The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-14 00:00:00

THE FENIAN INSURRECTION.

(From the Times' Special Correspondent.)
MARYBOROUGII, Tuesday Night.
Rumours of excitement and apprehended disturb-
ance in the capital of the Queen's County brought
me here ; but, judging from its appearance this
morning, there was never a town in which excite-
ment and disturbance seemed less likely, or to
which such words were of less appropriate applica-
tion. The streets, clean and neat as those of a com-
fortable English market-town, were almost deserted,
and any excitement which might have been occa-
casioned last week by Fenian disturbances was more
than atoned for now by the general apathy and stag-
nation. To Le sure, the weather all day has been
such that nobody who could help it would set foot
oat of doors. Here, as in Tipperary, snow fell early
this morning, and continued falling at intervals the
whole day through, so that, what with sleet and
slush, and a bleak north-easterly wind, even the
well-furnished traveller found it easy to be thoroughly
miserable. The Fenians say the elements are fight-
ing against them. They can't be allowed the poor
consolation of saying they were beaten by the ele-
ments, the fact being that they were beaten by the
police before the elements declared on one side or
the other ; but certainly such weather as I jour-
neyed to Maryborough in will be a very powerful
auxiliary to the arms of her Majesty and the cause
of good order. As I write this it is blowing harder
and the sleet is driving more wickedly than ever.
Any Fenians on the Galtee range must find it diffi-
cult to keep even a footing if they venture out of
the mountain recesses, where at other times secret
stills were in operation, and in which the wretched
fugitives may now find any comparative warmth
and shelter.
-Up to the period of the last Fenian rising the
Queen's county was looked upon as comparatively
free from treasonable taint ; but thii can no longer
be said. The district is not nearly so disaffected as
that of Limerick and Tipperary, but the organisa-
tion has no doubt extended here, and on Friday in-
formation, more or less reliable—probably less—was
received of an intended attack on the town. The
constabulary force was at once concentrated, the
staff of the Q'ieen's County Militia and the pen-
sioners were called out, and the loyal inhabitants
were provided with Enfield rifles. As the police bar-
rack was not easily defended, the whole available
force was concentrated in the courthouse, and parties
were sent out to patrol the roads. One of these par-
ties arrested two men, who had in their possession a
large number of percussion caps and 19 rounds of
cartridge. An American breech loading rifle, of
beautiful workmanship, having a range of 1,200
yards, was also found close by the spot where the
prisoners were hid. In the dark a third man, who
was with them, made his escape. As you will have
gathered, Maryborough is a quiet and rather sleepy
country town. Mountmellick, about six miles off, is
more bustling, more populous, probably more pros-
perous, and certainly more disaffected. An unfortu-
nate incident took place there on Saturday evening.
A tipsy man, becoming valorous in his cups, walked
up to the police barrack and discharged his revolver
at it or over it—certainly not with too steady an
aim. Some of the police, perhaps naturally excited
by the attacks and rumours of attacks on barracks
elsewhere, went out into the street and returned the
fire, wounding the drunken fellow slightly in the
wrist and Lip, while another ball glanced from a wall
and unfortunately killed a respectable inhabitant on
whom no suspicion of Fenianism rested. Probably
the police were hasty in firing as they did ; but this
is a point to be cleared up at the inquest, which was
begun yesterday and adjourned for further evi-
dence. The Providence that is said to watch over
drunken men and little children was conspicuous
here, for the tipsy fellow responsible for all this mis-
chief was twice hit by rifle bullets, and in both cases
so slightly that he made a boast of his wounds.
This is the occurrence which has been magnified
into an attack upon the police barracks, gallantly
repulsed by the constables, with a loss to the assail-
ants of two killed and several wounded. In these
parts a newspaper correspondent who desires to be
accurate must cultivate a robust incredulity. You
have to prove all things, and sometimes even then
bold fast that which is not good. Rumour here has
more than a thousand tongues and lies through every
one. According to her, houses and barracks are at-
tacked which Penians never approached ; insurgents
are in masses of thousands, although quite invisible
to the dispassionate inquirer ; and engagements be-
tween the troops and the Fenians have had exceed-
ingly sanguinary results—on paper. The facts of
the insurrection make a poor show by the side of the
romance which is spoken and written ; nevertheless,
a sober-minded chronicler of events must be content
with them. In the Queen's county the facts are far
from thrilling. The Fenians have not demanded
arms at the houses of the gentry, nor have they, as
far as I can learn, impressed recruits. There has
been no run upon the Maryborough banks, but seve-
ral arrests have been made. One man named Carll
is believed to be a Head Centre, and two revolvers
were found in his possession. One is apt to do in-
justice to a man who thus carries about with him
means and appliances for killing or maiming twelve
human beings. Carl], however, is by no means the
ferocious, merciless fellow you would imagine, for
when touched on the shoulder in the usual way he
submitted meekly and gave up himself and his revol-
vers without a show of resistance. In another in-
stance a particularly diminutive policemen met two
Fenians one night last week on a lonely road, four
miles from this place, and ordered them to turn and
march back with him—an order which they obeyed
like lambs. Fenian whistles and signal calls have
been heard by the police patrols at night, and it is
supposed that unlawful meetings for drilling and
other purposes may have been held. But hitherto
the insurgents have not shown themselves in
armed bodies here. What they may or may not
do it is impossible to say, and this remark applies
to the whole Fenian movement all over Ireland.
If Fenians were reasonable people and acted in
a reasonable way, you might argue from proba-
bilities as to their doings ; but they have acted as
unaccountably, and with such absence of reason, that
you may almost as well try to predicate what a
lunatic will do next.
A detachment of the 2d Queen's and some of the
4th Dragoon Guards arrived here to-day, and an
attack is not in the least probable. A small body of
troops has also been stationed at Mountmellick, and
the loyal inhabitants throughout the district feel
their confidence renewed. On Sunday information
was received that an attack would be made on Elmo
Park, the residence of Lord Portarlington, and seve-
ral houses in the neighbourhood of Ballybridges. A
company of the 2d Queen's has, therefore, been sent
there, and two men were last night arrested who, it
is said, were to Lave been the leaders of the band.
A singular incident happened the other night to Mr.
Gibson, a resident at Mountmellick, while driving
from Rockforest. He had arrived near Bally fin, the
seat of Sir C. Coote, when his car was upset by the
trunk of a tree placed across the road, and he was
thrown out. Six men at once rushed upon him, but
when they saw who he was they apologised, set the
car straight again, helped him in, and sent him away,
if not rejoicing, very glad to escape so easily. It is
thought they may have been waitinr, to intercept the
0
police-patrol, though the experience of their previ-
ous fighting by no means leads one to suppose that,
if they could possibly run away, six of them would
face four constables. A movable column will shortly
operate from Maryborough if the Fenian movements
make any such precaution necessary ; and to-day
the proelatnations arrived here notify ing that Queen's
County along with Meath and Louth have been
placed under the Peace Preservation Act. All these
measures will certainly insure the peace of this dis-

