The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-26

on August u. the day he was arrested
in Cork.
After almost ten weeks OF refusing
food, when it began to appear that the
Lord Mayor was approaching the end, he
was given liquid nourishment> by the
prison doctors druing periods Of uncon-
seriousness. This fact appeared in state
ments by both the Irish Self Determine
ton League, which had been issueing
regular bulletins on MacSwiney's condi-
ton, and by the Home Office. The
leagues statement showed the Lord
Mayor as becoming extremely indignant
upon regaining consciousness and reaiiz-
ing that he had been fed.
"They triclsed me. and ] didn't know
it" he exclaimed. The leagues bulletin
on October 81 contained this statement:
1T shoulr be made clear that the meat
extract given the Lord Mayor during his
deiirium on the sixty-ninth day OF his
fast was the first nourishment which
had passed his lips since his arrest on
August H." ~
With regard TO the theological aspects
of the Lord Mayors hunger strike and
that of the Irish prisoners in the Cork
Jail it was stated in Rome despatch
on October II that Pope Benedict had
these hunger striking prisoners to the
Congregation of the Holy Office. His
Holiness had received many urgent ap
peals to make some pronourcement re-
gardng these cases from persons of OPP
posite viewpoints. imploring the Pontiff
TO reach Numerically opposed decisions
on the question whether the deaths OF
the prisoners as a result of their hunger
strike would make them suicides.
Ia C-s.stt. al tn1 ....<
Fem member from Cork to the British
Parliament in 1918. but never took his
seat. He was present at the first session
Of the Irish Parliament in 1919, when
the establishment of the republic was
confirmed, and was elected Lord Mayor
of Cork in 1920. II
For Free ireland When n Boy.
Terence MacSwiney was the personifi-
cation OF that type OF Irishmen who
ever AYERS he holds in the foreground
the dream of an Irish Republic. He be-
gan his fight in childhood, when he gave
his allowance of three pence n week to
the Kanturk and Mallmow brigade for
the chest of the army, which he hoped
would some day free Ireland. He trod
political military and literary saths for
what was to him the dominating cause
rative land which he loved so dearly. by
giving his life in defence of his principle.
MacSwiney was born In 'the rebel
city" of Cork, in which he finally rose
tc the post Of Sim Fein executive. At
the time of his death he was thirty-nine
years old. As boy he was marked
for his reserved, almost shy. disposition
Later he developed a love for books and
read extensively. AT an early age he
made his first attempts to write fiction
Upon leaving school. however, he worked
for commercial firm for short time
but disliked this work and gave it up
He continued to apply himself to his
studies, however, and finally took the
B. a. degree at the Royal University of
Ireland. Then he abandoned trade and
accepted post as teacher OF COM
inercial subjects offered to him by the |
Cork County Council. He continued in
this work until the outbreak of the |
European war an 1914.
Wrote Verse and Plays.
His first literary work was published
In 1907 and was in the form of volume
Of poetry called The Music Of Free
DOM" 1t was issued anonymously. |
Later he wrote four plays. They were
THE Wooing OF Emir'' and THE Last
Warriors OF Coolc," called hero plays;
1.-THE Holocaust" dealing with the So
cial problem. and manners Masketh
Men, n comedy. About the time Of the
revolution sixteen volumes of Sim Fein
poems by him were published secretly,
a few volumes of which are now being
published openly. They show some tall
ent. but more clearly reveal that the
guiding star of this man. was the free
dom of his native land from English
rule. A poem called Teach Us How to
Die" was published by the Freemdn's
journal in Dublin in the height of
MacSwineys hunger strike and was
such an uncanny picture of MacSwi-
ney's own case that his friends believed
he had a presentiment be would some
day give his life for the cause he held !
SO dear.
As a child MacSwiney listened to tales
of that great day" when the army OF
disbanded Irish-American soldiers after |
the civil war turned their thoughts |
across the Atlantic and dreamed OF a
new republic In their homeland He was
among the first to take an active inter- |
est In the Sim Fein and came actively |