The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-02-15 00:00:00

AN IMPORTANT CAPTURE OF
FENIANS.

The most important arrest in connection with Fenianism
since those which followed the rising in March last, was that
effected in Cork on Friday night in last week. The police
have at length got hold of the redoulitalalo Captain Mackay,
the leader of the disaffected in this quarter, and the prime
mover in all the alarming exploits they have lately under-
taken. His capture was rather cleverly accomplished. For
several months put she police hail reason to believe that
Mackay—who is an Irish-American--wan in the south re-
organizing the scattered circlet which had almost given up
in despair the hope of making another rising Mackay is des-
cribed as a man of extraordinary energy, mental ant physical,
as well as of great daring: and his presence awl personal
inflows, e was, it is said, producing a marked effect amongst
his party here, whom he ha I succeeded to a great extent in
rallying and rcinspecting. The police were most &nasals
for his capture, regarding him as one of the most I. ratifi-
able opponents with whom they bad to deal: but until
very lately they had not even a clue to the locality in which
he was to be found: so rapid were his movements, and so
puzzling and contradictory the intelligence received in re
gard to them, that he seemed to be übiquitous. The man
was as skilful as lie was bold, and for a long time he sue.
ceeded in completely baffling the authorities. It sums to
have been part of his plan to conduct a seder; of small raids
In the neighbourhood of the city, for the pui p ise of creatinft
panic, and giving confidence to Ids folio. era I,y what seemed
to be so many triumphs over the police, and a this he was
exceedingly fortunate. From what is known there is very
little doubt that he directed, if he did not actually conduct,
the surprise of the Martell° Tower at Feisty, where the
leader, it will be remembered, was described as an Irish-
American. who gave the name of Captain Mack, and whose
appearance, as described by the inmates of the tower, t tilted
pretty closely with that of the captive. The visitation and
plunder of Aliport's shop wan also attributed to the enter-
prising rebel, and he is supposed to have been the Yankee
officer whom calmly chaffed Mr. Allport while the revolvers
were taken away.
It was only within the past fortnight the police had cer-
tain information of Nlackay's presence in Cork. 'I hey then
learned that let the past two years Cork hail teen his head-
quarters, from which he made pert. Meal visits to the autoua
other localities in the south in which branches of the or-
ganization were. On receipt of this ihtelligenc searches
were made in different parts of the city where It was ex-
pected he, or some trace of his presence, would he found,
but without effect. It may be mentioned that when this
search was made Mackay hail only just returned from
Macroom, whither he had gone to organize the most daring
feat he hail yet attempted, by which he hoped to make a
profound impression on the public mind. This was the
seizure of Macroom Castle, which is the headquarters of
the West Cork Artillery Militia, as well as the residence of
Colonel White Hedges, and the Fenians supposed that it con-
tained the arms of the regiment. Mackay's design, It is
said, was to collect a party of fifty men armed with revolvers
to surprise the castle, overpower the militia staff, and select
and carry off as many of the arms as he could, ilo managed
to collect his men fir the purpose, hut at the but moment
they quarrelled, and the enterprise was abandoned. Mackay,
disgusted with their cowardice, walked hack to Cork the
name night, the distance being about twenty-four miles.
On Friday morning the police at length got certain and
definite information as to where he wail to I e found, and
arrangements for his capture were made on a very extensive
and complete scale. Knowing their man, the police deter-
mined to spread a net through which he would have little
chance of escape. The plan of operations wan kept secret
until a late hour of the evening, when instructions were
iuued for several par lea of men from the city stations—
numbering in all upwards of a hundred —to take up po-
sitions at the further extremity of every avenue leading from
Muket-street, so that it would he impossible for any one to
leave it unobserved. The street communicates by several
narrow lanes with the North Main-street on one stile, and
with the quays and a quarter inhabited by very poor people
on the other. At the end, near Patrick atrcar, it !onus a
narrow neck easily guarded, anti at the other extremity the
bridewell commands the approaches. Every one of these
points was closely guarded. Most of the policemen em-
ployed were fully armed—a rescue being apprehended—and
with them were a large number of detectives. At nine
o'clock. when the cordon had been drawn' Huck-constables
a Genie nd Walsh, and Constable Casey, all dressed in plain
clotheewalked careleuly up to a public-house owned by anion
named Cronin, in Market street, close to Fortney's-lane, en-
tered, and at once shut the door: at the same moment three
other constables in plain clothes issued from the lane and
stood before the house. The head.constahles inside walked
straight into a parlour behind the shop, in which there were
four men—Captain Mackay; Cronin, the owner of the house;
Mannix, a fisherman, and a man named Walsh or Laster.
I:eale produced a revolver and seized Mackay. The other
constables, who were also armed, arrested his three com-
panions. Mackay stood for a moment overwhelmed with
surprise: then 'recovering himself, he wrenched himself
from the grasp of the heal constable, and made a dash for
the stairs. Ovate riished after him, and caught him lii his
arms as he had reached the hall. Both were muscular men,
and a desperate struggle ensued. Genie, though advanced
in years, was the more vigorous of the two, and pinned his
prisoner against the wall. Casey then came to ileale's aid,
awl Mackay. seeing the odds against him, contrived by a
desperate effort to get Ilia hands free, and drew from his
breast • revolver. Ocala caught the pistol, and, whirling
his prisoner round, they both fell on the ground.
Mackay struggled to regain control of the weapon,
and in this struggle it went off. having either been
fired by him at (leak, or exploded accidentally. The
hall, missing Geale, struck Constable Casey in the
calf of the leg, inflicting • severe wound. Geste then
mastered his man, wrenched the revolver from him, and
held him helpless on his hark. The detectives outside hear-
Mg the strmitle rushed in, and Mackay and the three others
whom Walsh had held quiet under the point of his pistol,
were secured. In the meautinie the police hail been closing
In on the hon., and a party of upwards of fit iy men were
drawn up outside the Moist A large crowd hail also col-
lected, and from all the locality people we re flocking hurriedly
In until the street was crammed with people profoundly
excited. Cries were raised that the police were murdering a
Fenian ; and the people pressiog in 011 the police, it was
thought prudent to drive them back. A charge was accord-
ingly made, awl one man received a bayonet stab in the hip,
which necessitated his removal to the infirmary. After this
the crowd kept at a respectfid distance. Mackay and his
compatihns were then brought out, closely guarded by
indict fifackay was greatly agitated, breathing heavily
from the distress of his struggle, and casting quick glances
at every side to see whether there was any hope of escape
or rescue ; look Mg also to his guards at each side at if
meili!atio, a spring bd. liberty. But the circle of men about
Mon, and the gleam of the revolvers, showed the hopelessness
4,1 further resistance. The crowd was only curious, and
Share was no disturbance.

