ALLEGED FENIANISM IN MONAGHAN.
[From our own Reporter.]
MONAGHAN, MONDAY EVENING.
This morning, at eleven o'clock, Colonel Leslie,
M.P., Lord Lieutenant of the County of Monaghan,
with E. W. Lucas, Esq., D.L., Castleshane, and
- Green, Esq., R.M., sat in the Court House,
Monaghan, for the purpose of investigating the
charges of alleged Fenianism which have been
preferred against the five men arrested on Monday
morning last, named Patrick Conlan, Peter Dugan,
James Agnew, John Lennon, and Edward Roche.
The County Inspector of Constabulary and Sub-
Inspector McKelvey were present. The preceedings
were conducted in private, and it is not yet known
whether the prisoners have been remanded or
acquitted. It is believed that this morning a
communication was received by the authorities from
the Law Advisers with regard to the prisoners, but
its contents have not been divulged. Up to four
o'clock this evening the prisoners had not been
removed from the jail, and it was thought that if
evidence were to be given the informations could
be taken in the jail, where the prisoners are
confined. To-day the usual weekly market was held
in Monaghan, and the respectable inhabitants
thought it would be a most injudicious thing to
escort the prisoners through the crowded streets
from the prison to the Court House.
With regard to the sixth prisoner in custody,
D. J. Monaghan, who describes himself as a major in
the Federal army, very little additional information
can be obtained. He is detained in jail on remand,
and it is possible he may be again brought before
the magistrates to-morrow, or in a few days, for
further examination. The prisoner, it appears,
took up his residence in the Western Arms Hotel
on Sunday, the 17th December last. His movements
in the neighbourhood since that time up to the
time of his arrest were frequently watched by the
police. On Thursday last, when Sub-Inspector
McKelvey and Head-Constable Trimble entered his
apartments in the hotel, the prisoner was busily
engaged in sketching out a map of the surrounding
district, on which were shown some prominent
positions. When the police entered, the prisoner
quietly put his pencil behind his ear, and invited
them to have a glass of wine with him, which was,
of course, declined. " Major" Moynahan [Monaghan?]
was then told that he should consider himself under
arrest, an intimation which appeared to surprise
him very much. He is gentlemanly in his bearing.
He stated that he was an American officer, and that
he would communicate with the American Consul, either
in Belfast or Dublin. Subsequently the prisoner
was committed to jail. His luggage, which was not
searched at the time, was allowed to remain in his
room, the door of which was locked and sealed by the
police. A policeman has since then remained in the
room, and a guard is constantly kept up on the
passage outside. Yesterday a rumour was circulated
that some person had succeeded in entering the room
by means of the chimney, and had carried away a
number of documents belonging to "Major" Moynahan
[Monaghan?]. To-day, in order to set this report
at rest, Sub-Inspector McKelvey and Head-Constable
Trimble broke the seal on the door, and entered the
room, when they found that nothing had been disturbed.
All the articles belonging to their prisoner remained
as they had been left by them. Police are continually
on duty in the hotel.
On Saturday evening a telegram was received by the
quartermaster of the Monaghan Militia, from the
quartermaster in Enniskillen Barrack, requesting him
to have the barracks in this town made ready to
receive a company of infantry, comprising 46 rank and
file. Accordingly, the staff of the militia regiment
who generally occupy the barracks were obliged to
remove, and the place was made ready to be handed over
to the charge of the " regulars." It was expected
that they would arrive in Monaghan to-day but it seems
the order has been countermanded for the present, and
it is not known when the military will take possession
of the barracks.
The excitement of last week has subsided in a great
degree, but self-protective measures are being adopted
by numbers of the inhabitants.
(Transcribed by James Tuff.)
