Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 17 July 1913, Page 39

Irish News

- t - t GENERAL. . Lieut. Desmond L. Arthur, of the Army Flying Corps, was killed at Montrose on May 22, falling 2000 feet. He was a County Limerick man. '- Steps are being taken in Banagher for arranging a presentation to the Sisters of La Sainte Union des Sacres Coeurs on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the foundation of their Order in the town. A serious outbreak of fire was discovered at Roscrea Catholic Church early on the morning of May 22. The fire caused damage to the roof of the sacred building, the stained glass windows, the roof of the sacristy, and screens. The building will have to be re-decorated. The damage was estimated at £2OOO. v Madame de Navarro, better known by her maiden name, Mary Anderson, the famous actress, opened on May 24 a great bazaar in Dublin which has been organised to provide funds for the extension of the buildings of the Passiohist Fathers at Mount Argus. Among those taking part in the opening ceremony were Lord and Lady Fingall, the Irish AttorneyGeneral, and Sir Henry Bellingham, father of the Marchioness of Bute.. --■■ CHARITABLE BEQUESTS. The late Mr. L. Gorman, of Rathgar, left the following bequests:£loo to Very Rev. Canon Anderson, P.P., Terenure,* for the debt of the parochial church j £2OO to the Hospital for Incurables, Donnybrook; £3OO for a high altar in St. Joseph's Church, Terenure; £2O each to St. Laurence's Catholic Home for Nurses St. Joseph's Asylum, Portland row; St.. Joseph's Refuge for Homeless Women' and Children, Brickfield lane; the Drummond Institution for Soldiers' Orphan Daughters; the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and High Park Asylum, Drumcondra; £IOO for the erection of a high altar in St. Patrick's Church, Kilkenny; £IOO for the poor of Kilkenny; and £IOO for Masses. ■ DEATH OP THE O'CLERY. In the person of The O'Clery, who died at Twyford Abbey, near Ealing, on May 23, has passed away a gentleman who, years ago, took a deep interest in Catholic affairs. A native of the County of Limerick, where he was born in 1849, he belonged to a sept long settled in Donegal. Students of Irish literary history will remember the three chroniclers of that name, the youngest of whom, Michael, was the author of the famous Annals of the Four Masters. Keyes O'Clery was the son of John Walsh O'Clery (The O'Clery), and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. ' For his services as a Pontifical Zouave in the troublous times of 1867 and 1870 he received the Papal Orders of St. Gregory (Military Cross) and of Pius IX. In 1903 he was created a Count by Pope Leo XIII., and he was also Private Chamberlain at the Vatican Court and a Knight Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic. He was the author of A History of the Italian Revolution and The Making of Italy. The latter work, which has been translated into Italian, is a. graphic account of events described- from personal knowledge, and is particularly interesting on account of the use made in it of contemporary Italian documents. The O'Clery was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1874, and contested Wexford County the same year as a Conservative Home Ruler. After a hard fight he won the seat, but he was defeated in 1880. v The O'Clery was a lieutenant for the City of London. He lived in Henry Grattan's rooms in the Temple till he removed to Twyford Abbey, and he was a familiar figure at the Devonshire Club. He frequently went to Italy, and he had also visited South Africa, where he met the lady who became his wife.

A TRIBUTE TO THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS. Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., who was accompanied by some friends, /paid'a, visit to Mount Sion^ Schools, Waterford, on May 22. The visitors were received by Brother Mullan," who extended to them a hearty welcome, and addressing the boys, said there was ho. abler champion of his country's rights than .the member for West Belfast. Mr. ; Devlin, who received a ' great ovation, paid a high and, needless to add, well-merited tribute to the Christian Brothers to teaching he attributed whatever success he had in life. He had travelled in nearly every part of the English-speaking world, inspiring as '_ far as he was capable of doing "so the exiled children of the Gael with love for their motherland, and, with deeper and warmer intensity if that were possible. His experiences were of -a varied character, but there was not any experience he enjoyed more than a visit to the schools or colleges, of the Christian Brothers. It was only natural that the Irish Christian Brothers should be great Irish teachers in their own country. They lived in Ireland—that Ireland gifted by God with every bountiful advantage—that land with its. rich and fertile plains, its splendid mountains, its beautiful rivers,.and historical traditions and long.record of trial and vicissitude—land of their fathers. But greatly as he admired the work of the Christian Brothers in Ireland, the task they had performed was more marvellous abroad. If they went out into the great lands of Australia and New Zealand, 12,000 miles away from Ireland, there they would see the Christian Brothers not only great and successful teachers, but teaching the boys of the third and fourth generations of Irishmen— the same devotion to Fatherland, the same devotion to religion and the same fidelity to Christian principles—the same kindly feeling of democratic responsibility which had made the Catholic Church the great, powerful and most indestructible Church to which they all belonged. And so the Christian Brothers were not only a great asset to Ireland, but they were a potent influence in every land where the Catholic Church was planted. He wanted them to remember they were brothers of the little boys away amid the snows of Canada, and the children of the fathers and mothers away in the bush in Australia, because they were bound together by a common bond supplied by the Christian Brothers. If they always remembered that they would never be false either to God or their country. ■ ■.--. - / ./ :/,• . ,