trict.
Inquests have been held at Kiltnallock upon the
bodies of the young medical student and of the
two Fenians who were shot on Wednesday during
the attack on the police-barrack there. The evi-
dence showed that, after attending to Mr. Bourne,
who was severely wounded by the Fenians for re-
fusing to surrender his arms, Mr. Cleary was walk-
ing down the street to meet his sister, when he was
accidentally shot by the police. The jury found that
at that time the insurgents had ceased firing, and
they also found that the deceased was in no way
connected with the insurgents... As to the two

Fenians who were killed, the jury found the
police justified in what they did "and that they de-
serve the greatest praise for their gallant conduct on
the occasion." One of the witnesses who saw a
good deal of Capt. Dunne, the Fenian leader, during
the attack, describes him as going about " like a
harlequin," in his green uniform, slouched hat and
feather. I gather from the description given that
he must have looked more like one of the Foresters
who are so fearfully and wonderfully disguised for
their annual fete at the Crystal Palace. The Rev.
Thos. Fitzgerald, C.C., said in his evidence that
none of the Fenians whom he saw firing seemed to
be much of marksmen, for when they put their guns
to their shoulders they turned away their heads,
until the discharge, so that "it was a mere chance
if they shot any one." This evidence is borne out
by the result, for you may remember, that though
the firing went on for more than three hours, only
one of the police was wounded, and be received a
mere graze. Witnesses, however, spoke of one
Fenian who was evidently looked upon by the rest
as a marksman of the first order, and who was sup-
plied with loaded rifles pretty nearly as fast as he
could discharge them. This may be the ci-devant
militiaman mentioned in a previous letter, who de-
voted himself so assiduously to the picking off of the
head-constable Adams, and who really did succeed
in smashing his washhand basin. lam glad to hear
that Mr. Bourne, the manager of the Union Bank,
at Kilmallock, is slowly recovering from his wound.
LIMERICK JUNCTION, Wednesday Evening.

All quiet to-day at Killarney, Tralec, Mallow,
Tipperary, and this district. There was an inter-
ruption of the telegraph communication this after-
noon near Knockloug, but this is believed to be owing
to the storm. The snow is now falling heavily, and
the mountains are covered. Workmen have been
employed to clear the snow drifts from the railway
near here. A flying column leaves Tipperary for the
mountains to-morrow.

DUBLIN, March 13.

Notwithstanding the rumours that have been rife
of bodies of Fenians appearing, or being expected to
appear, here and there about the city and county of
Dublin, for several days nothing has occurred to
disturb the public tranquillity since the shameful
break-down of the rebellion the first night on which
it ventured to show its front at Tallaght. The
suburbs are constantly patrolled at night, and the
confidence of the community is quite restored—not
because it is believed that no elements of mischief
remain, but because they know that the powers and
precautions of Government are quite sufficient to
preserve the peace.
There was a report of an attack on the police-
barrack at Palmerstown, a village to the west of
Dublin ; the rumour was unfounded. The barrack
was vacated on Ash Wednesday morning and has
not been occupied since, the constables havingbeen
removed to Condalkin. There was a talk of an
emeute, or rising of the prisoners, at Monntjoy, but
the idea was too absurd to be believedby one intel-
ligent person. The workmen continued yesterday
putting up strong iron plating on the Castle gates.
The plating is perforated with loop-holes.
The cutlasses ordinarily worn by the police have
been re-ground in the armoury of Pigeon-house Fort.
Yesterday morning Inspector Ward and a party of
police, with the police ambulance van, proceeded to
the Pigeon-house Fort, where they received 200
Westley Richards breech-loading carbine rifles, with
the necessary accoutrements and ammunition. The
arms were conveyed to the lower Castle yard, where
they will be distributed to the constables on out-
station duty. Inspector Ward has been directed to
put the men through the course of drill requisite to
enable them to use the rifle.

