The Irish standard., 1902-07-19
SMITH BARRY OF TIppEpARY,

we nave feInurkeu on more than
one occasion, heretofore, that there
never yet was an instance in which
any individual had struck, Or at
tempted to strike, foul blow ut Ire
land, or the cause Of the Irish people,
but, sooner or later, the hand Of Prov
ldence was made manifest, in punish
ment Of the bastard deed, says the
lrish-American A marked illustration
of the correctness of this position has
been afforded by an incident arising
out OF the sudden illness of King Ed
ward Of England, and the consequent
holding-over OF the Coronation Hon
ors," which were to have been dis
tributed on the occasion of his being
publicly crowned.
In the list of those who-to use the
heraldic phrase-were to have been
elevated to the peerage," in signaliz-
alton of that event, appears the name
of Smitl-Barry, the notorious evictor
of Tipperary, who was to have been
created Baronet, in recognition of
his services-or, rather, his iynomin-
GUS defeat, in his venture-in the
cause of Tory-landlordism in Ireland,
| some years ago. Our readers will re-
member how he, then, set himself up
| to check the movement inauyuratel
by William O'Brien and Michael Da-
wi of Ia, nf
Campaign" against the lack-renting
Tory landlords.
OF these latter, Smith-Barry consti-
tuted himself the champion; and an
nounccd that, unless the people gave
in, and abandoned the position they
had talcn,-cspccially in his own dis
trict (Which included the old town OF
Tpperary, and yielded him a yearly
income, as he termed it, Of twenty
thousand pounds of the most punctu-
ally paid rents in all Ircland') he
would open an unsparing land war,
and evict every soul within the scope
and power of his lordship.
1t was the crisis Of the National
struggle, just when Gladstone was be-
ing forced to acknowledge the justice
of the aspirations of the Irish people,
which the Tories sought to crush.
Smith-Barry and his threats were set
ut defiance; and he proceeded to make
good his announced purpose of evict-
ing the inhabitants Of Tipperary, and
razing their dwellings;-but, he was
signally beaten; for, new Tippcrary
ut once sprang up beside the ruins
of the old town. and, while the people
resumed their former avocations,
Smith Barry not only lost his ''punc-
tually paid rents" but he did not even
receive the peerage he coveted, which
it seems, was the extinct title OF Lord
Barrymore, on which concession the
Ulster King-at-Arms had put veto, rs
there was Il bend-snister in the an
cestral record of the arch-evictor,
which could not Ike overlooked.
At the present time, however, with
|
berlain, who does not mind Il little
matter of crookelness,-toward
which, indeed, lie has Il sympathetic
inclination,-it looked as though
Smith Barry was about to reach tin
desired goal, when the prize was
again snatched from his eager hand
by the royal illness.
1t would be Il curious instance,-sh;,l
we say of poetic justice,-if, in the ell
forced interval Of King Edward:
slow convalesccncc. events should ST
shape themselves as to work out an
other disappointment for the ruthlcs.
destroyer of Old Tpperary. Even :
trifling accident might effect such !:
result.-as Mr.. Chamberlain came neal
demonstrating, few days ago. But
the fact that SmithBarry's name was
among the foremost in the list OF
Tory coronation honorists shows yer!
clearly the position that party occupies
> towards Ireland and the Irish people
in any case.
Since the appearance of the forego
ing article in our New York contcm
porary. King Edward has been graci
ously pleased to confer a pee""ge of
the United Kingdom upon the evicting
landlord. the Right Hon. Smith Barry
J He is the sort of man that the Tory
ministry Of England delights to honor
1t is Lord Salisbury and not King EG
ward who is responsible fer the honor
conferred on the champion Irish eN-
terminator. The more obnoxious
Smith Barry becomes in Ireland the
more popular will he be in England.
AS one Irish paper truly says, in the
agrarian controversy in Ireland the