§ MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that in March, 1905, Mr. Henry Persse, of Woodville, county Galway, applied to the authorities in Dublin for police protection; if this application was refused; whether he can state if the application was refused as the result of local inquiries or as the result of reports received from the local police; and if he will publish the Report upon which the Government acted.
§ MR. CHERRYThe Woodville Farm was taken on lease by Mr. Henry Persse, for forty-nine years, from 1st May, 1904. Mr. Persse went to reside on the farm on or about 1st January, 1905. Prior to that date he had applied for a police hut to be erected on the farm for the protection of himself and his property. He was informed that it was not considered necessary to erect a police hut, but that he would be given the fullest measure of protection which the circumstances demanded. Upon his going into residence at Woodville, early in January, three policemen were placed there, and he provided them with the necessary house accommodation. After the alleged attack on the house on 2nd March, 1905, Mr. Persse renewed his application for a police hut on the farm. This request was not complied with, as, in the opinion of the police authorities, the protection which was being afforded at the time was entirely adequate. The reports made by the police in such cases are confidential documents, and it would be entirely contrary to practice to disclose their contents.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDIs it the fact that the lodge was rented by the Government for the purposes of the police?
§ MR. CHERRYI think it was for a, short time.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDHow much was paid?
§ MR. CHERRYI am not quite sure, but I think £2 per month.
§ MR. LONSDALE (Armagh, Mid.)Has Mr. Persse been under police protection since March, 1905?
§ MR. CHERRYYes, Sir.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that in March, 1905, a telegram was received by the authorities in Ireland from Mr. Henry Persse, of Woodville, County Galway, to the effect that an attack had been made upon his house by a band of moonlighters, that several shots had been fired into the house, and that he had returned the fire and pursued the moonlighters; whether a police investigation was held into the matter; and did the authorities, as the result of this investigation, arrive at the conclusion that no such attack had in fact been made, that no shots had been fired at or into the house, and that the whole statement contained in the telegram was untrue.
§ MR. CHERRYAn attack was alleged to have been made on Mr. Persse's house on the night of 2nd March, 1905. The receipt of a telegram on the subject from Mr. Persse cannot be traced, but on 3rd March Mr. Persse wrote to the Under-Secretary stating that men came up to his very door the night before and committed a very daring outrage, and adding that while the intimidation which then reigned in that unfortunate neighbourhood was allowed to run its course there would be no peace or safety for loyal subjects. The newspapers of the time contained reports to the effect that Mr. Persse's house was attacked by a band of moonlighters who fired shots into it. The ordinary investigations were made by the police authorities into the matter, but no special inquiry was held. As a result of these investigations the authorities arrived at the conclusion that a 1767 stone had been thrown through the fanlight of Mr. Persse's hall-door by some person, but there was no evidence to show that more than one person was concerned in the matter. The police on protection duty were at Woodville House at the time of the occurrence, and, so far as they were aware, the only shots fired on the occasion were fired by Mr. Persse himself. The police on hearing the shots at once came to the front of the house, but found no persons there except Mr. Persse himself and one of his servant men. A second servant man was found on the lawn about 100 yards away. A police patrol which was approaching Woodville heard the shots and hastened to the place, but they also saw no strangers about.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDMay I gather from that answer that the inquiries made by the authorities satisfied them that the story published so widely, not only in this country, but through the world, of a moonlight attack on this house was quite unfounded.
§ MR. CHERRYThat appears to be the natural inference.
§ MR. CHARLES CRAIGasked whether it was not a fact that Mr. Persse never informed the authorities that several shots had been fired into the house, but that shots had been fired by him while in pursuit of persons whom he supposed had committed an outrage, and not as they might be led to suppose from the right hon. Gentleman's answer that Mr. Persse himself had fired the shots into the house.
§ MR. CHERRYsaid that he had quoted the words of Mr. Persse's letter, in which he said—"Men came up to my door last night and committed a very daring outrage."
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDasked whether the newspaper account did not appear in the Irish Times, and whether the reporter did not profess to give an interview with Mr. Persse, quoting the words that he was alleged to have used.
§ CAPTAIN J. CRAIGIs it not the fact that Mr. Persse is rigorously boycotted?
§ MR. MOOREIs it not the fact that, as soon as Mr. Persse was communicated with, the Irish Times and the Freeman's Journal, within twenty-four hours, published a revised account setting out—
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order. The right hon. Gentleman is not responsible for what appeared in the newspapers.
§ MR. DEVLIN (Belfast, W.)Will the right hon. Gentleman send a copy of the answer to the Duchess of St. Albans and ask her to have it read at her next drawing-room?
