The Prince Albert statue — Mob in Ireland.
At an immense meeting held at the rotunda,
Dublin, on the evening of the 22d of February, by The O Donoghue and
Mr. Sullivan, of the
Nation, to protest against the erection of a statue to Prince Albert in College green, the
Fenlan Brotherhood stormed the platform, routed the chairman and committee, and after a desperate fight of fifteen minutes remained masters of the ground, waving a flag and flourishing a naked sword.
It is alleged that some of the combatants were the
American uniform.
The Manchester
Guardian publishes the following account of the affair:
‘
The rotunda at
Dublin was crowded on Monday night in response to an advertisement which appeared in some of the local papers, calling upon "Irish patriots" to assemble and protest against "the recent vote of the corporation of
Dublin, by which College green has been assigned away to King William III and Prince Albert, and the statue of
Henry Grattan excluded therefrom forever."
’
The following report of the proceedings is taken from the
Freeman's Journal: ‘
Mr. Peter Gill, having got on the table, endeavored to address the meeting, and, in the midst of the greatest noise and confusion, he was understood to say: We are assembling here to resent the deadly insult, and to resent the outrage on the feltings of the inhabitants of a beggared nation.--[Loud cheers] I beg to propose that
Mr. James Crotty do take the chair.
[Cheers]
Mr. James Crotty then took the chair.
The
O'Donoghue, M. P., who was received with loud cheers, having mounted the table, addressed the meeting as follows:
Mr. Chairman and fellow countrymen — you can very easily suppose that if I did not take a very deep interest in this movement I would not come from Kerry to be here this evening.
[Cheers.] I have attended several meetings in this room, and I venture to say that I never saw one so glorious and so magnificent as the present.
[Loud cheers.] There is one appeal which I would make to this meeting, and that is to support the authority of the chair.
’
Here the speaker was interrupted by loud cries from the body of the hail, from the gallery and from the platform, of "We won't have
Sullivan;" "We won't have
Sullivan; " "No more of Goula" There were also appeals made for "order, " and to the "chair," from some persons in the vicinity of
Mr. Sullivan, but the counter cries of "No more of Goula," etc, overbore them, and in a few moments the entire mass of the meeting became very much agitated, and after the greatest uprear and contusion had exhausted itself a little, The
O'Donoghue said: "I refuse to believe that the cries which have just been made, represent the feeling of this meeting." Here the speaker was again interrupted by tremendous shouts of "Yes, they do;" "Away with
Sullivan." --other cries of a similar character, mingled with some counter cheers and hissing.
This scene of disorder and tumult continued for some time, during which no one individual could be heard.
A slight lull in the storm having occurred, the
Rev Mr. Clarke called for three cheers for
Mr. Sullivan.
This was responded to with shouts of "No Goulas;" "We won't have Goula," immingled with cheers, groans and hisses.
The O' Donoghue again essayed to address the meeting, and, amid interruptions, continued — when I read the account of what passed in the corporation of the city of
Dublin [cheers and hisses] Immediately wrote to my friend,
Mr. Sullivan.
At the mention of the name the mass of the people in the body of the meeting and many on the platform seemed to become wild with excitement, and again were raised deafening shouts of "Goula, Goula, " "
Sullivan is a traitor, away with him," with counter cheers and cries of "order," "chair." The excitement of the immense mass which thronged the ball now increased to a fearful extent, as they swayed to and fro, continuing their cries of "Goula." On the platform several persons reechoed the shouts of "Goula, " and "away with
Sullivan," and all the efforts of the chairman were unable to obtain a hearing for The
O'Donoghue, who remained standing on the table in the hope of yet obtaining a hearing
Dr. Waters, of the
Morning News, also mounted the table and stood alongside The
O'Donoghue, and the two gentlemen waved their hands repeatedly and in an imploring manner, but the uproar and confusion never abated in the least, and amidst all the turmoil were still heard ringing cries of "Goula."
On the platform some person standing near
Mr. Sullivan struck a man who had rendered himself remarkable by shouting "Goula," and the blow was of course returned.
In an instant the platform was perfectly stormed by a number of stalwart men who had, from the beginning of the proceedings, ranged themselves along its cage, and a scene of dreadful confusion ensued.
The man who jumped on the platform made over to the person who had more loudly than others shouted "Goula," and he and others standing near to him were harried from the platform into the body of the hall.
The noise and uproar at this time were positively fearful, and the scene altogether baffles description.
The assailants of the platform were attacked in return — sticks were raised and blows struck, and during the melee the table at which the reporters had up to the last moment, with safety to their lives, remained, was smashed to pieces, and some of the reporters were swept down into the body of the room, where a scene of the most unparalleled disorder also prevailed.
The
O'Donoghue hastily left the platform, stating that he would no longer remain at the meeting, and with some difficulty he gained the ante-room,
Mr. A
M. Sullivan,
Morning News, Mr. T. D. Sullivan,
Nation, and
Dr. Waters,
Morning News, also precipitately left the platform, and, with several other persons, took refuge in the ante-room, where they remained for some time before they left the building.
Meanwhile a fierce contest raged both on the platform and in the body of the room, and the cries and shouts of "No more of Goula," "No more raitors," could be heard in the ante-room, where the parties who had convened the meeting were obliged to betake themselves for safety.
Mr. A. M. Sullivan very soon afterward got away in company with some clergymen.
The other gentlemen, including
Mr. John Martin, of
Loughlin;
Mr. Gill,
Mr. Crotty, the chairman;
Aldermen Tarpley and
Plunkett,
Mr. Lombard, J P, etc, did not again venture on the platform, which soon became crammed with persons who stormed it after the promoters of the meeting had fled, and indulged in much disorder and violence, extending even to the breaking of several of the seats.
For a considerable time the round room of the rotunda was the scene of a carnival of uproar and disorder, the like of which, it is no exaggeration to say, was never witnessed within the walls of that or any other building.
It was not till 10 ½ o'clock that the O'Donoghue and other gentlemen, who left the platform at 8 ½ o'clock, and the masses who filled the rotunda, were completely got out of it, even by the assistance of the police, whose aid had to be evoked to wind up the proceedings of the meeting, and thus terminated the "monster meeting in the rotunda."
