The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-11-22

TIE FIGHT I'm TIPPERARY...

TIE FIGHT In TIPPERARY.
The Tale Of Gallant Tipperary Graphically
Narrated BY Vim. O. Brien IN Boston.
In his speech in Boston VIM. O'Brien
described the war in Tpperary to a
sympathetic and enthusiastic audience
in the following thrilling words:
Our mission and our purpose here is
summed up in that one word-Tipperary.
Tipperary crystalizes all the insolence Of
true Irish landlord1sm. all the brutality
Of coercion, and all the heroism with
which coercion has been met and bat
tied by the Irish patriots. Tipperary'
expresses in one wcrd the inextinguish-
able passion of Irish nationality and the
1ndnmitable determination to fight for
it. The great English leader of the
Liberal hosts-Mr. Gladstone the
first of his recent speeches in Midloth-
ian, declared that you might search his
tory in vain for an instance in which a
whole population threw themselves vol
unfairly into struggle so unselfish in
it's origin, SO stainless in it's progress, in
volving sacrifices so vast and displaying
spirit SO absolutely unconquerable as
the people of Tipperary have been dis
playing during the past twelve months
against odds which I verify believe
would have daunted the hearts of any
other people on the face of the globe.
T will tell you very briefly what is the
story of Tipperary, and it is story that
I venture to assert will be told for many
day and for many an age around Irish
firesides, SO long as there are Irish
hearts that thrill at the names of Sars-
field or Of Limerick. What is the story
of Tipperary What is the origin of the
fight there The tenants on the Ponson-
by estate, vast estate in Cork, were
among the first who forced the govern
ment to pass in 1887 land bill which
they had rejected with scorn and insult
when it was proposed by Parnell in 1886.
They yielded Oh the question of justice,
but they and the land ords determined
that in the interest Of Irish landlordism
it was necessary to make examples OF
the tenants whose gallantry had forced
them to yield. What did they do Those
tenants, the Justice OF whose cause was
the very groundwork and Justification of
the act OF 1857, were deliberately exclud-
ed from the benefits of. that act, which
their own sacrifices and their own gal
lantry had won. The landlords and the
government combined and conspired to
ruin those men, to put them outside OF
the pale of the law, hunt them down
like wild beasts, and set them up az
scarecrows to terrify the Irish people
from over again attempting to defy the
law of landlordism or of government.
The Ponsonby tenants were among the
men marked out for destruction. Now
that was the issue that was deliberately
raised by Mr. Smith-Barry. The case Of
the Ponsonby men seemed desperate.
Evictions were beginning. Mr.. Smith
Barry announced that he would clear
out the entire population OF that estate,
more than 1900 souls. There seemed &c
be no prospect for them but ruin and
determination, whoa suddenly the MN
of Tipperary rose up and cried Glands
Off" They said th@se men have fought
our battle and the battle of Ireland. 1t
| is because they fought it successfully
that you are alb ,ut to exterminate them,
to ruin them. If you lay 6ager on the
Ponsouby tenants you will have to
reckon With every tenant Of your own in
Tlpperafy. Tipperary is one of the
richest districts in ireland; these Tippe-
Rary men had enormous interests in their
business, but they said Eve will risk it
all, We will sacrifice it al, we will leave
your streets, your farms vacant, we VIII
make your estates leper settlement
that nobody will touch. We will fine
yon 100000 year for your DEVILS work
on the Ponsonby estate. And if you are
| rich and powerful, aud the government
behind you is rich and powerful, you
will find that the men Of Tipperary are
as stubborn men Rs you. and that we
will stand and fall by our countrymen
on the Ponsonby estate" That is the
story of Tipperary' That is what the
promised Mr.. Smith Barry that they
would do, That is what they have done,
most g1oriously and most wonderfully
done, in the teeth, verify believe, OF
such combination OF English gold and
of English coercions as no people In al
the world ever before contested, and
contested successfully. All that they
ask for is fair play-all that they ask for
is that the government should stand in
different between landlord and tenant.
But they propose, remember, to break
no law. They said "rhere are your
lands, your houses and your town; let
us see whether you can do better with