The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-04-23
IRISH EVICTION CASE.
Gets Into the Supreme Court and
Makes an Interesting Story.

The story of how Patrick Lydon was
evicted from house and home by his
mother-in-law in the town of Courval-
la, parish of Rehoon. county Galway,
Ireland, to make room for his Sister-in-
law, Maggie Folan and her affianced,
Andrew Devaney, and how Maggie F'o-
Ian afterward broke her promise to
Andrew Devaney and married Mar
shall county, Kan, school teacher is
told in the evidence in a case appealed
to the supreme court today.
The title is Maggie Folan versus T. J.
Madden, and it is a fight of cousins
over 100 acres of valuable farm land in
Marshall county. When Mark Madden,
a wealthy resident of ST. Bridget, that
county, died on October q, 1895 he left
a will bequeathing 100 acres of the finest
land in his estate to T. J. Madden, his
brothers son. But no sooner was the
will probated than a Marshall county
attorney produced a deed executed by
Madden two days before the will was
made giving the land to Maggie Folan,
his sisters child, then residing in Kill
lagoOla, county Galway, Ireland
Madden took possession of the land
under the will, but shortly afterward
Maggie F'olan appeared on the scene
fresh from Ireland and demanded the
property. Her demand was refused
and she brought proceedings in the dis
trict court to gain possession of it. In
reply to her petition Madden, while adj
uniting the priority of the deed, con-
tested her right to take possession of
the land under the provisions of the
alien land law. To back up his reply
he set about to prove that his cousin
was an alien, pure and simple, and in
doing so opened a short chapter of Gal
way romance.
Dispositions taken in Ireland and
testimony given by Maggie FOlan show
that she was born in the parish of
Rehoon on a date she is not in posses
sion of, and that she lived there until
1891. In that year she came to Amer
lea, and Andrew Devaney.a young man
of the same parish, to whom it was
known she was engaged, accompanied
her. Devaney returned to Ireland at
once but Maggie remained in this coun-
try doing house work in Washington
until 1895 when she too returned to Gal
way. Then it was that arrangements
were made for her marriage to De-
Vaney.
Maggie's mother wanted her favorite
daughter to live with her after the
marriage, and the only way that this
could be accomplished was for her old
er daughter and her husband, Patrick
Lydon, then living with her, to seek
other quarters. Lydon objected to leav-
ing the homestead, and Maggie'S moth
er brought eviction proceedings against
him. He was thrown out of house and
home, and preparations were made for
Maggie'S wedding
But about that time Maggie received
word from the Marshall county attor-
ney that she had been left land worth
thousands of dollars by her uncle Mark.
That settled it. From that day Andy
wasn't good enough to tie Maggie's
shoe strings She ''cut him cold'' and
sailed for America to take possession
of what was considered in Galway her
fortune
Shortly after the litigation was start
ed Maggie married James Hughes, a
school teacher of Marshall county.
When the case came to trial it was de-
cided in her favor, Judge Spillman
holding that her marriage settled the
alien question. The case is appealed by
Madden
The record }of the case shows that
Maggie Hughes, nee FOlan made a re-
markable witness When asked if she
was engaged to Andrew DeVaney, she
replied, mo, not that I know off, and
When then asked 'if she wouldn't know
II Sne was engaged" answered, Yes,
l thlnk SO, but I'm not quite sure