The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-03 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, FEB. I.—h CREASE OF DESTITUTION.—
Di;ease, the inevitable result of destitution, is ra-
pidly extending in the western counties. Applications
have been made for increased hospital accommodation
in Bailina and ether parts of Mayo. Typhus fever
and dysentery prevail to a lamentable extent. The
,S/igo Champion states that the mortality in the union
workhouse of that town is very great. The condition
of the poor outside is most wretched ; there is little
or no employment, and thousands are in a state bor-
dering on starvation. The district of Sligo, however,
is tranquil.

REP;LESENTATION Or THE UNITERSITY.—Mr. John
Richardson, of iiiumrnerhill House, county of Far-
managh, has issued an address to the electors, de-
claring that he is a supporter of national education,
tenant right, and emigration. Regarding the Esta-
blished Church, he " disapproves of any interference
with existing rights." It is likely that there will be
several other candidates; but few of them will appear
at the poll.

REPRESENTATION £F WATERFORD.—The intention
of Mr. Daniel O'Connell to retire from the repre-
sentation was known in Waterford yesterday. The
Repealers were preparing to select a candidate. But
there was a rumour that the former representative,
Mr. Wyse, would again be called upon by an influen-
tial portion of the constituency.
REPRESENTATION OF SLIGO.—The Slit o Champion
says :—" A paragraph lately appeared in the Sligo
Journal, stating that Mr. Stoner, an English gentle-
min, had visited Sligo, for the purpose of preparing a
petition against Mr. Somers. We have been authorised
to state that Mr. Stoner came here more with the in-
tention of securing the promises of the electors in
favour of Mr. Townley, of Townley-hall, than to
prosecute the petition."
CAPITAL PUNISHALENTS.—The Lord Mayor has
called a meeting of the citizens for Thursday next,
" for the purpose of taking the question of punish-
ment by death into consideration, and discussing the
propriety of presenting a memorial to the Lord-
Lieutenant, praying him to alter the sentence of death
passed on convicts at the present Special Commission
to some other punishment.

DEPUTATION TO THE LORD-LIEUTEN-
ANT FROM THE CORPORATION OF

DUBLIN.

This day the Lord Mayor and Corporation of the
City of Dublin waited on his Excellency the Lord-
Lieutenant, at the Castle, for the purpose ofpresenting
a memorial which had been agreed to at a late meet-
ing of the Council, praying his Excellency would use
his high authority in sanctioning the zeal with which
the Corporation persevered in pressing their own Bill
for the improvement of the city of Dublin, in prefer-
ence to that commonly called " Jackson's Bill."
When the memorial had been read,
Mr. JouN REYNOLDS, M.P., entered into an expla-
nation of the defects which exist in the Dublin Muni-
cipal Act, as compared with similar measures passed
by the Imperial Parliament for the benefit of the
English and Scotch people, and relied on his Excel-
lency's wisdom and sense of justice for the promotion
of those rights and privileges which the Corporation
was entitled to enjoy, according to the same measure
of freedom and independence which had been so libe-
rally extended to municipal bodies at the other side of
the Channel.

His EXCELLENCY, who received the deputation in
the most gracious manner, said he would feel most
happy in forwarding their intentions by every means
in his power, with a view of reconciling the interest
of all parties, not merely as a member of the Govern-
ment, but as an amicus curie. He would, however,
await the decision of the public meeting which is to
be held for considering the subject, as he considered
that the opinions of the great majority of the
rate-payers should be consulted in all matters of the
kind. He would communicate his impressions on the
subject to the Government at the other side, and, as
far as in his power would lie, he would do everything
to forward the interests of the people of Dublin by
promoting any measure the object of which would be
to reduce taxation on the citizens generally.
The deputation then withdrew.
EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF MURDER.
The Cork Reporter contains the following :—" An
inquest was held on Thursday last, at Doneraile, on
the body of Johanna Murphy, a widow, by Richard
Jones, Esq., county coroner, assisted by Messrs.
Bayly, R.M. ; Creagh, J.P. ; and M'Cleod, S.I. It
appeared in evidence that Richard Ryal, of Stream-
hill, who is only about sixteen years old, called on
Benjamin Penn, a pensioner, in Doneraile, on last
Monday morning, to say he could give informa-
tion against the persons who stole Mr. White's
cow, and asked his advice as to what he should do.
Penn advised him to report the matter to Mr. White ;
he said he would, and left the house to go there.
Ryal called on Penn on the Wednesday after, and
told him that he saw his father murder the widow
Murphy on Monday, by striking her on the head with
a shovel, and that he afterwards rummaged the house,
and got but 7d., and that if his father were searched
the key of the padlock on the widow's door would be
found in his boot. Upon Penn's saying he would hot
believe him, in consequence of his having told so
many lies about the stealing of Mr. White's cow, he
replied—" If you doubt me go up and you will see
her sitting dead on a chair." Penn reported the
matter to head-constable Bently, to whom llyal gave
the same account. Both then proceeded to the
widow's house, and found the door locked with the
padlock. They broke the staple, and on entering the
house found her dead in the position described by
Ryal, and a gardener's spade, together with a bill.
hook, near her. There were several wounds on the
forehead and face. Bently suspecting that Ryal was
the guilty party, afterwards searched him and found
the key of the padlock in his pocket.
" Catherine Collins examined.—Proved that on her
way to Doneraile, about one o'clock on Monday, she
went into the widow's house for a drink of water.
The prisoner (whom she identified, and never saw
before,) and the widow were the only persons in the
I house at the time.

" Patrick Ryal, a boy about nine years old, deposed
that about nine o'clock in the morning of the day of
the murder he saw his brother, the prisoner, put a
bill-hook (which belonged to his father) into his
breeches pocket, and cover the handle of it with his
coat. Did not see him after until late in the evening
of that day, when he handed witness sevenpence to
buy meat. His brother had no employment, nor any
way of getting money. He did not see the bill-hook
after until he saw it in the police barrack.
" The jury returned a verdict of Wilful Murder
against Richard Ryal, who has been transmitted to
the county gaol, and the father, who was in custody,
was discharged.
" It appeared that the prisoner, having been sup-
ported as a Crown witness, prosecuted persons to
conviction about a year ago for stealing milch cows,
for which he got a large reward, and it is supposed
he was induced by a similar hope to prefer unfounded
charges in this case."