§ 40. Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary of State for War if he is now in a position to state the number of funerals from Dublin to Glasnevin after the suppression 1518 of the insurrection which even the nearest relatives were not allowed to accompany, with the official reason for this prevention, and the number of coffins burst open on the way by the military and police; whether anything was found in any of the coffins to justify this desecration; in view of the Irish feeling that the dead should be inviolable, who ordered it; whether the remains of Messrs. Sheehy Skeffington, Dickson, and M'Intyre, when being stealthily conveyed by the military, were similarly stopped and examined; whether they were in separate coffins; in what condition were the remains of those summarily executed at Richmond Barracks conveyed to Glasnevin; whether they also were stopped on the way and examined; and by whose order was no priest allowed to attend them before execution?
§ Mr. FORSTERI am unable to state the number of funerals. Dublin was full of armed rebels, and it was necessary to try to prevent them or their arms leaving. A cordon was established and police officers attached to the pickets to pass innocent people through. Passes were issued to such people, and all supplied with passes allowed through. Funeral parties without passes were allowed to pass one relative and the driver only. No coffins were opened by military or police except one, which was empty. The fourth and fifth parts of the question do not therefore arise. Messrs. Sheehy Skeffington, Dickson, and M'Intyre were buried by their relatives and every facility given to them. The answer to the seventh part of the question is in the affirmative. There were no executions, summary or other, at Richmond Barracks.