The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-04 00:00:00

IRELAND.
CONFLICT BETWEEN THE POLICE AND THE COUN-
TRY PEOPLE AT BALLINHASSIG FAIR—EIGHT
PERSONS KILLED.
The Cork Southern Reporter contains details of a frightful col.
lision between the people and the police at Ballinhassig fair on
Monday, by which eight of the former were killed and twenty-five
wounded. The reporter of that journal, writing from Bailin.
hassig, Tuesday morning, gives the following distressing put.
ciliary:—

There is an annual fair held in the village of Ballinhasaig on the
30th of June, which is usually well attended by all the farmers
and people in that district, and it is customary to send a small
police force to the fair, in order to keep order and prevent riots or
the disturbance of the peace. This precaution was taken yester.
day, but unfortunately, in my judgment, not carried out with either
the prudence, good temper, or moderation which the judicious dis-
charge of so onerous and responsible a duty demanded.
At about half_past seven, when the business of the fair had con-
cluded, a number of persons remained near the fair field, and
about the little village. A party of police, nineteen in number,
under the command of Mr. Kelly, Sub-Inspector at Kinsale, were
stationed near the cross road. Two persons in the crowd, from
the neighbourhood of Adamstown, named Sullivan and Neale,
began to quarrel, and others having interfered, the police felt it
thdir duty to arrest one of the principals, Sullivan, and immediately
on their doing so one or two mischievous persons called out in
Irish, " Don't let him with them." Symptoms of a disposition
to rescue Sullivan having thus become general, the police retired
with their prisoner to the dispensary, having been in the mean.
time pelted with stones and missiles by the crowd. The door of
that edifice was not on the hinges, but it was laid to, and the stone-
throwing continued. A number of the country people got into
a garden behind the dispensary, and were throwing stones on
the roof until they had smashed it in two or three places.
The police, in the meantime, had been ordered to load, and very
soon after they got into the dispensary, they fired from the window
and door with deadly effect. There was no magistrate present ; no
Riot Act read ; no warning, as I am positively informed, to the people
to desist; no attempt made to disperse them by a bayonet charge,
or a volley of blank cartridge. At the first fire several fell, and
the police then came out; some of them fired again, and again re-
turned, and the whole party once again rushed out, and the people
having by this time ran in all directions, they turned up by the
bridge in the direction of their barracks. When they went from
the dispensary a small body of people followed there, and though
no attack was, as I can learn, then attempted, one or two of the
police turned round, and again fired with the same aim and
effect that signalised their previous proceedings.
I shall now come to the sad spectacle which presented itself on
my arrival at the bridge. Having received intimation in Cork
about twelve o'clock at night of what had occurred, I proceeded to
the locality, in company with Dr. M'Evers, whose valuable services
were put in requisition for the relief of the unhappy sufferers, and
I am bound to say that, in my experience, never did I see more
kindness. humanity, and professional skill united in mitigating the
horrors with which this worthy gentleman was everywhere sur.
rounded. The first house we entered, a wretched hovel, near the
bridge, presented a melancholy sight.
On a heap of potatoes in the corner, resting on the lap of an
aged woman, lay the body of a fine athletic man, his clothes open,
and his chest covered with blood; three or four women were col-
lected about—a group of men surrounded him, and only a hollow
moan from the females, occasionally broke the silence of the house
of mourning. With some difficulty I mode way for the doctor,
and when he held the candle to his ghastly features, and looked
for a moment on the last convulsive agony, he saw that his end
was come. In less than a minute he had ceased to exist, and his
announcement of the melancholy truth seemcd the signal for a
burst of that anguish only the Irish peasant can express, when
involved in such absorbing sorrow. The name of the deceased was
Jeremiah Coghlan ; he lived at Skehanagh, was a small farmer,
and had left, besides his aged mother, a wife and child to bewail
his sad and untimely fate. The bullet entered at his back, and
passing through the lungs, came out at the left side. We then
hastened to the nearest place, where it was intimated that one of
the sufferers lay, and, in a little house in the village, stretched on
the earthen floor, we found a fine young man, named John Welsh,
from Carrigaline, aged twenty-four. His right leg was literally
shivered to bits. It had been hastily dressed, but on opening the
bandage several large splinters of bone came away. It was
dressed again, as well as time and circumstances would permit, and
the poor sufferer expressed his gratitude over and over again for
the relief he was afforded. The doctor at once recommended that he
should be removed to Cork to the infirmary, where amputation of
the limb should take place, as the only chance of saving his life.
He was unmarried, but, I was informed, had a young family of
brothers and sisters, who were mainly dependent on his labours.
After describing other similar cases, the reporter adds—Crossing
a large tract of country we next came to a house, where, indeed, a
most afflicting spectacle awaited us. The woman of the house,
Johanna Holland, aged '23, and lately married, was shot dead near
the bridge in the village, after the police had left the dispensary.
Her mangled corpse was lying on a table facing the door, and a
vast crowd, principally females, thronged the house, which, from
its general appearance, I should say belonged to a comfortable
farmer. On examination, it was found that the ball entered at
the back, and passing between the shoulders through the lungs,
caused instantaneous death. The deceased was a very respectable
quiet woman, and was, by mere accident, passing through the vil-
lage on her way home at the moment of the untoward event which
brought her to a premature grave.
There is a policeman, named Dawson, rather severely hurt. He
has three cuts on his head from stones, and his lip is split ;
but nothing more serious than those cuts and bruises. He was
sheltered at a gentleman's house in the neighbourhood, which was
the means of saving his life from the infuriated mob.
There is one matter more to which, before I close, I must call
your special attention. I carefully examined the dispensary in
which the police took refuge—and now observe Ps position. There
is a window and door in front, facing the cross road—there is nu
window or aperture to the rear. The stones which knocked in the
roof were all thrown from the rear, and yet the firing necessarily
was directed against the people in front, who could not have been
the parties to the attack on the building. I have not time to add
more

