§ MR. O'DOWD (Sligo, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the tenantry on the Keogh estate, situate in Geevagh parish, county Sligo, have repeatedly appealed to the landlord, who resides in Dublin, to enter into an agreement with them for the purchase of their holdings, which appeals he has refused to entertain; and that many of these tenants or their predecessors have been evicted from holdings on the same estate, all of which have been consolidated into a grazing ranche which the landlord lets on the eleven months' system; and whether, as these tenants occupy uneconomic holdings which are rackrented, the Estates Commissioners will be instructed to negotiate with Mr. Keogh for the purchase of this estate.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners cannot trace any proceedings in regard to this estate as having been instituted before them, and they have no knowledge of the facts alleged in the Question. If the name and address of the owner should be communicated to them, they would make inquiries into the matter.