The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-19 00:00:00

9, 1847. [PiticE SD.

IRELAND.
MEETINGS OF THE PEASANTRY-SEI

ZURE OF CATTLE AND POTATOES.

DUBLIN, OCT. 17.—The Limerick Examiner, re-
ceived this day, contains the following account of a
very extraordinary movement in that county, where
the labouring classes, congregating in large numbers,
demand relief, and, failing to obtain what they re
quire, seize upon the cattle and potatoes of the gentry
and clergy, not even exempting the pastors of the
Roman Catholic Church! Two meetings of this
kind are described in the subjoined letters. Those
assembled at the first were induced, by the persua-
sions of the parish priest, to restore the property they
had appropriated, including his own cattle, as well as
those of a magistrate, Mr. Fetherstone, and of the
Rev. Mr. Massy, a clergyman of the Established
Church. But the peasantry who attended the second
meeting plundered the parish priest in the first in-
stance, and retained the spoils, consisting of nine
barrels of potatoes. You will observe, in the ac-
count of this strange agrarian movement, that the
peasantry exhibited extreme indignation when Mr.
Fetherstone explained to them the arrangements con-
templated under the new poor-law, by which, in
order to apply the workhouse test, the able-bodied
were to be relieved within the house, whilst the aged
and infirm were to obtain out-door relief. Consider-
able difficulty may yet be experienced on this very
point, and great firmness will be required, on the
part of Government and the Poor-law Commissioners,
in enforcing the workhouse test.
GARRYFINE, TUESDAY NIGHT, OCT. 12, NINE
O'CLOCK.—The meeting of the peasantry, which was
to have taken place yesterday on the hill of Garryfine
(and which excited so much attention in the country)
was postponed by general consent to this day. At
an early hour this morning the peasantry from the
surrounding localities flocked in multitudinous masses
to the focus of attraction, and at the hour of twelve
o'clock the hill of Garryfine presented a most formi-
dable appearance. There could not have been less
than 2,000 persons assembled on the occasion. The
meeting was held on that part of the mountain which
is nearest the Croom road, and on its highest summit
the people took their stand to proclaim their miseries
and make known their wants. The sound of the
peasants' bugle was heard from all directions during
the greater part of the day, and owing to the elevated
position of the meeting the inhabitants of the Bruree,
Rockhill, Charleville, Killacolla, and Drew's-court,
could easily discern the assemblage.
At the hour of three o'clock the meeting proceeded
to deliberate, and after a few moments it was unani•
mously resolved that all should proceed to the resi-
dence of Mr. Fetherstone, Bruree, and in the
name of mercy and suffering humanity invoke his
friendly aid and intercession at a crisis pregnant with
misery and woe. On the way to Bruree the proces-
sion halted at Rockhill, and drew up opposite the
residence of the Rev. Mr. Ryan, P.P. The Rev.
Mr. Ryan was absent on parochial duties in a distant
part of the parish, and the Rev. Mr. Meany, the re-
spected and worthy curate of Rockhill, presented
himself before the people, and addressed them in
brief but appropriate terms. The Reverend Gentle-
man advised them to preserve order, and refrain
from any manifestation of indignant feeling or out-
rage on property, which might expose them to the
consequences of the law. He would advise them to
make known their grievances in a proper quarter.
Let them form themselves into a deputation, draw up
a proper statement of their wants, and wait on the
poor-law guardians of the Kilmallock union. He had
no doubt that such a step would be found to be the
proper one, and which-ultimately would lead to sue.
cess. But above all, he would admonish them to
respect the rights of property, to act legally, consti-
tutionally, in the furtherance of their objects. Should
they violate the law, they themselves would be the
sufferers ; they would be dragged from their homes,
wives, and children, like felons, and immured in the
cold walls of a prison.—(A voice—" We'd be fed
there, and not allowed to starve.")
[Here some countrymen spoke in the vernacular,
and occupied the.attention of the people a moment.]

