The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-04-23 00:00:00

POOR
deem it right '
• oursel

THE STATE OF IRELAND.
AN IRISH MAGISTRATE SHOT.

A determined attempt was made on Saturday night
to murder Mr. Jeremiah Hegarthy, a Magistrate, of
Millstreet. A good deal of attention has recently
been called to the appointment of Mr. Hegarthy to
the magistracy, and the unpopularity which he awned
in fighting against the Land League and the National
League has been materially increased by this mark
of favour to him by the authorities. For the past
seven years Mr. Hegarthy has lived in defiance of the
hostile spirit manif6sted toivards him, and has not
been slow to assert his indifference as to the threats
made against him. Though the police protection has
been placed at his disposal, he has always refused to
avail himself of it. He was in Cork on Satur-
day on business, and was present at the meetings
of the Cork Agricultural Society and the Cork Defence
Union. He returned to Millstreet by the train leav-
ing Cork at 6.15 p.m., reaching his station about half-
past eight or nine o'clock. He was met by his son
and a servant, who had a dogcart at the station for
his conveyance home. Mr. Hegarty took his
place in it, sitting in front of the trap along
side his son. Immediately after leaving the
railway station, and within a hundred yards of
it, a shot was fired at Mr. Hegarty. He was struck on
the right aide of the head and neck, but does not seem
to have sustained any serious injury. Mr. Hegarty
continued his journey homewards, and nearly an hour
elapsed before the police knew what occurred. The
shot came from behind a high fence, and the as-
sailants had plenty of time for escape. Five pellets
have been extracted from Mr. Hegarty's shoulder and
neck, and beyond the lose of blood he is not materially
injured.

RESIGNATIONS IN THE CONSTABULARY.

Several constables of the Royal Irish Constabulary
tendered their resignation on Monday, with the fol-
lowing letter to the Inspector-General. Other resig-
nations, it is said, are expected to follow :
"We, the undersigned members of the Royal Irish
Constabulary, find ourselves compelled to tender you
our resignation and to sever our connection with the
force. For the years that we have been in the force
we carried out faithfully the very irksome and odious
duties which our position and discipline imposed on
us, even though frequently we were thus brought into
collision with the people, and felt that we were made
the instruments of inflicting upon them grievous
wrong. Our own bitter experience in early life could
leave us in no doubt as to the burning grievances
under which the farming classes in this country
suffer, and we feel certain that you will readily recog-
nise we speak the feeling of a large body in the police
force when we say that it was by no small effort we
succeeded, in obedience to our oath and our duty, in
repressing the feelings with which we found ourselves
obliged to look on, and even assist in, evictions we well
knew to be cruel and unjust. Our position, unplea-
sant and hateful as it has been in the past, would, we
feel, be rendered unendurable by the proposals of the
new Coercion Bill, which would make us the instru-
ments ee ntirely suppressing the liberties of our
"men and our priests.—(Sie.--ed) Wm.
7i years' ser Denis
-440- - , ?anon,
Jnbtable,
-onstable,
Eiervice ; Edward Coghlan, constable, five year
service; Manus Friel, constable, three years' service.
A Dublin correspondent adds that the notices of
resignation were intended to expire on Friday, but
that the men were discharged on Monday evening by
telegram from the Inspector-General.