§ MR. DUFFY (Galway, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Woodville Farm, Kilchreest, Loughrea, at present in the possession of Mr. Harry Persse, was let by the landlord, Lord Clanricarde, as an ordinary eleven months' letting for thirty years before Mr. Persse went into possession; did the grazing tenants, in possession, immediately preceding the handing over of the farm to Mr. Persse by Lord Clanricarde, recognise the need of distributing these untenanted lands amongst the small mountain tenants living in the vicinity by vacating the farm in favour of the tenants; and, when the sale of this property comes to be effected, will the Estates Commissioners advance public funds to this gentleman to enable him to defeat the intentions of the Act of 1903.
§ MR. CHERRYI am informed that the Woodville Farm was taken on lease by Mr. Henry Persse for forty-nine years from 1st May, 1904. The farm had been let for grazing during the previous seven or eight years, before which period it had been held on lease. I have no information as to whether the grazing tenants surrendered the grazing, or if they did, what their motive for doing so may have been. As to the concluding part of the Question, the Estates Commissioners inform me that they cannot express any opinion as to what advance, if any, they could make to Mr. Persse for the purchase of the farm in question, until proceedings for sale are instituted before them.
§ MR. DUFFYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether Mr. Henry Persse, of Woodville, County Galway, was prosecuted before Mr. Jasper White, R.M., and Mr. James Geraghty, J.P., at Loughrea petty sessions in the year 1906, and fined £20 for shooting game and carrying a gun without a licence.
§ MR. CHERRYI am informed that on 19th April, 1906, Mr. Henry Persse was prosecuted before the magistrates named in the Question, for killing game without a licence, and was fined £5.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDIs this Mr. Persse a justice of the peace and will the right hon. Gentleman communicate with the Lord Chancellor and ask if he considers it right that a person convicted of poaching and fined £5 should hold the commission of the peace?
§ MR. MOOREIs it not the fact that Mr. Persse was appointed a magistrate on a memorial signed by the hon. Member for Galway, and is not this the only Hot on an otherwise blameless career?
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDWill the right hon. Gentleman answer my Question, and may I further ask if he has sent the Lord Chancellor the Papers concerning the assault for which this gentleman's brother—another J.P.—was convicted?
§ MR. CHERRYIf my hon. friend wishes I will communicate with the Lord Chancellor, but the matter dates so far back as 1906; as to the other question I have no official information.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDBut the official information was communicated to the House.
§ MR. CHERRYIt may have been by my right hon. friend the Chief Secretary.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDWill you Inquire?
§ MR. CHARLES CRAIGAnd will the right hon. Gentleman inquire who signed the memorial?
§ MR. DUFFYAs far as I am concerned, I have nothing to do with Mr. Persse's appointment as a magistrate.
§ *MR. BYLESAm I to understand from these answers that this gentleman punished for shooting game, was allowed to go unpunished for shooting at men who had broken his windows?
§ MR. CHERRYThey are different persons.
§ MR. LONSDALEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland at what date was Mr. Persse placed under special protection by patrols from adjoining police stations; what was the date of the application made by Mr. Persse for protection, which it is alleged was refused; was his application one for the erection of a police hut, the cost of the men employed to be levied off the district; was the refusal to erect a hut advised by the local responsible authorities, who were of opinion that adequate protection could be afforded otherwise, and that the cost of the force could not legally be charged to the district in the circumstance existing at this period; was not Mr. Persse receiving special protection by patrols at the date of the refusal to put up a hut; and at what date were police quartered on his premises for the purpose of giving him constant protection.
§ MR. CHERRYI am informed that Mr. Persse was first afforded protection by police patrols about the beginning of September, 1904, when he resided at Millmount. In the months of October and November, 1904, he made several applications, both by letter and orally, for the erection of a police hut on the Woodville property upon his going to reside there, and suggested that the cost of the police should be charged on the locality. The local police authorities considered that the protection which was being afforded to Mr. Persse was quite adequate, but having regard to his manifest apprehensions it was decided 1771 to quarter police upon his premises at Woodville on condition that he should find house accommodation for them. The application for a police hut was refused, but not upon the ground that the cost of the police could not be legally charged to the district. That question did not enter into consideration at any time. Mr. Persse was receiving protection by patrols at the date of the refusal to erect a hut. When he went into residence at Woodville early in January, 1905, three policemen were quartered at the house. In May of that year the police were moved to the gate lodge, upon Mr. Persse's representation that he needed the rooms then occupied. The police are still quartered at the gate lodge, and the number has been increased to four.