| Title: | A letter to the Northern Star Concerning Father Mc Mahon. |
|---|---|
| ID | 3986 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | 1861-70/26 |
| Year | 1868 |
| Sender | an Uslterman |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | N.Ireland |
| Destination | N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Editor of The Northern Star |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | letter to newspaper re Father McMahon |
| Source | The Northern Star, 23rd June 1868. |
| Archive | The Linenhall Library, Belfast. |
| Doc. No. | 9409194 |
| Date | 23/06/1868 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | LET |
| Log | Document added by LT, 09:09:1994. |
| Word Count | 450 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | FATHER Mc MAHON. --------- TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR. DEAR SIR, - I trust you will excuse me for returning to the subject of the alleged flogging of Father Mc Mahon, now a convict in Kingston Penitentiary, Canada. For the sake of the priestly character which he bears, as also for the sake of humanity, I would be glad I could believe that the report of the horrible outrage lately committed on him is untrue. But I maintain that Mr. Adderley's denial of the statement in the House of Commons does not settle the question. His indignant denial has no official weight whatever. I have taken the trouble of searching the London Times to ascertain the precise words of his answer to Mr. Rearden, and they clearly prove that the contradiction of the report can by no means be called authoritative. Here they are: - "Mr. Adderley said that since he had seen the question on the notice paper, upon which it had appeared that day, for the first time, he had caused all the American papers in the office to be searched, and found that a Fenian convict had been punished for reading a copy of the Irish American. - The Rev. [Reverend?] Mr. Mc Mahon was a Fenian priest who had been let off being hanged, and was confined in one of the Canadian prisons, and he (Mr. Adderley) could find no foundation whatever for such a report as that to which the honourable gentleman had alluded." From what source does Mr. adderley derive his information which enables him to rebuke Mr. Rearden for proposing his question in the House of Commons? - Has he had any official communication from the Canadian Government relative to the report? No such thing. Only that day, for the first time, his attention was drawn to the matter, and then, to be able to meet the question, he "had caused all the American papers in the office to searched," and, from a hasty perusal of these papers, he undertakes to indignantly deny the report, and to "snub" Mr. Rearden. I repeat this "authoritative contradiction," as you are pleased to term it, does not satisfy me, and I am very much mistaken if it will satisfy the Irish people. Even granting that Father Mc Mahon was not flogged, he is undergoing unmerited punishment in his prison pen. Cardinal Cullen appealed to the British Government to spare the life of General Burke. Is there any influential bishop or layman to raise his voice on behalf of a priest, with a grand old Irish name, who has already more than expiated any offence he may have been guilty of for his supposed complicity with the Fenian movement? - I remain, dear sir, yours sincerely AN ULSTERMAN. --------------------------- |
