MR. MAC NEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the fact that late on Saturday night, the 19th of May, or early on Sunday morning, the 20th of May, the windows of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Agatha, at Cabra, County Donegal, wore smashed, and that some monuments erected in the burial ground attached to the church were injured, and, in particular, a cross which surmounted one of the monuments was broken into fragments, the monument which was most injured being a memorial erected by Mr. John Gullen, a merchant of the town of Donegal, at a cost of upwards of £100, on the grave of his wife: whether he is aware that the Catholic Church of Cabra has repeatedly been the object of sacrilegious outrages, and that expressions blasphemous to the Catholic faith have been affixed to its doors; and whether any steps will be taken to bring the perpetrators of these outrages to justice?
THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. MORLEY, Newcastle-upon-Tyne)I am informed that five panes of glass were broken late on Saturday night, May 19, in the coach house attached to the Roman Catholic church of St. Agatha, at Cabra, County Donegal; that a monumental stone in the churchyard was injured; that stones were thrown at another monument, but that no injury was done; and that obscene expressions have been written on bills posted on the churchyard walls. These injuries are believed to have been committed by drunken persons, and are not attributed to sectarian bitterness, as all parties in the locality live, I am informed, on amicable terms, and when the church was being built all sects assisted in its erection. The police are using their utmost endeavours to trace the perpetrators of these outrages.