Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 30 September 1915, Page 41

Irish News

GENERAL. Three ladies Miss. Kate Buckley, Miss Hannah McCarthy, and • Miss Nora Buckley—have been appointed as lady postmen at Kenmare. In that district there are now four ladies doing the work of postmen. Forty-one members of the Royal Irish Constabulary left the depot, Dublin, on August 7 to join the Irish Guards in London. WESTMEATH AND RECRUITING. Westmeath has supplied more recruits than any other county in Ireland. ‘ A thousand of them were from Athlone and district. Castlepollard, with a • population of 600, has given over 100 recruits to the army. In the little village of Collinstown, adjacent, is the Martin family, which has given ten of its members to the army. Five are at present at the front, two others of them were reported killed early in August, one is with his regiment in ‘Cork; Tom Martin, who was local postman, is in training in Kilworth Camp, and his son is with the Irish Guards. Four sons of Mr. J. Kennedy, Athlone, are at the front, two wounded; and there are numerous instances of two or three members of the same family from the county serving with the colors. DUBLIN AND MUNITIONS. In connection with the Irish Munitions scheme, an important message was received on August 7 by Mr. Patrick Leonard, J.P., President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the Munitions Committee. Following the announcement of the scheme by the Ministry of Munitions, Mr. Leonard communicated with Captain Kelly, the representative of the Ministry of Munitions, who was recently in Ireland, and asked for some definite statement with regard to the provision of machinery in Dublin. He received a telegram from Captain Kelly to the effect that he had secured for Dublin an order for a plant of machine tools capable of turning out 5000 high-explo-sive eighteen-pounder shells per week of 100 hours. The machinery will be available in October. PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY AT THE FRONT. In binding over five young hooligans, who were charged at Rathfriland Petty Sessions, Newry, Co. Down, with unlawful assembly and breaking the windows in the houses of two Catholic residents of Lisnamulligau, at midnight on June 30, the chairman of the Magistrates said that the defendants’ action was highly to be condemned. At that crisis in the country’s history, when all men were comrades in arms, fighting for existence, and because the country was in the gravest peril, to find respectable boys making corner boys of themselves, and resuscitating wretched playedout bygones, was deplorable. If they wanted fighting there was plenty of opportunity in his Majesty’s forces. From the evidence it appeared that the defendants had formed, with others, a ‘drumming party’ to molest and annoy the prosecutors, who were Catholics. The window-smashing was accompanied by loud cursing of the Pope. MR. REDMOND GIFT. Mr. John E. Redmond, M.P., has presented the Munster Fusiliers, now at the front, with a set of Irish pipes, supplied by Messrs. Butler, of Bachelor’s .Walk, Dublin, and has received the following acknowledgment from the Commanding Officer of the Ministers, Major J. W. Considine ; —‘Dear Mr. Redmond, On behalf of the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers, whom I have the great honor to temporarily command, I beg you to accept the very best thanks of the officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates for your splendid present of Irish pipes. It was, indeed, good of you. The pipes, are a great boon to us all, in billets and on - the march, and I can assure you that their stirring