THE METHODS OF PROSELYTISERS. Preaching in the Church of the Jesuit Fathers, Upper Gardiner street, on Sunday, May 25, in aid of St. Francis Xavier's Schools, Rev. John Gwynn, S.J. delivered a powerful indictment of the methods of those who devote their time to trafficing in the souls of poor Catholic children. Recent events which have come to light show that proselytism is being.carried on with renewed energy in many parts of the country, but particularly in Dublin, where the poverty-stricken slums afford a field for operations. The eloquent preacher said that not only all Catholic but all Catholic Ireland was ringing with indignation at the discovery of a disgraceful conspiracy against the Catholic community of the metropolis. He did not intend to suggest that they were fighting for their lives, or to speak of the danger as likely to ruin their faith. But down in the slums, in garrets and tenement houses of Dublin, there was to he found, slinking about on dark evenings, the proselytiser, with his plausible pretexts of philanthropy, bent on luring from the Catholic faith poor innocent children whose fathers and mothers were drawn away by the fangs of those ravenous wolves. Father Gwynn said he did not blame the rank and file of the Protestants, who ran those institutions called Birds' Nests and so on, for he well knew their abyssmal ignorance. But he did blame the men I of standing and social position, particularly the clergymen and dignitaries of the Protestant Church, because they lent their name and influence and v support to what he could only describe as the devil's own work. To them he appealed to learn the fundamental princi-

pies of Christianity and to dissociate themselves from such vile work. . v ' " THE NA"tTVE POETRY OFIRELAND. : On the afternoon of May 20, at the residence of Mrs. Munster, Onslow Gardens, London, a lecture was given/ by the distinguished , writer and scholar, Miss Eleanor Hull, on the native poetry of Ireland. Miss Hickey, who took the chair, expressed her pleasure in introducing her old friend, who appeared in Irish costume. Miss Hull remarked that the study of any kind of literature was bound to enrich one's knowledge, ideas, and modes of expression it was especially so with the study of Irish literature, which was worthy of a place among the highest creative art in any country of the world, not excepting Greece. Irish MSS. were scattered over the universities of Europe as early, as the eighth century; and long before" England had any native literature at all Ireland had produced lyrical poetry of the highest beauty. The lecturer then read a few samples of Irish lyrics, very ably translated by herself, their distinguishing note being deep sincerity and simplicity, as also a joyous love of nature. After the conversion of Ireland to Christianity these lyrics took on a sweeter and more 'subdued tone. The native poetry of Ireland is more in affinity with the spirit of the East than with that of the West. There is, howshe said, a strong resemblance between Irish compositions and the Icelandic sagas, probably due to the mixture of races. THE CROSS OF CONG. As a souvenir o\ the silver' jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood, the Irish and Catholic Societies of Oakland, Cal., presented to the Rev. Dr. P. C. Yorke, on May 15, a beautiful gold monstrance in the form of a replica of the famous Cross of Cong. The Cross of Cong, which is one of the most elaborate examples of the exquisite art of the ancient Irish goldsmiths (says America), was a processional cross made for Muiredach O'Duffy, who died in the year 1150, to enshrine a portion of the true Cross by order of King TurloughO'Conor, as we learn from an entry in the Annals of Inisfallen, A.D. 1123, the year in which the first General Council of Lateran was held, during the pontificate of Pope Calixtus. The annalist states: ' A portion of the true Cross came into Ireland, and was enshrined at Roscommon by Turlough O'Conor.' 'This relic was carried from Tuam to Cong, either by Bishop O'Duffy, who died in the Augustinian Abbey there in 1150, or by King Roderick O'Conor, the last monarch of Ireland, who himself founded and endowed the Abbey of Cong. It was concealed at the time of the Reformation, and found early in the last century in an oaken chest in a cottage in the village. It was purchased by Professor MacCullagh, who presented it to the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, in 1839.

THE UNIONIST CAMPAIGN. There can be no doubt that the Unionists are going in for a big campaign in the country during the coming three months (says the Irish Press Agency). Everywhere there are indications of preparation for what they probably regard as the forlorn hope of making an impression on the English mind against the Home Rule Bill. The campaign will have to be financed by British Tories, because ' Ulster' absolutely refuses to 'stump up.' 'Ulster' will not even subscribe, not to speak of fighting. And the Unionists of the South and West are not any better apparently. Mr. Shieldham Shaw, speaking recently at a Unionist meeting at Bray, Co. Dublin, said that more money was required to send to England to carry on that campaign. About £40,000 to £50,000 was necessary, and if the Unionists of Ireland supplied that money, the campaign would be carried through, and the Government forced to appeal to the country.' There has been no response, so far, in the Dublin Tory Press, to this appeal. Meantime, the Home Rule Fund is mounting up steadily, and everywhere throughout Ireland support for the Irish Party is being organised in a manner which leaves no room for doubt that the people are more than ever alive to the realities of the situation.