The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-05-12

clent ORDER OF H1bernianS is the oldest
and strongest society of the Irish race.
1t was organized in Ireland for the
preservation of the Catholic Churh
and the protection of the priest and
shoomaster, who We're hunted like
wolves and had a price set on their
heads, as did those who sheltered or
otherwise aided these victims Of Eng
lish barbarity.
There Is some doubt az to the time
and place of the organization of the
! Order Some authorities set the date
as 1912, when Pope Urban the Eighth
sent his blessing to the Irish people
and encouraged them in their fight for
God and country. Again it is given as
/ 1851, when it is said to have been form
ed in Connaught after Cromwelrs in
famous edict Of ITO He'll or to Con-
naught." According to some hfstori-
ans it was organized in 1850, by Rory
Oge O'MOOTe, in the County of Kildare.
In that year the Earl of Essex issued
a proclamation making death the pen
atty to any priest found in the province
( of Leinster. 1t was then that Rory
/ Oge O'Moore founded the society call
| ed the Defenders. He made arrange
ments with the priests to erect rude
affairs in the mountain Businesses, and
there have the people attend the Holy
/ Sacrifice of the Mass. Rory sent out
| fleet footed and trusted men to inform
| the Catholics where the priest would
celebrate Mass, and while the service
was being held placed sentinels on the
hill-tOps TO give warning to the wor-
, shippers OF the approach Of their foes.
/ The Defenders found a place to shell
I ter the hunted priest. Sometimes it
would be in an isolated cabin in the
mountain glens, where he would be
welcomed with g. Cead Mile Failtha,
regardless of the danger incurred by
such an act; and often it would be in
the cold and dismal caves in the noun
tain6.
| Rory Oge O'Moore fell by the hand
of Brian Oge Patrick on June 30, 1913.
After his death Donald O'Driscon was
| chosen chief of the Defenders, who
harass the English until Dec. "a, 1895,
when, with six of his men he was es-
/ corting Father O'Connor to a place near
Bray, County Wicklow, where the
| priest was TO celebrate a midnight Mass
The Defenders were surprised by Eng
lish soldiers and after a gallant and
bloody fight We're slain. Thus died the
pioneers of the OrdAr-fghting for
Church and country.
| Donald O'DriscolI was succeeded as
chief Of the Defenders, by Owen
/ O'Moore, son of the first chief. He con-
tinued on the same lines of his father,
besides assisting the old Celtic chiefs
in their efforts to drive the brutal in
vaders out of Ireland In subsequent
events the Defenders distinguished
| themselves. After Ireland had again
come under the dominion of England,
| they took to the mountains and con-
tinued to defy their enemies. O'Ioore
then increased the membership of the
organization by uniting with other
Irishmen, who, like himself, refused to
submit to British rule. Branches
sprang UP all over the northern and
western parts of the country. They
were known by different names, such
as Tories, Rapperees, Defenders, etc.
Through treaohery O'Moore fell into
the hands of the English, and was
hung, drawn, and quartered, on May
16 1919. The Defenders continued in
existence until they became a part Of
an oath-bound organization known as
the Confederation of Kilkenny. The
first annual meeting of the Confedera-
ton waa held in Kilkenny City on
October II, 1912. The delegates repre-
scented four-fifths of the people Of Ire
land. They formed the national gov
eminent under whose legislature the
Catholics struggled for three years for
the right to worship God according to
their conscience. In 1912, the Defend
ers lost their identity as a national
organization. They became part of the
Confederationists, but as an organiza-
ton they continued to exist, and were
assigned to the command of Pheiim
ONeiL
Those of the Defenders left after the
four years war united under the lead
came a formidable body in sheltering
and protecting the Soggarth Aroon.
After the Catholics were granted the
right to worship God, unmolested, in
1745 the Defenders constituted them
selves the champions of the prosecuted
farmers. They organized branches
throughout the north and west of Ire
land. Their objects were to aid the
laborer in securing his wages, to pre-
vent evictions and to stop land-grab-
bling and the putting up of farms and
houses to the highest bidder. In 1850
kindred organizations made their APP
pearance in the south of ireland, and
were known as White Boys, Jewellers,
etc. Some years later it became neces-
sary for the Catholics to combine for
self-protection against their enemies,
among whom were the Orangen1en.
The Defenders of the north and the
White Boys of the south Joined hands
They used two pieces of ribbon as the
symbol of their organization-green
denoting unity, and red, blood for
blood. This organization rendered
valuable aid to the Catholics in their
struggles with the Orangemen.
Branches of the Ribbonmen sprang
up in England and Scotland, where
they were known as the Hibernia So
ciety and the Funeral society, as the
name Ribbonmen had been outlawed
by the government of ENGLAND. In 1926