§ MR. WHALLEYsaid, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether it is the fact that the Reverend Mr. Maginn, Roman Catholic Priest of Glenbegh, refused to be sworn as a witness on the inquiry relative to the affray in which Police Constable Duggan was shot, stating as the ground for such refusal that when he met the Fenians in Glenbegh he was acting as a Priest, and that he did not know any of the parties as he put a handkerchief over his eyes, the said Mr. Maginn being the person referred to by the Chief Secretary for Ireland on the 18th February as having acted boldly and loyally; and, further, that the Roman Catholic Bishop Moriarty, also referred to by the Chief Secretary as having "cursed" the Fenians, has expressed his entire approval of the conduct of the said Mr. Maginn in so refusing to be sworn; and, whether any further steps have been taken or are intended to be taken to obtain the evidence of the said Mr. Maginn?
LORD NAAS, in reply, said, he was not aware that any particular inquiry had been instituted into the occurrence to which the hon. Gentleman referred. If, as was implied by the form of notice which he had given the day before, Sub-constable Duggan had died, then, of course, an inquiry would take place; but as, he was happy to say, Duggan was now recovering, no coroner's inquest on his body had been held. No official information had reached the Government of any such occurrence as that indicated in the Question.
§ MR. WHALLEYDid the noble Lord mean to say that there had been no inquiry made with respect to the affray in which Duggan had been shot?
LORD NAASThere has been no particular inquiry; but informations have, of course, been taken in the case.