Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 7 December 1911, Page 2483

Irish News

ANTRlM — Belfast and the Parliamentary Fund Mr. David McCloskey, J.P., treasurer of the Belfast''National Fund, has forwarded to the treasurers of the Irish National and Parliamentary Fund a cheque for £555, the subscriptions of the Nationalists of Belfast to the fund for the present year. In a covering letter Mr. McCloskey says : —‘ We have trusted the Irish Party in she past, and have been more than justified by the results, and so long as it requires our help, whether moral or material, that help will be forthcoming promptly and generously./ Generous Benefactors The Right Rev. Dr. Tohill, Bishop of Down and Connor, solemnly dedicated on Sunday, October 15, the Church of St. Teresa, ITannahstown, Belfast, which has been built and equipped at a cost of £30,000 by Miss Hannah Hamill and her sister, Miss Teresa Flamill, whose family for generations have been associated with the maintenance of the Catholic Faith in the district. His Lordship, in the course of a sermon, expressed the hope that the Church of St. Teresa, the presbytery and schools, would endure for many and many a year, and be spoken of in a spirit of gratitude as the princely gift of the Misses Hamill, of French House, and that those who used the church would never fail to pray for the ladies who built it. Lord Pirrie’s Indictment Of the gravest kind was the indictment of the Belfast Unionists on the ground of their narrowness and intolerance by Lord Pirrie in the speech which he delivered at the luncheon given in honor of the Post-master-General at the Grand Central Hotel, Belfast. Lord Pirrie is the head of the firm of Harland and Wolff, and the benefits which Belfast has derived from the work of that firm it would not be easy to estimate. Yet so blind to the interests of the citizens did the Harbor Board become through political prejudice that it stood in the way of the extension of Harland and Wolff’s premises. Time after time, said Lord Pirrie, the operations of the firm had been restricted simply because he, its chairman, did not happen to agree in politics with the gentlemen in whose hands rested the government of harbor affairs. If the application made to the Harbor Board had been agreed to the firm would have widely extended its ramifications, and would perhaps be a hundred per cent,larger than it was in Belfast. When Unionists of this type come forward and object to Home Rule as men interested in commerce, of what value is their opinion ? Their views as business men are deeply colored by political partisanship. No man in Ireland has a greater interest in the country’s finance than Lord Pirrie, and he has no fear that the material welfare of the people will be affected adversely by Home Rule. ARMAGH —A Centenarian . The death is announced of William Reed, of Faxxlkland, Middletown, County Armagh, at the great age of 102 years. Pie spent over fifty years in Scotland, but being blessed with a robust constitution he scarcely ever suffered a day’s illness. He retained all his faculties unimpaired to the last, and his last sickness was of only a few days’ duration. DERRY Nationalists in a Majority On behalf of the Derry Nationalist Registration Committee, a statement has'been made declaring that whereas at the close of the revision of the roll in 1910 the Nationalists were in a minority to the number of 159, at the close of the revision just concluded the Nationalists are in a majority of 21, this being a net Nationalist gain of 180 votes. This is naturally regarded as a triumph of substance and consequence by the National party in Derry. DUBLlN— lmmunity from Serious Crime Addressing the Grand Jury at the opening of the County Dublin Sessions, the Recorder said that the metropolitan county retained its normal character for

