IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, 31 January 1918, Page 35

IRISH NEWS

Rev. P. O'Flynn, chaplain with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, has been on leave at his home in Derry. 5 Father O'Flynn, ! after ordination , three years ago, went to New Zealand. i; His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, has given £IOOO. towards the renovation of Moone church, County Kildare... The sum of £BOO has been contributed by Moone and Castledermot, £7OO being the Moone proportion. There was recently buried in Kilgarvin Cemetery, Ballina, a man named John Kelly, who had reached the age of 104. His three sons, his daughter, and his son-in-law have been in receipt of the old age pension since the passing of the Act. The late Mr. J. A. Daly, D.L., retired colonel, Athenry, uncle of the Earl of Westmeath, left £21,190, and bequeathed £SOO for the building of a church at Furbough, £2OO for Masses, and £l5O to provide seats in the parish church of Kiltullagh. London Boroughs freely elect Catholic Irishmen to their Councils, and not infrequently to the utmost dignity in their giftthe Mayoralty. Stepney is the latest London borough to elect an Irish Mayor in the person of Dr. Jerome Reidy, J.P., one of the best known Irish doctors in London's East End. The London Gazette announces the removal from the Army of Colonel Monteagle-Browne, "his Majesty having no further occasion for his services as an officer." One of the retired warrior's little peculiarities was his unfriendly attitude towards Catholic military chaplains and his attempt to restrict them in the usual opportunities of discharging their duties. While engaged putting down a new floor in his kitchen, Mr. W. Williamson, Coagh, Dungannon, discovered a crucifix, bearing the date 1734, embedded in the clay. It would appear to have been carved out of a solid block of oak, and is in a perfect state of preservation, save that the right arm of the cross is somewhat decayed. The figure of Christ is beautifully executed. sß* With much pleasure the news has been heard in Rome that the Irish Province of the Order of Calced Carmelites has so far overcome difficulties in the way of its having a foundation of its own in Rome that the projected novitiate for its Hibernian aspirants to the priesthood will soon be opened. As already stated (writes a correspondent) the Church of SS. Celso and Giuliano has been chosen for the Irish novitiate. Mr. T. P. O'Connor in a recent speech at Chicago said that of all the tragic blunders and lost opportunities of England in Ireland, that in the matter of recruiting after the outbreak of the war was-the worst. The War Office allowed itself to be controlled by the same Orangemen who led the mutiny in the Curragh Camp. After the Sinn Fein insurrection the General responsible for the executions transformed a whole nation in a single night from friendship to hatred. Mr. De Valera, M.P., addressing a Sinn Fein gathering in Mohill, Leitrim, recently, said there were half a million men in Ireland who would fight for the freedom of small nationalities as soon as it was specified that Ireland was to be one of : the small nationalities set free. : Efforts had been made, he said, to put Sinn Fein in antagonism to ; the^Church, to make it appear that their movement was one of Anarchists and Nihilists. English Catholics in Rome at the time of the rising tried to misrepresent them at the Vatican, but thank God they had Irishmen there who put the • case as it was. =■■;■.,;," &siaa^m^ssa^sxkt^m pj% Archbishop Walsh, in a letter to the Dublin papers, enters a plea for the rearrangement of Parliamentary j representation of the Irish t Universities, the forthcoming redistribution giving suitable opportunity. His Grace ; points out that Trinity College has two members, while ; the National University, with its--i three constituent

Colleges of Dublin, Cork, and Galway, and } further, the Queen's University in Belfast, are without representation. His Grace does not demand that Trinity College should a be ? disfranchised, but he 55 thinks the present state of : matters is little short of ■ a public■ scandal, and "maintains ■ to - the present; day \ a glaring "t inequality which surely no statesman will venture to defend." The proclaimed Sinn Fein Waterford meeting was held recently in a drenching downpour at Ballynoesha, three miles from . the' city s boundary. ' Local. supporters outwitted the .authorities ; by proceeding to the venue by different converging routes. ,>: Six hundred Irish Volunteers mobilised outside the city, - and marched to the meeting place, many, carrying,, hurleys. V c Cordons of police and ; military with fixed . bayonets and some machine guns were posted at various! points' in the , city; Only ten policemen 4 were at the meeting. In his speech, Mr. De Valera said the Sinn Fein aim was , to, make Ireland . free _ and independent. Physical force was Ireland's real protection. J; The Volunteers were Ireland's army, and the first thing they wanted was arms.,. Mr. Griffith said the only terms Ireland would have "with England were that the English should clear entirely out of the country. ,'. ; ..'.' 'YI.. -J, ':^~i'..'.'■-■ '"'*.% The Irish Redistribution ■ Commissioners have already decided on some drastic changes in Irish representation. They propose that Belfast should have nine members of Parliament instead of four as at present; that County Down should have five (an addition of one); that Tyrone • should. have three members (it has four just now); County Galway, four; County Kilkenny, two; and County Waterford, two. •.<. m The boroughs of Newry, Galway, Kilkenny, and Waterford (for which last-named Mr. Redmond sits) are to be merged in county constituencies. The Counties of Longford, Louth, Westmeath, King's County, Queen's County, and Leitrim are to lose one member each. g Preaching in the Jesuit Church, Farm Street, London, recently, Rev. Bernard Vaughan paid a glowing tribute to the steadfastness of the faith of the Irish people. Amongst the Catholic Irish there was no high church, low church, broad church, or no church. Like St. Patrick, their glorious patriarch, the Irish nation were devoted to the Cross of Christ^ On the other hand, while his own fellow-countrymen were much given to talking about "The Cross of the Mount " they usually compromised with it. They had a habit of leaving the Cross on the Mount and never brought it down to the city. He knew that in connection with recent political events the Irish members of his congregation were, perhaps, ■ filled with bitter thoughts. But he would counsel them to have patience and not cry out against England. If the four north-eastern counties of Ireland had ■ been Catholic instead of Protestant, and the. 28 other counties had been Protestant instead* of Catholic, he supposed a solution of the political problem would have been found before now ' But a solution would be worked out before long, and all the peoples of -the earth would rejoice when the autonomy and integrity of the Irish nation would be fulfilled. \;'■ -'■-■-, u..£ ,-. z. ~ $