the son of the head constable.

But a man in the town, to whom he had shown kindness, warned the head
constable of the attack, which in the end consisted of a few shots fired
by a ragged rabble of about three hundred, half of whom were
half-hearted, and the other half half-drunk.

The coastguards manned their boat and rowed off to a gunboat in the
harbour to ask for some marines; and the moment this was known to the
besiegers they dispersed. Some of them marched rather downcast towards
Killarney, and on the road they met a mounted policeman riding to warn
Cahirciveen of the attack which was to be made against the barracks, for
every movement of this silly rebellion was known to the Government.

They called on the man to stop and deliver up his despatches. He
declined to do so, and so soon as he had ridden on they shot him in the
back, wounding him badly.

He recovered, but was very shabbily treated by the Government, who only
awarded him a miserably small pension, a niggardly act which aroused
much dissatisfaction.

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Killarney, Doctor Moriarty, protested
strongly against the cowardice of the Fenians, who were afraid to face
one armed man, and waited until his back was turned before they shot
him.

However, as I have indicated, the Fenian movement was very
insignificant, and was known in all its aspects to the Government, which
dealt pretty roughly with it.