music is ‘fully appreciated. ' I trust that the sound of the ; pipes will inspire us all to even greater deeds of valor than the men of Munster have already performed. If you would like to hear of the battalion’s progress from time to time I shall be only too glad to write.’ ‘CIVIL WAR AND INSANITY. The annual report of the Resident Medical Superintendent of the Down District Lunatic Asylum states that the outstanding fact in connection with the admissions during the year is that from January to July 87 cases were admitted, while from August to December only 42 cases were admitted. For the corresponding periods of the previous year the numbers were 76 and 63 respectively. It is clear, the; report says, that from the outbreak of the great war the admissions fell off in a remarkable degree.' This confirms the opinion expressed in last year’s report that the suppressed tension of the -‘ civil war' agitation tended to color and precipitate the , insanity of predisposed and weak-minded persons in the district. In any event, we find that the rising rate of occurring insanity suddenly subsided when this strain was relaxed by the call to united opposition against the common foe; a call which braced up to a healthier tone the mentality of the people irrespective of petty considerations of party and creed. OUTRAGE ON CHRISTIAN BROTHERS. A great deal. of indignation has been aroused in Ireland by the publication of particulars of a wanton and cowardly attack made on inoffensive Christian Brothers by soldiers of the 9th Battalion Inniskilling Fusiliers (Ulster Division). The case against the soldiers—Private C. E. Gillespie, Private Betts, and Private Quinn, of the 9th Battalion Inniskilling Fusiliers (Ulster Division), at present encamped at Clare Park, Ballycastle—was heard at the Ballycastle Petty Sessions, when they were charged with assaulting the Brothers. It appears from evidence given by Brother Craven, Brother Conway, and others, that as the Brothers were out walking on Saturday evening, the 24th July, at about 8.30 p.m., they were set upon by a number of the soldiers, who had been singing ‘ Dolly’s Brae’ and cursing the Pope. Brother Craven received a swinging and deliberate blow on the face from one, and four others also struck at him. He bled so copiously that his clothes were saturated. A soldier took up a stone to throw at him, but was prevented from throwing it by another who came up. Brother Conway was similarly ill-treated. Brother Moynahan said he had never seen a more furious or rowdy crowd. Some of the soldiers were drunk. They said they ‘ had had great fun ’ with the Brothers. Captain Wilson, on behalf of the Commanding Officer, expressed regret for the dastardly outrage, which was, he said, due to drink. The chairman said the magistrates had unanimously decided to sentence Private Betts and Private Gillespie to two months’ imprisonment with hard labor. The Colonel in charge had done his best to assist them in bringing to justice the perpetrators of what was a truly dastardly outrage, committed by men who were pledged to fight for their country, and not against innocent men, whose duty was to educate the poor. IRELAND’S PLACE IN THE EMPIRE. The O’Mahony, D.L., who was dressed in khaki, was the principal speaker at the recruiting meeting in Dublin on August 7. Mr. John S. Kelly, T.C., who presided, made a strong appeal to the young men present to join some of the Irish regiments, particularly to the Corporation laborers, assistant clerks, and timekeepers. The O’Mahony said that probably most of the audience were old Nationalists like himself, who had followed Parnell. They had carried Parnell’s work to a successful issue. They had placed on the Statute Book the Home Rule Bill. They had made their treaty of peace with England, and they had now got to show that they were prepared to abide by, that treaty. It was not twenty years ago singe the fibers

signed their treaty with Great Britain, and General. Botha,. who had led. the Boers against England, '.had 1 driven the Germans out of South Africa,;.andadded the country they had occupied to the Empire. ~ The British democracy had conferred on Ireland a new' constitution. That constitution was as safe as .the rising of to-morrow’s sun. This war had made it safer than ever. It would he put into operation as soon as the war was over, and it would not be changed except in so far as it might be changed and improved in accordance with the friendly expressed wishes of their fellow-countrymen. If their fellow-countrymen who had hitherto been opposed to them could show them any improvement that could be made in the constitution, anything that could make it more, acceptable to them, their representation would receive the fullest and most sympathetic consideration from the Irish Nationalists. This new constitution, which gave Ireland liberty, would enable them to take their place in the Empire. That constitution was at stake in this war. If Germany were to win, the Irish people, instead of governing themselves, would be German slaves. The place to resist the Germans was in France or Belgium, and the time to beat them was now. If the people fully realised the vital issues at stake, there would be no need of conscription, which was one of the evils that Prussianism had imposed on Europe. Dublin and Ireland had done well in the recruiting movement. Since the war began 127,000 Irishmen had: joined the British Army, and of this number 25,000 were National Volunteers. Having quoted Mr. Redmond’s statement that the highest duty and the most vital interest of Ireland for the moment was to do everything in her power to support the cause of the Allies, the speaker concluded by appealing to the audience to act. in accordance with the advice given by their leader, who was the worthy successor of Parnell. SIX SONS WITH THE COLORS. Six sons of the late Mr. Patrick Darcy, Cashel, are serving with the colors. Patrick, the eldest, is out since the early days of hostilities with the 2nd Battalion of the Leinsters, and has so far escaped unscathed ; Michael is in the Ist Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, and has escaped being wounded, although he has been out since August last year; John belongs to the Royal Garrison Artillery, and has been at the front for over eight months: Daniel, who is in the Irish Guards, was wounded once, and returned to the front after a respite in hospital. Matthew was the only member of the family to meet with a serious mishap. Although only 21 years he was right through all the strenuous engagements through which the 18th Royal Irish Regiment went from the beginning of the war; he was wounded in the arm and back, and is for the past four months in hospital. David, the youngest, has joined the Irish Guards. The whole family consists of six sons and one daughter, whose husband, the father of a large family, has alio volunteered.