§ CAPTAIN CRAIG (Down, E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can give the House full particulars of the attack by a Roman Catholic mob on the funeral procession when Mr. Enright's body was being conveyed to the Protestant burial ground in Castleconnell, County Limerick; can he say if the body was interred without any funeral service; have any arrests been made in connection with the case; and, if so, what sentences have been passed.
§ MR. LUNDON (Limerick, E.)Before the right hon. Gentleman replies may I ask him whether Mr. Enright died a Roman Catholic; whether a Roman Catholic clergyman attended him, and whether he died according to the rites of the Catholic Church?
§ MR. CHARLES CRAIG (Antrim, S.)Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this gentleman was a member of the Church of Ireland for his whole life, that he was a member of the elected vestry of his church, and tint he was an earnest and hard worker in his church for the last forty or fifty years?
§ MR. BIRRELLI am informed that there was no mob, Catholic or Protestant, on this occasion. Police were present, but as there was no breach of the peace there was no occasion for any arrests. Mr. Enright is believed to have been admitted into the Catholic Church shortly before he died, and, owing to this general belief, the coffin was taken straight to the grave instead of to the church, where the Protestant rector was waiting to read the service. It is understood that the service was read in the Church. With regard to the supplementary Questions, I really deprecate them. It is no doubt a fact that this gentleman, who was the child of a mixed marriage, was a Protestant during the greater part of his life. His father who was a Protestant died, and he lived with his mother who was a Roman Catholic. It is undoubtedly a fact that during the last days of his life he wished to join the Catholic Church. He did so and he died in that faith.
§ CAPTAIN CRAIGWas the body interred without any burial service, and if this man died a Roman Catholic, was the service read by a Roman Catholic clergyman?
§ MR. BIRRELLI understand that no Catholic priest was present on the occasion. The service was read in the Protestant church.
§ MR. CHARLES CRAIGWhen the right hon. Gentleman says that in his latter days this gentleman turned Roman Catholic, does he mean that he did so within a few hours or a few weeks of his 550 death. It is very important. [Cries of "Oh."]
§ * MR. SPEAKERI think we might leave this poor gentleman alone now.