I should have before noticed that the Rev. Mr. Hallinan, the
respected parish priest, was early in atteadance on his suffering

people, and administered to them the consolation of religion in
their dying moments. I must also notice the prompt and humane
assistance which John Kelly, Esq., of Ballinhassig, rendered.
From the first intimation he received of the fatal affray he was on
the spot, procuring every assistance that could be afforded the suf-
ferers. He sent an express into town for medical aid, and accom.

panied Dr. M'Evers and myself all over the country the whole of
the inclement night, doing all that a kind, humane, and benevolent
gentleman could, to mitigate the sorrows and sufferings of his poor
fellow-countrymen.
There are over a hundred and twenty police under arms in the
barracks on the Bandon-road, under the command of Mr. Walker,
sub-inspector, from Cork. A messenger has been dispatched for
the Coroner.

The latest account is the following :
" BALLINIIASSIO, TUESDAY, Two o'cLoctr..—The utmost excite-
ment prevails for several miles around, The people, and they are
proverbial for examplary conduct, are sullen. They are most re-
spectful to all parties seeking information; they ask for an impar-
tial investigation, a request that there seems every prospect of
having conceded to them. The magistrates, John Molony, Esq.,
Wm. Meade, Esq., and J. T. Biggs, Esq. ; the coroner, Franklin
Baldwin, Esq. ; the parish priest, the Rev. J. Hallinan ; and a
considerable number of the surrounding gentry and respectable
farmers, after a consultation have agreed, and it has been resolved
upon, that the inquest shall not commence its sittings untill nine
o'clock on Thursday morning, several circumstances concurring to
render that course the most prudent. In the meantime, counsel
and agents are to be engaged, the friends and relatives of the !11_
fated deceaeed and wounded (of the former six ; of the latter, as-
certained twenty-five—some, it is feared mortally) having taken
measures to insure justice. The coroner intimated that he would
issue summonses for fifty or sixty respectable gentlemen, from
whom to select twenty-three to form the jury, whilst a bench of
magistrates from all parts of the country is looked for."