Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 14 October 1915, Page 41

Irish News

GENERAL.

Sunday, August 22, witnessed the unveiling by Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., of a beautiful memorial in Miltown Cemetery to the memory of John Crilly, the first member of the Belfast branch of the A.O.H. Enormous crowds and numerous bands attended.

The selection of Alderman Farrell as Nationalist candidate for the Harbor Division of Dublin was made at a meeting of electors held in the constituency on August 20. The usual convention was not held, the chairman stating that there was not a sufficient number of affiliated U.I.L. branches in the constituency to warrant a convention.

The-number of convictions under the Inebriates Acts in -Ireland—that is, of persons who have been habitually drunk' and who were sentenced to be treated in a special- retreat to reform the drinking habitwas in 1914 only 19. Since the first of these Acts was passed, in 1906, the convictions in Ireland have numbered 236, and the cases have been decreasing during the past three years.

Among the officers lately killed at the Dardanelles was Lieut. Hugh McDermot, the eldest son of The McDermot, Hereditary Prince of Coolavin, Co. Sligo. The gallant young officer, who received his commission only in October of last ear, was a grandson of the famous McDermot, an eminent Irish barrister, who was Irish Attorney-General under Mr. Gladstone's Premiership in 1897.

The Berry Journal prints an account of the marvellous heroism of Peter Boyle, a Donegalman from the Island of Arramnore, who in a recent passenger steamer catastrophe at Chicago saved over 100 lives by manning and managing a boat in which he put off to. the rescue of the drowning crowds. Eventually he saw the body of a child drifting by and dived from his boat to rescue it. lie was never seen again alive. Subsequently his body was rescued from the river by dragging, and accorded a public funeral. MR. REDMOND ON RECRUITING. Speaking at Waterford on August 23, Mr. Redmond said the city of Waterford had sent between IGOO and 2000 men 'to the front. A friend- of his, who is a general, said that Ireland had raised 23,000 new recruits. One division, although, it had given 1200 men to fill up another division, was now only 130 men short. It would soon be sent to England to complete its training, as another division was, and it would go to the front as a unit. Although this was a magnificent record, Ireland must fill up the gaps in these divisions herself. It would, therefore, be necessary to provide reserves at home. THE DIOCESE OF DOWN AND CONNOR. The Right Rev. Dr. Macßory, whose elevation to the vacant Bishopric of Down and Connor has been announced, has been Vice-President of Maynooth College since 1912. His appointment to the ancient See of Down and Connor has a particular appropriateness (says the Freeman's Journal), for he was born, in 1861, in Ballygawley, in the neighboring archdiocese 'of Armagh, and has had many associations with the diocese, over which he is now called to rule. His earlier ecclesiastical education was obtained in Armagh, after which he studied at Maynooth, where he had a brilliant course, and was ordained in 1885. Following the elevation of Dr. Hogan to the Presidency of the College in 1912, Dr. Macßory was appointed his successor as Vice-President. During his professorial career he has enriched ecclesiastical literature by many learned contributions. At Maynooth Dr. Macßory was one of the most esteemed of the brilliant staff of this" great establishment. Personally his affability endeared him greatly to the students, who regarded him with particular confidence and oven affection. At a

