Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIII, Issue 1, 6 January 1916, Page 39

Irish News

GENERAL■I _, • The people of Abbeyfeale • and other-friends of the late Dr.' Willie McCarthy, (are .presenting two magnificent stained glass windows r as a memorial to him to’ the parish church. : ' 1 ! / A new toy-making . industry . has been .started. in Galway by the Patrician Brothers in connection with .their schools. The work is done on Saturdays outside school hours, but the Brothers hope to have it made one of the school subjects. The proceeds of the sale will be devoted to the purchase of tools and material to enable the boys to carry on the work in/ their own homes. • . ■. "r Rev. Robert Kane, S.J., was the preacher at a Solemn Requiem Mass offered in the Jesuit Church, Dublin, on November 12, for the past students of the Irish Jesuit College who have been killed in the war. In his sermon Father Kane said the Irish regiments, although shamefully ignored by the official diplomatists, had been the spear-head of the British Army, now as always.’ ( -. ‘ ' . ( '■* * (■ Twenty of the alumni of Clongowes College have been killed, 28 have been invalided home as seriously wounded, 19 have been’ mentioned in despatches, two have received the decoration of the Distinguished Service Order, two have received the Military Cross, two have received the Cross of the Legion of Honor from the French Government, and bne has received the French ‘ Medaille Militaire.’ Corporal Lyons, of the Staffordshire Regiment, who is a. native of Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, was at home on leave in November. He was awarded the D.C.M. for great gallantry at Neuve Chapelle, when Sergeant Magee was shot'in both legs, his left knee-cap having been blown away, and a dozen bullets from a machine, gun having lodged in his right leg. Lyons volunteered to bring him in, and succeeded in doing so under constant fire from the enemy. The man he rescued tells of his heroism, Lyons himself not caring to discuss the matter, saying it was 1 only what anyone would do.’ The Manchester Guardian emphasises as very significant the statement of the Rev. Dr. Beecher, who, preaching at the consecration of Bishop Macßory, the new Bishop of Down and Connor, in Belfast on Sunday, November 14, dwelt on the prudence, kindness, and amiability of the new prelate, saying that ‘ there was not within the Sees of Ireland a man more ready to extend the hand of friendship, to speak the word of kindness, and tread the path of peace.’ . The selection of such a man as Catholic Bishop in Belfast, conjoined with the recent appointment of Dr!. Bernard <as Protestant' Archbishop of Dublin, gives ‘ground (for ( the belief that ; one good result arising from the ( present terrible evil of war may be the ‘ bridging of the Boyne which divides North from South.?

MR. JOHN DILLON AND EMIGRANT-BAITING. ■£/ Mr. Dillon, in a letter to ; the secretary of the Ballaghadereen branch . of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, says all Nationalists must have been pained and horrified at the scenes in Liverpool' at the arrival of the Irish emigrants. However wrong and mistaken some of the emigrants might have been in deciding ,to fly to America and desert their country at a crisis like this, they had a perfectly legal right to go, and, in reading of the shameful insults .to which they were subjected, one could not' forget the millions who went before them,. and ; whose flight from Ireland'was made the subject of insult and exultation by -.the English press and public of the days that were gone by. Referring ;to Lord Derby warning to unmarried men, he said the * Earl had no jurisdiction over recruiting in Ireland. But, dealing with it as applying to Great Britain • only, he held it to be a most injudicious and mischievous : statement. No man had a right to > say-to - : - n-. ■ tt* Vi 1 ■■' ‘ ‘v, ■ ;< ‘ r-'-'.-.r-

the ► British people that . conscription i would ; be ! inflicted upon them until ; he had . obtained the / consent of .v the House ;of Commons, .and: that consent had not yet been given. He did not -believe that compulsion would be attempted in Great* Britain; but, whatever, might Imppen there, there could be no doubt as to the position in Ireland, . for the condition laid down in the Prime Minister’s speech as. essential to making, compulsion or coercion in any shape practicable, - viz., something approaching general assent, was plainly outside > the limits of possibility in < Ireland. ? ?'■ <- £ . }■.