The Rev. Gentleman's friendly admonition was
listened to with the greatest attention, and the meeting
promised implicit obedience to his precepts.
Mr. MiTinw, who was in company with the Rev.
Mr. Meany at the earliest stage of the proceedings,
next ascended an eminence near the door of Father

Ryan, and addressed the people for some minutes in
a speech which was freqdently interrupted by loud
applause. He said—My suffering friends, as one of
the people—as an Irishman, and a lover of order—
perhaps you will permit me to second the excellent ad-
vice of your excellent clergyman, Father Meany.—(A
Voice, " You're welcome.") It cannot, alas ! be denied
that your complaints are but too reasonable, and
founded on the forlorn wretchedness of your situation.
As this is not a political meeting, it is not my province
to explain the cause of your sufferings. Your suffer-
ings are many—they are depicted in your counte-
nances; they afford a melancholy lecture to the phi-
lanthropist and the benevolent. This is a land of
wheat and barley, where no man should starve.—
(Cheers.) Go then to the fountain-head, and ask
bread. Go to the poor-law guardians of the Kilmal-
lock Union, and tell them your tale; they cannot but
hear you; but above all be patient, be forbearing, and
commit no breach of the peace. Respect the sacred
right of property, and keep within the limits of th•
constitution. Petition, demand, implore, and suppli-
cate, until your grievances are remedied.—(Cheers.)
The horn was next blown as a signal for departure,
and in a moment the procession moved on to Bruree.
Arrived in that locality, they surrounded the residence
of Mr. Fetherstone, J.P., where they were met by
that gentleman and the Rev. Mr. Ryan, P.P. Mr.
Fetherstone presented himself before the hungry as-
semblage, and told them that he as an individual could
not take upon himself any responsibility beyond his
province. He would feel delighted to act in concert
with the gentlemen of the country, and do all in his
power to mitigate the wants of the poor. They were
aware that the new poor-law provided that all the
able-bodied paupers would enter the workhouse of
each union, and that the aged, the infirm, and the
decrepid would be set at large to be supported by
out-door relief under the authority of the new poor-
law.

At this announcement the people became enraged,
and after some angry exhibitions seized on Mr. Fe-
therstone's cattle. These they drove to the premises
of the Rev. Mr. Massy, whose stock they lessened by
six or seven fat cows and bullocks, and, without
offering the least apology to his reverence, took their
departure for Garryfine, and along the public road
fired some volleys of powder in the air, in order, it is
considered, to let the neighbours know that they
passed that way. When the cattle were driven into
the little hamlet of Rockhill the people were all as-
tounded at such an unusual exhibition, and every
farmer in the neighbourhood viewed it with alarm,
each apprehensive lest his own cattle might be taken.i
The people were again met by the Rev. Mr. ya n,
who admonished them against their proceedings, but
instead of acting on his counsels they entered his own
yard, seized his cattle, and carried them away to the
other captive animals. The Rev. Mr. Ryan followed
them on horseback for some distance beyond the vil-
lage, and repeated his exhortation. The people at
length yielded to his persuasion. The better feelings
of the peasant's heart gave way. With the conviction
of the impropriety, of interfering with the rev. gentle-
man's cattle, the people returned them, as well as
those of Mr. Featherstone and the Rev. Mr. Massy. Mr.
Ryan thanked them, and told them that he would do
all in his power to procure them food. The meeting
then peaceably separated. I cannot close this com-
munication without recording, however briefly, my
admiration of the Christian zeal and forbearance of
Father Ryan, and 1 would boldly assert that in the
entire diocese of Limerick there is not another cler-
gyman who had done more for the poor during the
last winter and summer, during which he has been
often known to be absent on parochial duty until
eight o'clock at night, without taking a morsel of
dinner.
GARRYFINE, WEDNESDAY NlGHT.—Another " mon-
ster meeting" has been held this day by the peasan-
try, in the village of Ballyagrane. Poor Father
O'Flanagan, P.P., was forced to yield up his potatoes
to the multitude, and in the course of a few moments

he lost eight barrels. He thought vainly to oppose
vi el armis the unwelcome intruders, and applied
physical force to a second " Poll of the Reeks," who
first entered with a prodigious bag for booty. After
thanking Father O'Flanagan for setting the potatoes,
they next proceeded to Mr. Drew's residence, Drew's
Court, and deprived that gentleman of a quantity of
wheat and carrots. His sheep they also took to
Ballyagrane ; but on second consideration set them
at liberty. This is but the beginning—where will
it end ?

DISTRESS IN THE COUNTY OF CLARE.
The Limerick Examiner says—" Destitution of an
appalling kind has again commenced on the western
coast of Clare, particularly in Miltown Malbay. We
learn from the parish priest of Miltown Malbay, the
Rev. Mr. 111‘Mahon, that nearly all the labouring
population of his parish—whose existence even in
the most plentiful seasons was a very wretched one—
are without employment. Eight hundred families
have not, at the present moment, any visible means
of support, except by second digging the potato fields
for the purpose of collecting a scant► meal, at which