When taken Into the Bridewell Mackay's passion over-
powered his discretion, lie gave his name as Marply ; but
began immediately after that to tuna the police, and bout
of what he had done to annoy and perplex them. "I did
lead you s dance, governor," he said to the head constable
" and if I had half the motley you have, you darned sneaks,
I would have given you something to do that would surprise
you." Ile was very anxious to know who sold him, and
' cursed bitterly at the traitor. After a while he cooled down
Into a vein of mild chaff the other men said nothing.
The police could scarcely have struck a more severe blow
at Fenianism than the making of this capture. Mackay, so
long as the organization has been snown to be in existence,
has been a conspicuous leader iu it. He became first known
In Ireland by his arrest on suspicion at Queenstown, on the
arrival of an American steamer, in the year 15.65, and on the
strength of certain documents and al tile s found to his
possession he Mal co•tinotted for trial to the spec at COM-
mission held at Cork towards the close of that year, shortly
after the release of Captain M'Afferty at that commie/don
oil the legal point thrown out by the Judges, that being
an alien, and not shown to be guilty of any overt act
of treason in this country, be could not be convicted for acts
conimitted out of the country. Mackay was allowed out,
for the same reason, by consent of the crown, on his consent-
ing to leave the country, which he accordingly did. In the
winter of 1865-66 he embarked at Queenstown in oue of the
Inman steamers for America, and he was not again heard
of here till the spring of last year, when it was pretty
certain be was one of the leaders of the insurgent party
which went out from Cork on the sth of March, and which
attacked and burned Ballyknockane barracks. Mackay then
passed as Francis Lomas, commanding the second division of
Cork lafautry of the Irish Republic. After the retreat from
the barrack, he, with several others, according to the in-
former, held a council of war. O'Brien, who is now under-
going penal servitude for life, determined to go on to the
Limerick junction, where the main body of the Fenian.
were. Silken prudently decided to go home, and Mackay
said he would return to Cork to see what could be done
towards getting the men together again. Immediately after
this he disappeared, having, it is said, effected his escape to
America. The next heard of him was that he had made
his way back, and was directing the organisation in this
locality. Ilia loss to the Fenian' is all but irreparable.

On the arrest of Captain Mackay, the Cork Exa-
miner says
The arrest of the individual alleged to be Capt. Mackay, of
whom we have from time to time heard • gmal deal iii con-
nection with lenianism, has made him the subject of much
conversation in the city, and many incidents of his life in
Cork are mentioned which most, people were not likely to
have !tumbled before. It is stated that he has been resident
in Cork for nearly two years, during all which time the
police were constantly on the look out for the Aker with
whom he has been identined. lie woe married about nme
months since to a respectable girl of the city—a Miss Connell
—and the marriage was celebrated in one of the Catholic
churches of the city without the slightest attempt at secrecy
or concealment. The prisoner has, it appears, been moving
freely about the city, in daily contact with the police
officers, and has even met them while engaged in searches
for Captain Mackay-of which, according to his statement,
he took no heed—feeling in no way concerned. Ills arrest
on Friday night was, it is alleged, the result of information
conveyed to the police authorities by a person previously In
the prisoner's confidence; and rumour already indicates who
the informant

HERTOUS RIOTS AT CORK.

On Sunday night the house of Mr. Hugo, Pope's-road, Cork,
was attacked by three men, who demanded arms and ob-
tained a gun. On Friday night, shortly after Mackay's
arrest, Mr. Hilliard, a book-keeper, was returning home near
Sunday's-well, Cork, when he noticed a man before him on
Vie footpath, who, an be approached, sprang into the road
and presented a revolver at his head. The night was clear,
and alter staring into Mr. Ililllard's face and seeing that he
was not a detective, the stranger returned the revolver to
his pocket and made off.
A correspondent telegraphing on Tuesday morning, says :
" rhere was serious rioting here all last evening, consequent
on the irritation of the mob at the recent Fenian arrests.
The police were obliged frequently to charge the people in
order to clear the streeta. A boy (a corkeutter named Leary)
was ridden down and killed in one charge. Many cuts and
bruises, more or less serious, have been inflicted both on the
police and people. All is quiet to-day."

A great number of Fenian have left Cork since
Mackay' arrest. It is supposed they are afraid he
will turn informer.