§ MR. O'SULLIVANasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it was true that the letter of a prisoner named William Manahan (which he wrote to a solicitor) was stopped by the Governor of the County Limerick Prison, because it complained of the filthy state of a cell into which he (Manahan) was put the previous evening; if it is true that three of Manahan's letters were sent to different persons than those to whom he directed them; and, why it was that the letter which Manahan wrote to me on the 7th inst. (directed to this House) was not posted in Limerick until the 12th inst.?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON) (for Mr. W. E. FORSTER)A letter from Manahan to his cousin, a solicitor's clerk, was stopped by the Governor, being considered subversive of the discipline of the prison, inasmuch as it contained allegations respecting the sanitary condition of the prison, which, having been fully investigated in Manahan's presence by the Inspector under the Prisons Board, proved to be absolutely unfounded. It is the case, I understand, that three of Manahan's letters were sent to persons different from those to whom the envelopes were directed; but as each letter was separately inspected and replaced at once in its own envelope, they must have been inadvertently misplaced in the first instance by Manahan himself. I regret that the inspection of the letter of the 7th instant occasioned so much delay in its transmission to the hon. Member.