IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 33, 23 August 1923, Page 43

IRISH NEWS

WOODSTOCK HOUSE, INTSTIOGE: QUESTION IN THE LORDS. When Lord Willoughby de Broke recently called the attention of the British Government, in the House of Lords to the damage to the contents of the mansion, "Woodstock," Co. Kilkenny, while occupied by R.I.C. Auxiliaries, and to the amount of compensation offered, Lord Derby said £2OO, much less than the amount demanded had been offered, and that was a generous estimate. The lady owner could appeal to the War Compensation Court if she desired. The Earl of Mayo stated he knew the house very well, adding, "The first lot of Black-and-Tans .sent over to Ireland were, without exception, the greatest blackguards I have ever seen. I consider this a very hard case, indeed." RECENT ORDINATIONS. Most Rev. Dr. Harty, Archbishop of Cashel, ordained the following at the Cathedral, Thurles, on a recent Sunday:— Alphonsus Deegan (Goulburn), Rev. Wm. Hourigan (Maitland), Rev. E. P. MacElligott (Adelaide), Rev. William Ryan (Auckland), Rev. M. J. O'Dwyer (Cashel), Rev. J. J. O'Brien (San Francisco), Rev. J. M. Hickey (Los Angeles), Rev. M. Irish (Sydney), Rev. E. Meagher (San Francisco), Rev. R. Riordan (Los Angeles) The following were ordained to the priesthood on June 10, at the Cathedral, Kilkenny, by Most Rev. Dr. Downey, CM.:— Revs. F. • Meagher (Wileannia-Forbes), M. Brennan (Wellington), J. Downey (Auckland), J. Phelan (Sydney), J. Dillon (Rockhampton), T. McKeon (Christchurch) P. O'Hara (Adelaide). REPUBLICANS AND REORGANISATION. A meeting of members of Sinn Fein was held lately at the Mansion House, Dublin. Dr. K. Lynn, vice-president, presided. The following resolutions were carried unanimously: "That it is the opinion of this meeting of present and former members and officers of the Sinn Fein organisation, the declared object of which is to .secure the recognition of Ireland as an independent Irish Republic, that the reorganisation of Sinn Fein as the national organisation is a national necessity, and, as the Officer Board and Standing Committee have not taken public action, that this meeting nominate an organising committee forthwith to undertake the task. That this meeting calls upon members or former members of Sinn Fein who adhere to its declared Republican object to resume their active support of the organisation throughout Ireland." The following committee of ten, with power to co-opt, was constituted: —Joseph Connolly (chairman), Mrs. Brugha (treasurer), Dr. K. Lynn, Mrs. Ceannt, R. Emmet Whelan, W. K. Cahill, Sean 0 hUadhaigh, Jos. O'Connor, Micael O Foghludha, and Eoin P. O Caoimh (lion, secretary). It is proposed to take offices and get ahead with the work of the organisation with all speed. AN ULSTER INCIDENT. The other week in an Ulster village a Catholic youth, still in his teens, died and was buried. The family were known to be Sinn Fein in sympathy; in fact one of its sons is at present serving a sentence of imprisonment of years' duration. When the funeral cortege reached the chapel gate, it was found that the Craig Government officials had considerately provided a "Crossley," crowded with armed police, to await the arrival of the funeral at the chapel with the view of removing the Sinn Fein tricolor, from the coffin had' it arrived there draped with the Free State flag. • There was no flag, and the Crossley betook itself and its crew to other beneficent and conciliatory activities. Had. the coffin been draped with the Dragon of China or the Oriflamme of Japan, the Crossley men would presumably have not interfered.

And that is how the Craig Oligarchy sets about "conciliating" the Catholics of Ulster and cultivating neighborly relations with the Irish Free State. ■ IRISH PRIMATE ADVISES YOUNG CLERICS. In accordance with his usual custom, Cardinal Logue presided at the annual prize distribution at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, when his Eminence addressed the students and young priests. The Cardinal said that lately the people of Ireland were running wild after visions, dreams, and chimeras, and turning the country upside down in the process. He thought that the young priests and students going into the country ought to be very reserved and be careful not to rush themselves into any of those movements which sometimes were for the welfare of the country, but more .frequently for the very opposite. He thought the students and young priests should take care not to be enticed to form opinions which they were apt to repent of afterwards, and not to permit themselves, by persuasion or flattery, to be drawn into any movement which might turn out to the disadvantage of religion. They would meet wild people throughout the country whose wild ideas they could not help listening to, but he thought it would be wise to practise the old saying, "Let it in at one ear and out at the other," at all events until they had gained experience. Finally, the Cardinal urged on" them the need for the study and practice of commonsense. OX CASHEL'S ROCK: RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE AFTER 300 YEARS. In the course of his recent sermon at the great religious observance on the Rock of Cashel Dean Ryan said:—" "Fifteen hundred years ago St. Patrick gave this Rock to Christ. Christ held it for 1000 years. The foreigner came; he expelled the priests; he desecrated the sanctuary; ho ordered Christ to quit. "My sainted predecessor, Dean Kinane, made an effort to right that ancient wrong. He was ordered out and bid to return no more. Yet here we are to-day—the priests and people of Cashel—with Jesus Christ our' King, raised aloft in glory set upon His ancient throne, receiving on this historic Rock the homage of the thousands and dispensing His blessings upon all. Thanks be to God! Praise be to Jesus! "The beautiful banners that span our streets, the flags that float from every coign of vantage here to-day proclaim the faith, the unquenchable faith of the people, their love and loyalty to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. That guard of honor for our hidden King, clad in green and supplied by our National Army, revives a sacred ceremony of court that has been banner and banished for more than 300 years. The ' red coats ' chased Christ from ' The Rock '; the ' green coats ' guard His triumphal return to-day. Thanks to them ; thanks to the National Army. Symptoms of a New Life. "The demonstrations we are witnessing here to-day are symptoms of a- new life; they show us in small measure the awakening of a nation which, freed from galling restrictions and penal laws, is allowed to give vent to the Catholic faith that is within. God grant that this new life will develop along the lines of Christian principles, and that Christ may be in the future of Irish life, what He was in the past, our Alpha and our Omega, the beginning and the end. And now, if we allow our King upon His throne to speak, what will be His message, what His request to us, to the people of Ireland? Look at the appearances under which he stands before us. The appearance of bread. These appearances bespeak unity. Bread is one uniform substance begotten of the harmonious blending of many ears of corn. So Our Divine Lord, from behind these appearances of bread, says to us: ' Away with your differences; away with strife; away with enmity; away with war. Little children, love one, another; bury the sword turn the gun into a spade; be you one, as the Father and I are one.' May this message of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, enthroned upon this ancient and.historic Rock of Cashel, go out to touch the hearts of all and ' teach them to unite,' to build up a nation, great and grand, wherein Christ may live and reign."