The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-09-03 00:00:00

THE HERBERTSTOWN EVICTIONS.

VIOLENT SCENES.

A Limerick correspondent writes: The long-
expected evictions on the estate of the O'Grady, in
the vicinity of Herbertstown, county Limerick, were
commenced on Tuesday. For some days it had been
rumoured that the strained relations between the
O'Grady and his tenants were about to culminate in
the ejection of certain of the tenants on the estate
who had refused to come to terms with the land-
lord, and, although these tenants were only six
in number, there were the most elaborate prepara- •
tions made for the reception of the bailiffs by the
tenants of the farms in question and their friends.
Much interest had been centered in the present evic-
tion, because of the fact that the tenants who had
failed to come to an arrangement with the landlord
had lodged their rents under the Plan of Campaign,
and all the subsequent negotiations had failed
to bring about a compromise of the dispute.
A company of 70 men of the Second Battalion of the
Leinster Regiment from Limerick had been despatched
to the estate of the O'Grady at Kilballyowen, where
they went under canvas together with 130 of the
Royal Irish Constabulary, drafted from various parts
of the country. The whole force was under the com-
mand of Captain Plunkett, rysident magistrate of the
county. They proceeded on Tuesday morning from
their encampment at Kilballyowen, and marched in
field order, accompanied by Mr. F. Hobson, the sub-
sheriff of the county, Mr. Beauchamp, solicitor to The
O'Grady, and a number of emergency men with
ladders, crowbars, and other implements. An ambu-
lance waggon accompanied the military detachment
and bearer party, the wbole force being equipped as
if for active service. The O'Grady went with the
force, as also did several local resident magistrates,
including Major Rollestone and Mr. Cosgrove. A
large crowd of people soon gathered as the troops
and police approached the first farm of the six. This '
was a holding belonging to John Carroll, a non-
resident tenant, holding 87 acres at a rent of 30s. per
acre. After the abatement of 20 per cent. offered by
O'Grady the lands were cleared by the police and two
sub-tenants of Carroll's, who submitted to eviction
were evicted without any trouble and re-admitted as
caretakers. The only incident of the day of interest
was at the house of the next tenant, Mrs. Honora
Crimmins, who held 35 acres at a rent, after a reduc-
tion, of 365. 6d. per acre. The homestead was situated
on an open space, surrounded by level fields, which
afforded vantage ground for a large number of the
country people who assembled to witness the scene.
The soldiers were formed in a cordon round the
house, and the police made a larger circle outside
them, to keep back the crowds who had flocked to
the spot. No person not being a bailiff or police-
man was allowed to pass within the military cordon.
The representatives ,of the press and the local
members of Parliament were not allowed to approach
within a reasonable distance of the house. The
spectators also included several Englishmen who
had been attracted to the spot by the rumours of
active resistance. The doors and windows of the
house were blocked with various kinds of obstacles,
trees, .and stones, so the bailiff's assistants set to work
at the back with crowbars. They broke through the
mud of the wall, and the first hole made was a signal
for a volley of hot water being thrown through the
aperture, by which a policeman was scalded. Some
of the Emergency men then mounted the roof, and
one more venturesome than the rest, after pulling
away the thatch, thrust his foot through, when
it was seized by those within, who vtry nearly
dragged him down before be was rescued by
his companions. After a severe conflict at the
mud . wall and roof, the defenders of the place
were. overcome, and the police entering, made them
prisoners. There were nine persons inside—namely,
llonora Crimmins (the tenant), her two daughters
Johanna and Mary, and Dennis Molloy and his son,
Edmund Molloy, William Omeara, Thomas Dooley,
Richard O'Donnell, and Michael O'Toole, secretary of
the Grange Branch of the National League, all of
whom were secured, and, with the exception of the
women, were handcuffed in pairs. O'Toole, as he
emerged from the house, called out, amid the cheers
of the crowd, the words of the popular song, "God
save Ireland, said the martyrs," and when the party
were marched off, escorted by the double file of police,
the cheers of the crowd %ere renewed. This was fol-
lowed by a complaint on the part of the police in one
portion of the field that the people had been throwing
stones. One of the resident magistrates replied,
"Haven't you a batoning party ? " "Yes, sir;
we have," was the reply. " Well, give it
them like the devil.' This order was heard by
several persona. Its result was that about 40 of
the police chased the by,tanders from the field with
their truncheons and knocked down and kicked
several youths and boys, while an old man named
O'Donnell was struck on the back of the skull with a
baton, and a contused wound inflicted, from which he
hied profusely on the roadside for a considerable
time. Several other men also were severely beaten,
and it is denied on their part that any offence was
used except the cheering of the prisoners. Just as
the prisoners were being marched off, Mr. Meehan,
of Holy Cross, Eilmallock, a private farmer and land-
owner, approached Captain Plunkett and asked him
if he would accept bail for the prisoners from him-
seif and Dr. Clery, of Hospital. "No, sir," replied
Captain Plunkett; "it cannot be done." The
prisoners were accordingly taken off to the next
farm, the police halting periodically to make
sudden charges on the crowd wbich followed.
A widow, Mrs. Denis Ryan, was the next person
evicted, and there was little resistance; but there was
another exhibition of police prowess while it was going
on. The people pressed round, and this demonsti a-
tion led to another order to charge being given, in
which two of the English visitors, both gentlemen
from Oldham, and Mr. Condon, M.P., were struck by
the police. At the end of the eviction a meeting was
held, at which Mr. Condon spoke and denounced the
conduct of the police, and he referred • o the fact of
the presence of the English visitors as an evidence of
the sympathy of the English democracy with the cause
represented by those who defended the tenants' inte-
rests. The evictions were to be continued on Wednes-
day, when Mr. Wm. O'Brien was expected to be pre-
sent.