Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-16
LAST OF THE KINGS.
An Interesting Sketch of Arthur
MacMurrOgh KaVanagh, the
BRAINIEsT OF IRISH LANDLORDS.
Starting Out in Life Without Arms, Legs
or Fortune, He
WINS DISTINCTION IN MANY SPHERES
WRITTEN FOR THE DrsPArcH.I

One of the principal leaders of the Land
lord party in Ireland is the Right Hon.
Arthur MacMuTogh Kavanagh. Mr..
Kavanagh is admitted by friends and foes
to be a man of great genius, and still greater
moral stamina. Over so years ago he came
into this world, sadly and strangely de-
formed-without either arms or legs-ap-
parently destined only for a life of darkness
and seclusion. Everything was against him.
Being the youngest of four brothers he was
debarred by the law of entail from succeed.
ing to the vast estates of his father. Mr..
KaVanagh, of Boris, and would be left to
struggle through painful lifeon the wretch
ed pittance Of younger son. In Ireland be
could hope for no popularity, for the name
OF kavanagh was in conspicuous i'll favor,
for both political and seetarian reasons.
Moreover, the Kavanaghs, of Boris, repre-
sent in direct line that false monarch, Der.
mot MacMurrogh, whose very name is by
word in ireland, as that of one who, too
plunged a whole province into war, and
brought the English into Leinster.
All these and many other disadvantages
barred-or seem to be bar-the on
ward progress of Arthur MacMurrogh Kay-
anagh. But some men are not to be de-
tered by any obstacle. Before he was 16
Kavanagh had surmounted all those little
inconVenienees which resulted from his lack
Of limbs. With the assistance OF knife and
fork screwed into the short stumps which
| did duty for arms, he could eat and enjoy
his meals. After dinner the knife was un-
screwed. and hook substituted.
SOME AMAZING FEATs.
The feats he performed with that hook
were truly amazing. 1 have seen him take
up wine deeanter and fill himself glass
| OF sherry with as much ease as though he
| owned complete arm and hand. He writes
legibly. The pen is held between the ends
of his stumps-the paper fixed to the desk;
and with this arrangement he is able to dis
pense with secretary, and reply to all his
letters. A private tutor taught kaVanagh
ali he wanted to know; and five minutes
conversation will show anyone that his edu-
cation has been neither a light nor a cir
cumscribed one.
As if to reward the perseverance Of young
havanagh, series of events put him In
possession of those very estates, which eyery-
one had deemed beyond his reach.
The country folk, who incline to liberal
belief in such things, declare that there is a
curse upon the house Of old King MaeMur-
rogh. The deaths of many children of the
house have fostered this notion. The three
hale, hearty brothers who stood between
poor, deformed Arthur and his 40 900 acres
died, one after the other, by sudden or Yio-
lent deaths. One was killed in the hunting
field, another went down beneath the waves
to rise no more. The third had the most
horrible end of all. He was found one
morning in his bed, burned to cinder.
A KIND LANDLORD.
Then Arthur succeeded to the great
estates and the hereditary want of popular
ity which accompanied the MacMurrogh
chieftaincy since the times of Dermot-of-the-
Saxons. Immediately his influence began
to be felt. He lowered his rents; he i'm
proved his estates; he contested the County
Carlow and was elected NJ. P. for that con-
stituency, with his cousin Henry Bruen, Of
Oak Park. For full 20 years he represented
the county in Parliament, and in 1880 he
was created Right Hon., and given the
rank of PriVy Councillor. He has twice
refused a peeTagey deeming the name of
MaeMurrough far greater than any title a
queen can bestow. In 1880 Mr.. E. Dwyer
Gray defeated him in Carlow, and so mortl-
tied was he that he has never since contested
any seat. However, he is not idle. Al
though universally declared to be a good
1duulOTu-OHc VI buC DcSb III 1Eelduu-0e ~
still the guiding spirit of the Landlord
party. He says that he merely fights for
his rights. "Give us a fair price for our
properties and we will sell them to YOU
that is his constant cry.
1t is surprising what weight his words
carry in the counsels of the religious and
political factionists, and what an amount Of
secret influence he possesses. The linton
is the name of their great organ in Dublin
and of this paper Mr.. Bagenal is nominal
editor. But Bagenal is Kavanagh' snephew,
and it is welI-known that the real "deus ex
machina" is the great spider who spins
amid the gloom of his Southern mansion.
Half the anti-Parnellite pamphlets which
annually food the English markets, are
from the faeile pen of Kavanagh; and those
who know state positively that two at least
of the late larger magazine articles on Irish
affairs are In reality his. Kavanagh has
always opposed the eviction policy of the
exterminators, and it was his influence that
brought Captain Vandeleur to settlement
with his tenants. He is now striving to set
tie between Lord Lansdowne and the evieted
Of Lugacurran, but so stealthily does he
work that few beyond his intimate friends
know OF his good endeaVors.
AN HONEST ENEMY.
It is a comfort, when the Irish have 80
much brutality and dishonesty to contend
with, to think that they can point out at
least one honest opponent-one honorable
enemy. Such is Arthur Kavanagh, OF
Boris. Though he does good in secret, he
has never been known to strike a secret blow.
His convictions are opposed to the convic-
ions of his countrymen; but in such man
he Irish know how to make allowance for
mistaken opinions You will find scores of
politicians who prophesy that "Kavanagh
will one day be big man in the Home
Rule Parliament. He is only hanging out
ill he settles the land question fairly for all
parties" However it may be, the creator
# the land corporation-the man
Who has risen superior to ridi-
.ule and deformity-will be de-
,ided acquisition to any legislative
Parnell has said of him: Gas
o Mr.. Kavanagh-we ali know that he is
man OF genius-perhaps the only man of
,enius among the Irish Landlord party.
But it is wrong to call Mr.. Kavanagh q
Jnionist. He labors for the settlement Of
he lanG question, but he is not Unionist.
He is well known as a good
andlord. Some day the Mac
Iurrogh Kavanagh may be our honored
Home Secretary"
Mr.. Kavanagh owns two fine residences
Boris House in County Carlow and Bally-
agget Castle in County Kilkenny. De-
pite his deformity he has captured the
leart of one of the fair sex, and he has
arge family. In his youth he was fox
lunter, and he still trots along the
ountry roads in a quaint sort Of
addle he has invented for his peculiar
Il