The mail steamer Leinster, which arrived this
evening at Kingstown, conveyed intelligence that a
large body of Marines was preparing to embark
on board one of the London and North-Western
Railway Company's steamers for Dublin, where
they may be shortly looked for. A quantity of re-
volvers and other firearms have been placed in re-
serve in the Kingstown police-barracks. Yesterday
17 Fenian prisoners left the King's bridge station
of the Great Southern and Western Railway, in
charge of a strong force of the constabulary. Among
the captives was Stephen Joseph Meany, who, it
will be remembered, was tried at the last Commis-
sion for treason felony. Five of the prisoners were
escorted from the train at Sallins, and lodged in
Naas gaol. Nine prisoners from Naas were taken
in charge at Sallins, and these, with the remaining
12 from Dublin, were taken to Kilkenny gaol.
Six young men were arrested on board the Liver-
pool steamer on its arrival at Drogheda yesterday
morning, but they were, after some inquiry, all
liberated. Experiments were made there with the
Greek fire found with the insurgents. It burnt
quickly enough, and could be with difficulty extin-
guished, but the timber on which it burnt for a
long time did not ignite, and Mr. Grey, who made
the experiments, stated his impression that against
a solid timber structure it would be perfectly in-
nocuous.

I have no arrests about Dublin to report in addi-
tion to those sent last night by telegraph. At
Castlerea a detachment of troops arrived by special
train from Athlone on Monday evening, when the
police immediately arrested a number of persons,
who were taken to the county gaol at Roscommon.
Their names are Bernard Gannon, a shopkeeper ;
Edward ld'Dermott, son of a shopkeeper, both of
these appearing very respectable; William Casey,
clerk in Mr. Murtagh's store; Joseph Darby, a nailer ;
Daniel Flanagan, journeyman baker; and Pat Morris,
a victualler. A good number of persons accompanied
the police from the station, but no manifestation of
sympathy or disapprobation was shown by them.
The soldiers have returned again to Athlone.
Another respectable looking person was committed,
who had been arrested in Athlone about nine days
ago, and gave his name as John O'Connor. It is
believed that he has lately arrived from America.
The whole of the troops stationed in the Royal Bar-
racks were paraded yesterday morning, under Gen.
M'Murdo, to hear the sentences passed by the late
general court-martial on the three men, named
O'Brien, alias Simpson, Cavanagh, and Merthyr, of
the 85th Foot, who were convicted as members of
the Fenian conspiracy. The sentences were that
O'Brien be transported for the period of his natural
life, Cavanagh seven years, and Merthyr five years.
At the conclusion of the proceedings O'Brien shouted
" Three cheers for the Irish Republic," which was
instantly checked by one of the escort pushing him
forward. The prisoners were marched to Arbourhill
Military Prison, where they were dressed in the con-
vict uniform, and handed over to the civil authori-
ties, when they were escorted in the prison van by
the mounted police to Mountjoy Prison.

The Great Southern and Western Railway Com-
pany have applied for and obtained the services of
a company of the 83d Foot, for the purpose of guard-
ing their engines and other property at the station
at Inchicore, where the men are accommodated in
one of the workshops.

A very large meeting of magistrates and grand
jurors of the County Kildare was held at Naas yes-
terday. The Town Commissioners had previously
met and passed resolutions condemning the "insane
attempts at insurrection," and complaining of the
unprotected state: of the town. These resolutions
were adopted by the county meeting yesterday—the
High Sheriff, the Hon. Valentine Lawless, in the
chair.

At Kenmare, in the county Kerry, the Board of
roar-law Guardians have allocated portions of the
union workhouse for the accommodation of the
troops. The chairman, Mr. T. Trench, made a
loyal speech on the occasion, and said, in conclu-
sion, they might earnestly hope that they were now
near the end of this preposterous warfare, though he
feared it would be years before its effects would have
disappeared from the country. But while the inha-
bitants of Kenmare have been quietly and comfort-
ably asleep in their beds, a constant and vigorous
watch had been kept over their safety, and of such
a nature as, under God's blessing, must prove effec-
tual.

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Mr. Lucius
11. Deering as one of the official assignees of the
Court of Bankruptcy, vacant by the resignation of
Mr. Murphy. The appointment will, no doubt, give
general satisfaction, Mr. Deering being well known
as a respectable merchant of this city.

The office held by the late Mr. 'lulllton has, i