibition. The Lord Mayor in turn wrote to the Chief Commissioner of Police, Sir John Ross of Bladensburg, and as a result of the Lord Mayor's letter the promoters of the show had been warned that if they proceeded with the exhibition in the absence of a licence from the municipal authorities, they would be liable to penalties under section 3 of the Cinematograph Act. It was later on discovered that the Corporation had no power to prevent the exhibition, such authority being vested in the Lord Lieutenant. The Horse Show The opening of the Horse Show at Ballsbridge on August 23 was favored with good weather, and the fortythird great annual display of the Royal Dublin Society started on its career under the most favorable auspices. J. here was a pleasant warmth in the morning as the first batches of visitors made their way to Ballsbridge, and as the day advanced the sun shone brilliantly. The Art Industries, as usual, proved full of interest, and this year, as on former occasions, there was brought together a very excellent display of Irish handicraft, wood-carving and metal work being exceptionally good, although lace work, in the opinion of the judge, was hardly up to the usual high standard of excellence. FERMANAGH—Sad Fatality , Mr. David Knox, Mullinroddy, near Ederney, brother of Dr. Knox, Lisnaskea, was gored to death by a bull on August 1/. He was driving cattle through a gate, when he was attacked by the animal. He received terrible injuries, to which he succumbed. Deceased was one of the most popular gentlemen in Fermanagh, and was a wellknown and successful exhibitor at local agricultural shows. American Visitors A largely attended meeting of the Nationalists of Newtownbutler district, County Fermanagh, was held on August 21 tor the purpose of extending a welcome to two distinguished Irish-Americans who were on a visit to the parish —viz., Right Rev. Mgr. O'Callaghan," Boston, and Dr. P J. rimmins, Boston, both of whom are leaders of the Nationalist movement in the United States. Monsigner O'Callaghan, a native of Macroom, County Cork, is pastor of one of the parishes in Boston. Dr. Timmins, who was born and bred near Newtownbutler, is paying one of his periodical visits to the home of his boyhood. KlLKENNY—Succeeds to a Title By the death of Sir James Langrishe, Bart., the daughter of the late Right Hon. Fitzwillian Hume Dick of Humewood, County Wicklow, becomes Lady Langrishe. Lady Helen Langrishe is a convert, and married, in 1887 Hercules, the only son of the deceased baronet, by whom she has two sons. The residence is at Knocktopher Abbev County Kilkenny. , ' ' TIPPERARY— A Golden Jubilee The people of St. Peter and St. Paul, Clonmel, have celebrated the golden jubilee of their beloved pastor, Canon Flavin, by subscribing to a magnificent pulpit. The whole work, which stands over 20ft high, has cost £6OO. WATERFORD—Death of a Priest On August 20 the remains of the Rev. W Burke pastor of Newtown, Kilmacthomas, County Waterford who died at the advanced age of 78 years, were laid to rest in the parish church. The sacred edifice was filled in everv part with the people of the parish, who manifested deep regret at the death of their pious, indefatigable: and respected pastor, who had labored amongst them for close on twenty years. GENERAL The Magistracy According to a Parliamentary return, 3713 Irish magistrates belong to the various denominations classified as Protestant, 2116 are Catholic, eight are Jews, six are members ot other religious bodies, and the denominations of nine are unknown. Lord Aberdeen's Testimony Lord Aberdeen states that taking Ireland as a whole populaSoS? m ° re y CoUntry ' a " d "° niore P ea <*able'

Centenarians The quarterly return of births, deaths, and marriages in Ireland for the period ended June last, which has been issued by the Registrar-General, contains the record of the death from natural causes, at the age of 115 years, of a woman who is reported to have lived in a cabin in Rathangan, Edenderry district, for "30 years. In Termonfeckin, Drogheda, a woman, an old age pensioner, died at 103 years. At Caber, Caherciveen, another woman died at 104 years. At Mullinahone, Tipperary, another death occurred at 100 ,years, while at Portglenone, Ballymena, one at 110 was registered; at Omagh one at a similar age, and at Ballina 104, and Arranmore, Rathdrum, 102. The Irish Hunter Unequalled In the Journal of the Irish Department of Agriculture there appears a translation of an official bulletin issued by the French Society for the Encouragement of the Breeding of Army Horses, in which the writer gives his impressions of the Dublin Horse Show. He is loud in his praises of the Irish hunter. ' Taken on the whole, the hunters present the rarest unity of type that one could desire; in the case of nearly all certain salient points were invariably the same. An extremely powerful muscular frame is shown, particularly in the massiveness of the quarters; the back thighs, which are so muscled up as to literally stand out well over the hocks, are full, firm, and well rounded. And beneath those muscles, what bones ! The hocks are strong, clean, and generally well shaped; the knees are broad and close to the ground, supported on short cannon bones, and of an "apparent girth which is often surprising. When we verify their measurements, we often find dimensions of 7.9, 8.3, 8.7 inches and upwards. The depth of chest is remarkable; the lengthy withers put the saddle well into its place, far behind a shoulder which is always well sloped back. These qualities, far from being what are too often thought to be the exception, are found in all the animals, whether they be four, five, or six years old, whether of light, medium, or heavy weight, whether it be a horse at the price of £BO or one at £4OO. This is the first great lesson which we ought to learn from the Dublin Horse Show; that it is possible, since it is the case, to find in one and the same place more than 800 horses which are all of the saddle-horse type. It is indeed true that in that number some animals are inferior to others — ,this is the main point brought out by what we have just saidnamely, that it is not necessary to go to the choicest, the elite, to find symmetrical build. National Education * In their annual report the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland complain of the manner in which their requests for funds are treated by the Treasury. They say: — We have once more to make serious complaint that many proposals which we have felt it our duty to urge in recent years for the improvement and extension of our educational system continue to receive but scant consideration at the hands of the Irish Government and the Lords of his Majesty's Treasury. An English Minister, speaking in Parliament on behalf of the English Board of Education, and reviewing the educational progress of the year, is able to point to a large increase of grants consequent on the ever-widening range of the activities of his department, to discourse at length* on the ruralising of elementary education in country districts of England, and the spread of agricultural instruction through evening schools and school gardens connected with primary schools, and to discuss the beneficial effects of State-instituted medical inspection of school children, and increased facilities for physical exercises and training in domestic economy. In Ireland we ai a, we trust, fully alive to the importance and advantages of such modern developments of educational effort, but our demands for the necessary financial assistance for proposals of a simpler and. more obvious kind have hitherto been met with curt refusals. For seven years we have urged on the Treasury the necessity of making grants for the instituting of higher grade national schools. In England and Scotland such schools form a most important feature of primary education; in France and Germany similar institutions have been in existence for many years. The necessity for these schools is not less, but greater, here in Ireland, and the foundation of the National University and the opportunities of higher education thus presented to classes of the people hitherto without these advantages will tend irresistibly to increase the need. Similarly, we have sought permission to encourage the clever pupils of our schools by throwing onen to their competition a number of county scholarships. These proposals have been refused.