§ *MR. T. W. RUSSELL (Tyrone, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he 1422 is aware that at the O'Dorney (County Kerry) Presentment Sessions a claim for malicious injury was made by the Rev. Augustine Dillon for £500, on account of the burning of a schoolhouse; that the evidence showed that the books, maps, &c, had all been collected in a heap and fired; and that, on a man being remonstrated with, he declared that they had paid for the school and could do what they liked with it; and if the police have any clue to the perpetrators of this outrage?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. MORLEY,) Newcastle-upon-TyneThe National schoolhouse at Knockracrohy, County Kerry, which is under Roman Catholic management, was maliciously burnt down on December 22 last. The amount originally claimed as compensation by the manager, the Rev. Mr. Dillon, was £500; but as it subsequently appeared that the damage done to the building was less serious than at first believed, the rev. gentleman at Presentment Sessions, held on the 4th instant, fixed the value of the damage at £275, which sum was awarded. The facts adduced in evidence at these Sessions are correctly stated in the question. I understand that at a religious service held by the Rev. Mr. Dillon after the commission of the outrage he denounced the burning of the school in vigorous language, when some person present remarked that "the people had built the schoolhouse; it was their own to do as they liked with." This incident was mentioned by Mr. Dillon at the Presentment Sessions. No person has yet been made amenable for the outrage, though the police have a very strong suspicion as to the perpetrators.
§ *MR. T. W. RUSSELLI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that six cows belonging to Mr. McMahon, of Castle Farm, County Kerry, were recently mutilated; and whether he is also aware that the farm held by Mr. McMahon is the same as that occupied by the Curtin family previous to the murder of Mr. Curtin some years ago; and if, in view of the serious state of the Counties of Clare, Kerry, and Limerick, he is prepared to take any exceptional steps for the protection of life and property in those counties?
§ MR. J. MORLEYIt is a fact that three cows, the property of Mr. McMahon, were maliciously cut on the night of the 8th instant; but the cuts were merely skin deep, and the cattle will not, I understand, suffer permanent injury. The farm which McMahon holds is the same as that held by the late Mr. Curtin. This outrage, however, has nothing whatever to do with his connection with the farm, nor is there any agrarian element in the case. Excepting in two bad areas, I should regard the state of the Counties of Clare, Kerry, and Limerick as not any more serious, but as less serious, at the present moment, than it was when the present Government acceded to Office, and the only steps I propose to take are to continue those I have already taken —namely, to rely on the vigilance of the police, which has been attended by a decline of agrarian crime in two out of three of the counties mentioned.
§ *MR. T. W. RUSSELLIs it not the case that when the present Government acceded to Office Limerick had an absolutely clean bill of health, and have there not been more moonlighting outrages since then than in any previous period of the same extent?
§ MR. W. REDMOND (Clare, E.)Certainly not.
§ MR. T. W. RUSSELLI have the figures here.
§ MR. J. MORLEYI have not the figures with me. But the hon. Member has given notice that he will move for an inquiry into this matter, with penal results to myself. I am quite prepared, when that Motion comes on, to discuss the matter with him.
§ MR. SEXTON (Kerry, N.)As the right hon. Gentleman has stated that there are only two limited areas exceptionally affected, may I ask him whether those two bad areas affect the three counties, Limerick, Clare, and Kerry?
§ MR. J. MORLEYOne of the areas is defined by a radius of 10 miles round Ennis. The other area is on the other side of the Shannon, and does affect the throe counties, Kerry, Limerick, and Clare.
§ MR. MACARTNEY (Antrim, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in how many cases orders were made under the change of venue and special juries' clauses of 1424 "The Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act, 1889," in cases of crimes committed in the Counties of Clare, Limerick, and Kerry, from the passing of the Act down to the 22nd August, 1892; how many of the said cases proceeded to trial; and in how many of them convictions were obtained?
§ MR. J. MORLEYIn County Clare the total number of cases in which orders for change of venue and special juries were made in the period mentioned was 30. These cases, which all proceeded to trial, affected 69 accused persons, of whom 32 were convicted. In County Kerry the total number of cases in which orders for change of venue and special juries were made in the period mentioned was 44. These cases, which all proceeded to trial, affected 87 accused persons, of whom 46 were convicted. In the County and City of Limerick the total number of cases in which orders for change of venue and special juries were made in the period mentioned was 41. These cases, which all proceeded to trial, affected 65 accused persons, of whom 28 were convicted.