comparatively early age he has been called to the '/ pas- " v toral care of one of the most extensive and populous of the Irish dioceses, and those who" know him feel iffj that no better selection for such an episcopate could % f; have been made. •, , ~~~ < •/""*/ DEATHS OF CATHOLIC OFFICERS. > Widespread regret will be felt at the announcement of the death in action in the Gallipoli Peninsula, ; on August 15, of Captain R. P. Tobin, the only son v. of the eminent Dublin surgeon, Mr. Tobin, St. Ste- "-'■ phen's Green. Captain Tobin (says the Irish Catholic) was little more than a boy, full of youthful gaiety and altogether charming. Gifted with far more than average talent, he never seemed to lose the innocence, of Of childhood. A practical Catholic, faithful in the dis- §j charge of all the duties of his faith, there is a world of consolation for all who loved him in remembrance % of the fact that he died on the great Feast of the As- i sumption. : e . '-■ ./-" - Another brave young.lrishman who was also killed -i on the Feast of the Assumption was Lieut. Kevin. Emmet O'Duffy, son of Mr. Kevin O'Duffy, L.D.S., A Harcourt street. A friend, describing his character- -4 istics, says that : 'He was greatly esteemed by the v, men" under him. He was a young man of singular ! charm and of deep religious feeling, with a powerful though quite unconscious influence on those, young ; and old, who came in contact with him. While very keen, practical, and efficient in all he had to do, there was a sort of other-worldliness about him, a ripeness ".-.- of character rare in one so young. Mr. Valentine Dunne, solicitor, Middle Abbey street and Marlborough road, has received a message ■ from the War Office intimating that his son, Captain John V. Dunne, had been killed in action at the Dar- . danelles on August 15. Captain Dunne, who had been a practising solicitor and had a distinguished University and professional course, was attached to the University Officers' Corps previous to obtaining his commission. He joined the 7th Munsters last year, '■> and quickly gained promotion to captaincy. Mr. John Fitzgibbon, M.P., has been informed that his son, Captain Michael J. Fitzgibbon, 7th Dub- :■! lin Fusiliers, has been killed in action at the Dardan- ; elles. Captain Fitzgibbon was 29 years of age on the day that he was killed. Prior to receiving his commission in the Dublin Fusiliers he was a law student. " He was gazetted captain on March 6, 1915. Deep regret is felt for the gallant young officer, who was greatly admired for his many sterling qualities. Second-Lieutenant Robert Stanton, 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, who is reported wounded and missing, believed killed in action at the Dardanelles, is the eldest son of Mr. John Stanton, solicitor, Cork. He was educated at the Christian Brothers' College, Cork, and Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated with a Senior Moderatorship and gold medal in 1907, and .in the following year was admitted a solicitor, and practised with his father until the outbreak of the war, when he obtained his commission in the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers through Dublin University Officers' Training Corps. HIBERNIANS AND THE EMPIRE. The biennial convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Board of Erin) opened in Dublin recently. Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., National President, was in the chair, and said that was the seventh biennial convention. In four years the membership of the Order had increased by 29,000. The funds of the society were invested in Irish securities, so that the money is ire- . tained in Ireland for the benefit of the Irish people. An exception to this was the sum of £12,000, which they had invested in the War Loan at 4J per cent., a fact which, taken in conjunction with the large number who joined the colors, should show that the society and the overwhelming majority of the Irish people were in sympathy with and recognised their obligation of supporting the cause of justice and freedom as represented by the Allies, as against brute

force, materialism and ~tyranny, for which-" Germany stood.- in the present world conflict. This ought to be sufficient to put end to the slander that the A.O.H. is not a loyal organisation. /""' -> - A GRACEFUL ACT. ; ; : It was a graceful act of the Skerries branch of the United Irish League to elect Mr. William Derham as president (says the Dublin Evening Telegraph). Mr. Derham is an Irish exile residing in Auckland, New Zealand, and, an Irishman's love of the Old Land, he has come home to spend a year on holiday in his native place. The branch decided, as a recognition of the unity of the race the world over, to elect Mr. Derham to the highest office in its gift during his stay in Ireland. The newly-appointed president, in a touching address, spoke of the .fidelity of the Irish people and the sons of Irishmen and Irish women in the colonies to the cause of Ireland. The Irish exile possesses the ideal of true patriotism. His anxieties are to see Ireland prosperous and free, and in whatever environment he is he always bends his energies to help on the old cause. Fidelity to the Irish National organisation and the Irish Party is .the characteristic of the Irishman in all lands, and Mr. Derham bore testimony to the devotion of New Zealand Irishmen to the principle of Irish Nationality and the Party and leaders who have labored to realise it. UNSATISFACTORY TRIALS. It cannot be said that the trials at which organisers of the Irish Volunteers were sentenced to imprisonment for terms of three and four months were satisfactory (remarks the Catholic Times). The complaint was made repeatedly on behalf of the accused that action was taken against them purely on account of their politics, and it was hoped that the court proceedings would disclose information on this point. Not only did it fail to do so, but it supplied no evidence whatever as to why the accused were ordered to leave their native land. No act or words which would justify the order were proved or even alleged against them. They had been organising the Irish Volunteers, were commanded by General Friend to leave Ireland, refused, and have in consequence been prisoned. Mr. Hanna, K.C., who legally represented Mr. Pirn in the Belfast Custody Court, said : —' If he (Mr. Hanna) was not entitled to investigate the grounds of the suspicions on which the order was made upon which Pirn was being impeached, what was the use of him (Mr. Hanna) being there at all?' So far as information regarding the cause of the expulsion order was concerned, the trial might as well not have taken place. The accused are punished for they know not what, and though sentences have been pronounced in courts of law the public are left in the same state of ignorance. "

' If Germany had not had conscription, the world would not have been afflicted with the present war,' said his Grace the Archbishop of Sydney at the laying of the foundation stone of a new church at Rooty Hill on Sunday, September 27. 'But,'. continued his Grace, ' it is equally true that if England had had conscription the present war would not have arisen. Germany had conscription, England did not; and therein lay England's danger. Until religion and peace come back to the world every nation must be prepared to defend itself. Without making adequate preparations we cannot defend ourselves against our enemies. I think every single man in Australia who is physically capable of doing so should prepare himself for the defence of his country.'