The Irish standard., 1898-09-24
DlLLON's BRILLIANT ADDRESS
Celebrating a Famous Victory Of
Earl of Tyrone.
THE RENOWNED HUGH O'NElLL
Defeated Bagnal at the Head of
EliZabeth's Army.

On Sunday, Aug. 4, really magnifi-
cent meeting of Ulster Nationalists as
sembled at Bagnalsbridge, the site of
the great battlefield of Beul-an-Atha-
Buidhe, OF the Mouth of the Yellow Ford
to celebrate the great victory of the
Irish troops, under Hugh O'Neill and
of August, 1898. The attendance at the
meeting assumed enormous proportions
The Counties Armagh, Tyrone, Mona
CHAN, Antrim and Down supplied con-
tingents, and the assemblage which
gathered on the hill overlooking the
battlefield was not merely vast in it's
numbers, but was thoroughly represen-
tative of the Nationalist of these five
counties. AS at the great demonstration
in Dublin on Aug. Is, the Belfast con-
tingent was the most notable, eight or
nine banners, two bands, and more than
500 stalwart men constituting the north
ern capitals contribution to the demon
stration. The meeting was promoted
and organized by the Armagh '9S Cen
tenary club, and they went we'll second
ed by the clubs of Tyrone and Armagh
county generally, as we'll as Of Mona
CHAN. The proceedings from first to
last We're characterized by the greatest
enthusiasm. The long, five-mile march
from Armagh to the meeting place in a
blazing sun in no way diminished the
spirit of the people.
At half-past 12 on Sunday the process
sion started for Bagnalsbridge, where
the commander of the British troops
was slain as he turned in flight, and
there on the hill above the bridge, over
looking the scene of the battle. with
a glimpse of the village of Benburb,
where Owen Roe fought another great
battle, the meeting was held. The pro-
cession exceeded a mile in length, and
the people occupied the entire breadth
of the road. At Allstragh the "Bloody
Lonan," or laneway, in which the fleeing
English were slaughtered in great num-
bers, was crossed, and the Blackwater
and the site of the Yellow Ford, from
which the battlefield is named, came into
view. The procession marched in SER
ried array. At the head was the Ar
magh contingent, 1000 strong, with
their bands, the men wearing green
hats. Mr.. Dillon, M. P, was greeted with
loud and prolonged cheering at every
point on the route to and from the meet
Ing. The meeting opened shortly after
3 o'clock. Mr.. Dillon, M. F., was intro
duced by the chairman, and his rising
was the signal for a great outburst of
cheering which lasted several minutes.
When quiet had been restored he said:
Nationalists of Ulster, it is privilege
and pleasure to take part in the pro-
ceedings today, to stand before this vast
assemblage of the descendants and the
heirs of those who, at the bloody Yellow
Ford, saw the red banner of England go
down in battle, and who represent that
race who since that day has suffered at
the hands of the invader and the enc
mics of the Irish people every form of
persecution. Through three centuries
every form of persecution was used to
exterminate the Irish race and here you
are today, triumphant on the field where
5oO years ago your ancestors fought so
great a fight, and in spite of all the op-
pressions of the foe, the descendants of
the clansmen of that day, year by year,
and generation by generation, beat back
the enemies of Ireland, and even in the
year in which. we live another step has
been taken towards restoring to the de-
scendants of the race that power which
God meant they should have in the land
Of their fathers. (Cheers.) And here
you are today to declare as one man tha:
we will never take our hands from the
plow, and will never rest until that task
is accomplished, till the last remnant of
the hated ascendancy is obliterated from
Ireland, and till the men of Ireland,
who are represented in their thousands
on this hill today, are recognized as the
sole masters of this ancient land.
(Cheers.) We are come together today
to celebrate two anniversaries. In other
parts Of Ireland they are celebrating this
year the anniversary of the struggle of
1898. You here in this region celebrate
not only the anniversary of 1898, but the
anniversary also of 1898. CHEERS for
Red Hugh.) You have come to cele-
brate the day when, in the words of the
old Irish poet, High the shout of battle
rose on fields where freedoms torch
still burns" We are here to celebrate
a day when for, may say, the only time
in the history of our country, the forces
Of England and of Ireland met in battle
pretty evenly matched. Bagnal, at the