DEATH OF A FAMOUS FRANCISCAN. The news of the death of Father David Fleming, 0.F.M., has been received with deep regret (says the Irish Catholic). - Although he . had been ill 'for some time, still it was hoped that he would ultimately recover, and within the last week or two these hopes seemed likely to be realised. Providence, however, had ordained otherwise, and the great Irish Franciscan passed away on November 11 at the Franciscan Priory, Forest Gate, London, E. Father Fleming was born in Killarney in 1851 he was only eighteen when he joined the Franciscan Order, which he entered in Thielt, Belgium, in 1869. He was ordained in (3hent in 1875, and soon after was appointed Lector in Philosophy, which position he held for nine years. It was in 1884 that he was appointed Definitor of the Province and Guardian of St. Anthony’s (Forest Gate), and some three years later, when the Franciscans of this country were separated, he was nominated Gustos Regiminis. His next appointment was Provincial Minister of the English Province, 0.F.M., which he attained in 1891. He took a very . prominent part in the inquiry into the validity of Anglican Orders, being nominated, by Cardinal "Vaughan a member of . the committee for the collection of evidence on that subject to be submitted to the Holy See in -1896, and he was subsequently appointed representative of the Church in- England on the PapM Commission on Anglican Orders. At this period the Pope made him Consultor of the Holy Office (a life appointment), .and .in the year following he received a higher dignity when he became Definitor-General of . the United Franciscan Order. For "three years he was Vicar-General of the Order of Friars Minor, and another post which he held with distinction was that of Secretary to the Commission appointed by . Pope Leo XIII. on Biblical studies. ■:

IRELAND’S FIGHTING MEN. ; ' Almost—if not quite— in the military annals of Aldershot was the visit of Cardinal Bourne to that great soldiers’ centre on November . 14, in order to inspect the Irish Nationalist troops quartered there. No parade ground could properly accommodate the great mass of khaki-clad Catholic soldiers, hence the large garrison recreation ground at Blackdown was utilised for the occasion. His Eminence, attired in his scarlet robes and hat, made a close inspection of the men from his motor-car, accompanied: by the General Officer Commanding the division. At the close of the inspection the Cardinal took up a suitable position in the lines and addressed the men. (. ‘ You are,’ he said, * giving yourselves as free men, in the full use of your freedom, in the service of your country. It has been no kind of compulsion, but your own sense of duty, that 1 has impelled you to take pains in defence of your country, the Empire, and your King. I have been asked more than; once to make some sort of public appeal to young Catholic men to come forward and enter the Army. I have hesitated to make .such an appeal simply and. solely because, so far as my own information - goes,/ such an appeal . has not been necessary. I . know that 'in England young Catholic men out of all proportion,to our numbers/-in j the community have /come forward /very/nobly, and what I know to be true of .English Catholics . I £believe to be •true of our. ' brethren /in ‘lreland/ .’ The v enemy counted on political dissension to render us impotent. .' ■ r - ’V iisgriiitiiif. «\-t

and no. doubt, some, at Lome< were apprehensive on that account also., But the historical declaration of tie ‘ ;gv;- Irish leader a.: the outbreak of f war swept - away all .> such hopes v on the part of the enemy and apprehen- . . . sions - at home, and you are the living embodiment of - the declaration of that ; ; illustrious leader. Linked as I am by. equal ties of blood to both England and Ireland, you will understand how sincerely and hear- ! tily ' I congratulate , you all.’ Having referred to the _ y excellent reports he had received of the! men’s discip--1 . line; and conduct, "his Eminence concluded: !‘ Be prepared ! Do your, duty as good sons of: Ireland and ~ v; '; the Catholic .Church; and may God be with you and : guard you.’ '!’!',■. ■ ' ! ~!'; - - Catholics, throughout the kingdom will find much : comfort in the fact (says the Universe) that the Cardinal took this opportunity of bearing public testi- : K V mony to the readiness with which all their requests .' for chaplains had been attended to. If they put aside ’, the- first few weeks when the turmoil of the sudden war caused some difficulty’'about having a . sufficient number of chaplains, a* difficulty felt by all religious . ’denominations alike, he was glad .to say publicly that r-. ~ ever since the day, more than a year ago, when he personally approached the Prime Minister, there, had been no reason to make any complaint.

IS THERE A PLOT? ' That question must be asked, in view of Mr. Tennant’s answer to a question regarding the capture of guns by the Loudon Irish during 'the recent advance .on Loos : (says the Catholic Times). At first he said the War Office had no information as to any gun hav.ing .been captured by the London Irish. Pressed by Mr. Redmond to say whether he meant that there was no statement in the official report from the commanders at the front that guns were • captured by the London Irish, and whether there was any reasbn to doubt the statements made as to the capture of the guns and the gallantry of this regiment, Mr. Tennant replied that no authentic information had been received, but that he had no reason to suppose that the .capture of these guns was not made by the London Irish; • lie believed in fact that the guns were taken by ’ the regiment. Then why did he not say so at > first ? And why do the official reports riot contain information reflecting credit on Irish soldiers for glorious deeds, gallantly performed? We do not like to think that a counsel has gone forth from the’War Office to commanders that they should ignore the bravery of Irish Catholic soldiers. • But the instances where such ignoring has taken place have become so numerous that we begin to feel justified in concluding that the War Office has either ordered or at least is pleased with the fact of Catholic soldiers being deprived of the public praise due to them for gallantry on the battlefield. A few "more instances of this sort and Catholics will think they are not welcome in the Army. .