§ MR. SMITH-BARRY (Hunts, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the house of a widow near Currans, County Kerry, was attacked by armed and disguised moonlighters on the loth ultimo, and several shots fired into the house; that the house of a farmer named Flynn, also near Currans, County Kerry, was attacked on the night of the 14th instant by armed and disguised moonlighters, and several shots fired into the house; and that on the night of the loth instant six cows, the property of Mr. McMahon, a farmer, of Castle Farm, near Currans, County Kerry (the place at which Curtin was murdered in 1886), were brutally stabbed and mutilated; whether any persons have been made amenable for these offences; and whether, having regard to the serious crime in the locality, any special steps will be taken to assist the law?
MR. J. MORLEYI am informed that the house of Mrs. Cronin, of Cragg, near Currans, was entered by an armed party of four or five men on the night of April 15, and that a revolver was pointed at her by one of the party; but no shot, was fired. Two arrests have been made in connection with this outrage, and the men so arrested are under remand in custody and will come up for trial at the next Quarter Sessions. The house of James Flyun, near Currans, was fired into on the night of the 13th instant by a party of three men, one of whom was armed, but none were disguised. Flynn 1533 has fully identified two of the party, both of whom have been arrested and remanded. The motive in this case possesses no agrarian element. With regard to the outrage on the cattle of Mr. McMahon, I pointed out, in reply to a question addressed to me yesterday by the hon. Member for South Tyrone, that three cows, not six, had been maliciously out on the 8th instant, and that the cuts were merely skin deep. No person has been made amenable for this last-mentioned offence, which is not agrarian in origin. It will thus be observed that of the throe outrages referred to in the question arrests have been made by the police in connection with two cases, and these the more serious. It is quite true that there has been an increase of moonlighting outrages within the area defined by me yesterday as comprehending small portions of Kerry, Limerick, and Cork. The authorities report that there is no cause for anxiety.
§ MR. MACARTNEY (Antrim, S.)May I ask whether the accused men will be tried within the disturbed area?
§ MR. SEXTON (Kerry, N.)What is the proportion of the disturbed area to that of the three counties within which it lays?
MR. J. MORLEYOf Kerry about one-fifth; of Cork much loss—probably one-eighth; and of Limerick about one-fifth.