HC Deb 05 May 1881 vol 260 cc1820-1
VISCOUNT FOLKESTONE

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is the fact, as stated in several newspapers— That the house of a bailiff in Galway named King was visited on Friday night by a party of ruffians with their faces blackened, who assaulted him brutally, and held him over a fire, threatening to roast him alive, and inflicting such injuries that his life is in danger; That at Deergrove, near Castlebar, county Mayo, a band of twelve men, wearing masks, attacked the house of a herd, terrified the occupants by threats, and fired shots through the windows. They warned the herd that if he did not comply with the regulations of the Land League, and have nothing to do with grass land, they would take his life; And that a bailiff named Murphy, who was serving summonses at Cleanglass, near Newcastle West, a few evenings ago, was met by a number of men, who assaulted him with savage violence. Having beaten him unmercifully with his own blackthorn stick, they took all the summonses from him, and all the money he had about him, and then threw him into a deep pond, in which he narrowly escaped drowning. He managed to creep out of it and took refuge in an empty pigsty, where he was discovered next morning; and, if so, whether there appears any likelihood of the perpetrators of these outrages being brought to justice?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

Sir, in reference to the first case alluded to, I am glad to be able to state that there is no reason to believe that any such outrage took place. No information has reached the Constabulary of any outrage being committed at the time and place mentioned, and there is no baliff of the name in Galway. With regard to the second case, information on the subject is expected, but has not yet been received. With regard to the third case, I am sorry to say that an outrage was committed on Murphy, who has identified a number of persons as those who assaulted him, and there is good reason to believe that those who committed the outrage will be brought to justice.

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR

said, with regard to the first case, that he had received a letter from the clergyman of the district saying that the alleged roasting was a malicious invention.