The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-05-01

eA"N A1ic icA6HOOrS were pTey6Q upon
BY an army OF 1.-THE Proctors. And
not only so, but poor Mcguire and his
neishbors knew full we'll that the
presence Of "Papists" was regarded
with disfavor amidst the hills and
valleys of Antrim. Daily he witnessed
the most heartless evictions. A pea
SAINT died, and instead Of the tenancy
passing to his son or his widow, the
weeping niourners were thrown upon
the roadside ere the body of the dead
had been long consigned to the earth.
and the alien planter was installed in
the holding.
Night had it's terrors for the: Cath
ole peasant of Ulster in those days
terrors which would BATTLE the powers
OF the most graphic pen to depict in
all their gloomy horror. Under the
cover of darkness bands Of murderers
went abroad and perpetrated, without
fear of punishment, the NEST brutal
outrages upon the unhappy Catholic
serfs.
These bands called, themselves by
various fantastic names-"Hearts Of
Oak" Hearts Of Steel" Peep O. Day
Boys" and the like. The counties of
Armagh, Down and Fermanagh were
overrrun by these murderous ruffians.
From Scotland come many and from
England not few" twrote an Ulster
Protestant writer at an earlier date.l
generally the scum of both nations.
who from death or breaking or fleeing
from justice or seeking shelter, come
hither, hoping to be free Of mans JUS
tice in land where there was moth
ing or but little as yet Of the fear
of God. On all hands. Atheism
increased and disregard of God: in
iquity aboundedE with contention
fighting. murder, adultery"
Such was the class from which these
bands of terrorists we're recruited. At
midnight they fired the thatch of the
Catholic PEASANTS home; they slew
the men and they committed the most
unspeakable outrages upon the women
and children. one concrete illustra-
ton will throw sufficient light upon
their character. At Ballymacnab, in
the County Armagh, band surrounds
ed at midnight the house in which
dwelt an aged priest, his widowed sis
ter and her child; they slew the vener-
able priest, murdered the poor lady,
and when light of morning broke over
that desecrated Catholic home a young
girl, bereft Of her reason, was the only
survivor Of the horrors of the night
Such were the times in which the
poor Catholic peasant, Mcguire, lived
and died amid the glens of Antrim.
And when he was; dead, his widow and
her little children. were thrown upon
the roadside. and the little holding in
which the peasant had given his life
work was handed over by: the landlord
to Scottish planter.
The name of that widow. so the
story runs. was Molly Mcguire.
F'riendless now and homeless she was.
with her children round about her. The
day for her was pregnant with: misery
and sorrow: the shadows of night
were charged with unspeakable ter
rors; but there we're men still left in
Antrim-lnen who did not call them
selves Hearts Of Oak" or "Hearts of
Steel or peep q Day Boys" but sim
pie Catholic peasants. with hearts big
enough to think = Of other peoples
troubles as we'll as their own. And
there came night soon after the wi
dow's eviction when the house where
the Scottish planter now dWelt was
surrounded by band Of men. And
they broke into the planters house.
and when the planter challenged them
who they were mans voice answered
and said: I'VE are the friends of Mol
ly Mcguire" And they put that planter
down on his knees and they made him
swear that he would quit the little
holding. and he did quit 1t on the NOR
row. And the widow got back her own
for no planter dared to take the farm
afterwards.
Such, briefly and disjointedly told, is
the story of Molly Mcguire a page
from the dark history of the Land
War in Ireland. And If the name of
the Widow Mcguire is not to be found,
like that of Captain Boycott. enshrined
within the covers of an English die
tionary. the tale is one which, like
many another. can be told without
bringing the blush Of shame to the
cheek Of Catholic peasant or any
genuine Irish Nationalist.
..: A Pacific Conquest.
Talk about a "nacific conuueSt!"