§ CAPTAIN M'CALMONT (Antrim, E.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, in the case of the murder of the process server, Patrick Finlay, in Woodford, county Galway, it was a fact that his widow, while returning through the town after having seen the murdered body of her husband, was received with laughter, jeering, and hooting, and if the foul crime caused general satisfaction, and also if the body had been refused burial in consecrated ground, and a coffin could not be obtained within a distance of twelve miles, and who had carried out his burial; whether also the authorities had considered it necessary to place a guard over Mrs. Finlay's house, and if they considered her life in danger, and would render protection to her and any other boycotted persons in Woodford and its neighbourhood; and, whether also, by the murder of her husband, Mrs. Finlay has been deprived of her sole means of existence?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY) (Newcastle-on-Tyne)As this Question appears without Notice I have not been able to ascertain the facts with respect to all the points mentioned in it. From a police report which reached me this morning, however, I learned that a coffin had to be procured from a distance and brought under police escort; that as no one could be got to bury the deceased it had to be done by the police; and that the state of public feeling in Woodford is extremely bad.