peace and order’, and when its extent was considered, from Little Bray to Balbriggan, almost thirty miles, with its coast towns of Kingstown, Dalkey, Howth, and Skerries, and its large population, the almost complete immunity from crime and the absolute immunity of the county from the grosser and more serious forms of crime, was justly a source of pride to all concerned; The Late Cardinal Moran His Eminence Cardinal Logue presided at the Solemn Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the late Cardinal Moran, in the pro-Cathedral, Dublin, on October 12. The Mass was celebrated by his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. The majority of the Irish hierarchy were present, as well as 200 priests from all parts of the country, the Lord Mayor and Corporation of Dublin in State, and numerous representatives of tire Parliamentary Party. Catholic Truth Society His Eminence Cardinal Logue, who presided at the Annual Conference of the Catholic Truth Society, which was held in Dublin on October 11 and 12, said he had occupied the chair at these meetings for many years, and would continue to do so as long as he was able to move a limb. He read a telegram from his Holiness the Pope bestowing the Apostolic Benediction upon all taking part in the Conference. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Very Rev. Canon Barry, D.D./who ably dwelt upon the perils of modern literature. ’ The Most Rev. Dr. Healy, President of the Catholic Truth Society, said every parish priest in Ireland should have a library fox the benefit of his people, and all parents should watch over their own families, for if the father -> and mother were indifferent the priest could do little. If the precautions he suggested were taken to meet the evils spoken of by Dr. Barry, the land of St. Patrick would continue to be the nursing ground of holy men and women, as it had been in the past. At the reception held at the Gresham Hotel at night, his Eminence Cardinal Logue said somebody had remarked that something should be done for the students attending the National University. Well, he might announce that the Bishops had resolved to establish a Faculty of Catholic Theology in connection with the University. This faculty could not be in the University, but it would be side by side with the University. As far as the clergy were concerned they had a splendid opportunity for a grand general education in Maynooth, so that they did not want this new faculty so much for the priests. But if they had a Faculty of Theology in connection with the University, and men to give lectures in a popular way, it would furnish an opportunity to the students, to the young men and ladies who frequented the University, to get a more solid and more intelligent knowledge of Holy Faith and ecclesiastical; history, and other things, without which a Catholic was not educated at the present day. This announcement has given great satisfaction to Catholics throughout the whole country. Valuable Papers and Suggestions At the close of the _ proceedings of the Catholic Conference in Dublin, his Eminence Cardinal Logue remarked that they had been a great success from beginning to end, and the Most Rev. Dr. Healy, President of the Society, expressed the conviction that its pros pects were never better than they are to-day. The interest taken in the Conference was undoubtedly deep and widespread, and so long as the subjects discussed are of such importance as those dealt with on this occasion it may be safely predicted that these annual meetings will continue to bring together large and representative gatherings. Papers and discussions on questions affecting the moral and material welfare of the r country are valuable not only because they are instructive, but also because they are inspiriting. They move to action and at the same time afford guidance. It would be impossible for any Catholic to hear or read the suggestive thoughts thrown out by his Eminence Cardinal Logue, his Grace Archbishop Flealy, and others in their speeches,- by Canon Barry in his’ paper on the dangers of pernicious literature, by the Rev. A. Murphy, P.P., in his contribution on democracy, by Sir Henry Bellingham in his exposition of the ideal of Catholic social duty, and by the Rev. Father Dowling,

of Sydney, in the contrast he drew between the position of the Irish Catholic at home and that of the Irish Catholic abroad, without finding that his views were further enlightened and his sense of responsibility towards the community and. his country increased. QALWAY—Mr Dillon’s Views • Speaking at a great demonstration at Portumna, Mr. John Dillon, M.P., said the greatest proof that Home Rule was coming was Sir Edward Carson’s proposal to establish a Provisional Government in Ulster. Ireland wanted a compulsory Land Act, but he would not discuss the matter with the landlords at a round table conference. If the landlords withdrew their opposition to Home Rule and made fair terms with their tenants to sell the grass ranches they would be treated generously. It was announced that Lord Glanricarde had intimated to the Congested Districts Board his willingness to receive a reasonable offer for his estate. LOUTH—Living in Hope Speaking at a public meeting under the auspices of the Drogheda Gaelic League, Right Rev. Mgr. Sigrane, P.P., V.G., presiding, Mr. Shane Leslie said Ireland’s history was a long and tumultuous one, and it was snipped off short seventy years ago by the socalled National Education Board. Their history was one of invasions, and he was not quite sure that they were not at present on the eve of invasion, not from a German foe, but from the anti-irishman. Against him the Gaelic League had declared endless, relentless, and irreconcilable war. They were, however, living, in days of hope and expectation. Even now they were expecting the golden age to break over the country, but unless they worked for it they would not have it, and they would never make Ireland a nation by Acts of Parliament. Over Fifty Years in Corporation The death occurred in October at Drogheda of Mr. L. Moore, T.C., Co.C., who was the oldest public man in the County Louth. He had entered on his 91st year, and only a few weeks before his death voted at a County Council meeting. For over 51 years he was a member of the Drogheda Corporation, and refused the Mayoralty on three occasions, and he also declined the Commission of the Peace. He was a member of the Drogheda Harbor Board, Board of Guardians, and of the Trim Joint School Board. The Peril of Irreligion The annual sermon in aid of the local Christian Brothers’ Institute was preached in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dundalk, on Sunday, October 13, by the Right Rev. Dr. O’Doherty, Bishop of Zamboanga, Philippine Islands. His Lordship dwelt on the importance of religious instruction, and said that if the present wave of irreligion continued, peace and contentment would fly from the earth, and their place would be taken by murders, robberies, and other evils. All would be an abomination and desolation. That Ireland was comparatively free from these evils was due to the education they received in the knowledge of God. Would these conditions always last. It was well in times of peace to be prepared for war. If the battle of the schools was ever to be fought in Ireland again, their strongest bulwark would be the Christian Brothers’ Institute. WATERFORD—A Serious Fire The workshops and sawmills belonging to Messrs. John Hearne and Sons, builders, Waterford, were completely destroyed by fire on October 11.