HC Deb 02 May 1881 vol 260 cc1541-2
MR. THORNHILL

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the following statement, which appeared in the London papers of last night, is correct, viz.:— According to information received from Tralee on Tuesday, a party of about sixty men, partly armed and disguised, visited the house of a bailiff named Denehy, in the employment of Mr. Henry Arthur Herbert, of Muckross, at Clydane, near Castle Island, and cut off both his ears. They left after cautioning him not to serve any more writs. No arrests have been made; and, if so, what steps Her Majesty's Government intend to take to put an end to such barbarous outrages?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

The details of this crime have been much exaggerated in the reports, but it is still of a barbarous nature. A party numbering about 10 men entered the house of the bailiff Denehy at half-past 12 o'clock on the night of the 25th ultimo. They searched for writs, but found none. Before leaving they cut off a small piece from his left ear and two pieces out of his right ear, and they made him promise not to servo any more writs. This was a week ago. No arrests have been made; but I have given stringent instructions to the police to use every effort to discover the perpetrators of these atrocities.

MR. LEWIS

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he has inquired into the circumstances connected with the murder, on the night of Sunday the 24th April, near Clifden in Connemara, of John Lydon, and of the attempted assassination of his son, after both the victims were taken from bed, in the middle of the night; whether it was not proved at the inquest that the father and son were seized by six men, taken outside of their cabin, thrown on the ground, and then shot when in that position; whether the crime was not of an agrarian character; whether the son, who survived, did not identify a man named Patrick Walshe as one of the murderers, and, notwithstanding the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against some persons unknown; and, whether, under an ordinary trial by jury in the West of Ireland, there is any prospect of a conviction being obtained again in a plainly proved case?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

I have inquired very strictly into this case, and I have seen several official reports in reference to it. The facts of the murder are substantially correct as set forth in the hon. Gentleman's Question. The crime was of an agrarian character. Notwithstanding the fact that the son who survived identified one of the persons who took part in the crime, the Coroner's Jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.

MR. HEALY

asked the right hon. Gentleman, Whether he would state to the House the reasons he had for alleging that the crime was of an agrarian character?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

I cannot imagine any person acquainted with the facts of the case not being convinced that it was of an agrarian character.

MR. LEWIS

said, the right hon. Gentleman had not answered the last part of his Question.

MR. W. E. FORSTER

said, the hon. Gentleman asked him whether in an ordinary trial by jury in the West of Ireland there was any prospect of a conviction being obtained in a clearly proved case. In a great many plainly proved cases a conviction was just as likely to be obtained in the West of Ireland as anywhere else. With regard to agrarian cases, the hon. Gentleman was as able as himself to form an opinion of the likelihood of obtaining a conviction in the West of Ireland.