The Irish standard., 1915-05-15
ENGLISH AUTHOR AssAlLs
AMERICAN A. o. II.
(Continued from page ~

CONTINUED from page ~
ince of Leinster. According to these
historians it was then that Rory Oge
O'Moore organized the defenders in the
county of Kildare to combat and fight
the objects of this proclamation.
With the clergy he made arrange
ments for the erection of rude affairs
in the wild recesses of the mountains,
and hither the faithful f1ocked to Sc.
cure the ministrations of religion
and to hear Holy mass.
These far-off days, hallowed by sui.
fering and sorrow, make searching ap.
peal to the hearts of Catholic Ireland
They were, in truth, the Calvary OF
Patrick's flock, and they fashioned
with blood and tears spiritual and
national strength which has sustained
the race all through the intervening
years to resist the assaults against
both faith and fatherland.
The Penal Code, of which this proc.
lamation of Sussex was but one of
the many evil off-shoots, was aptly
described by Edmund Burke: THE
ingenuity of the human intellect new.
er devised an instrument so calculat-
ed to exterminate race or degrade a
nation as the system of British tyran-
ny did to the Irish people," And it
was to avert and defeat the conse-
quences of this hideous system of le-
CALLED outrage and murder that the
defenders, the precursors and pio-
neers Of the A. o. H., were called into
being. Rory's messengers went
amongst the Catholics to inform them
where mass was next to be heard.
His men guarded the entrances to
the glens, caves, or other remote
spots where the Holy sacrifice was
being offered up, keeping watch
against the approach of the priest
hunters. Amidst the cold and the
SHOWS of winter did these valiant
sons of Patrick pursue that noble
work, keeping the fires of the faith
unquenched, and protecting the
priest, upon whose devoted head the
price of a wolf was laid. Mullagh-
mast in 1877 was the scene of a fright
full outrage at the hands of Sir Fran
els Cosby, commander of the British
troops in LEX and Offally. An inge-
niOus methods, both short and sharp,
occurred to this gentleman of dispos-
ing of some of the troublesome Irish.
Under pretence OF great friendship
he invited the chief families of the
Irish clans to grand feast in the
rath of Mullaghmast.
The O'Dolans, O'Kellys, O'Moores,
and others responded to the invita-
ton, and as they entered the rath
they were butchered in cold blood.
This scheme of Cosbys had the full
knowledge and approval Of the Lord
Deputy of Ireland. Sir Henry Sidney.
One hundred and eighty of
O'Moore's kinsmen were mastered on
that day. But the fiendish Cosby
paid dearly for his treachery. Rorys
men tracked him and his assassins
night and day and carried out to the
uttermost the richly-merited venge.
ance of the outraged clansmen. Glen.
mature was the place and Feach Nc
Hugh O'Byrne the chief figure of one
bloody encounter where the aveng-
ing sword of the defenders fell swift
and heavy on Cosby and his army.
Rory O'Moore's leadership of the
defenders ends in 1878, in which year
the chroniclers record that he met his
death at the hands of Brian Oge son
of Brian McGilla Patrick. His sue.
cessor in the chieftancy of the or.
ganizatioD was Donald O'Drlscoll, un
til December Gath, 1894. when accom-
panying priest, Father OConnor, to
place near Bray where midnight
mass was to be celebrated, he, with
six of his men, were attacked by a
body of English soldiers, and Donald
and his companions were killed after
a desperate struggle. His head after
wards was conveyed to the Tower OF
London, where it adorned spike fol-
some time. Owen, the son of Rory
Oge, succeeded Donald as chief, and
pursued with strenuous eagerness the
task of overthrowing the foreigner in
the rule of Ireland. He was with
Hugh O'Neill at the siege of Armagh
AS a recognition of the defenders
conspicuous bravery in the battle OF
Clontibret, they were dispatched by
{ O'Neill to lay siege to Porteloise, a
fort held by the English in LEX.
After five days siege the fort sur,
rendered. The defenders now Joined
\ O'Neill in the attacks on Portmon
Castle, and continued with him until
he droye the English and Sotch from
the West of Ireland.
The st. Vincent de Paul Society is
Il an association Of Catholic 1avmen