The incitements to resist the law now so common in
Ireland, have produced another murder. An occupying owner near Ballycastle, County Clare, named Sexton, refused to restore an evicted tenant to some fields upon the farm. It was therefore decided to murder him ; but the plot was betrayed, and Head- Constable Whelehan, of Ennis, with twelve policemen, marched on September 11th to the expected scene of outrage. The moonlighters, supposed to be twelve in number, on finding the police in possession, made a determined resistance to capture, but at last fled. The Head-Constable pursued, when one of the villains clubbed a gun, and with two fearful blows dashed his head to pieces. The men were arrested, but there is, of course, no evidence that a jury will convict. Head-Constable Whelehan was an
officer of specially good character, who had been twenty-two years in the force, and was widely known for his humanity and discretion. Lord Fitzgerald on Wednesday pronounced a strong enlogium on him in the House of Lords, and it was announced before the House rose that a pension of 240 and a sum of £150 would be bestowed upon the widow, who, it must be remembered, will, like the daughters of the murdered Mr. Curtin, probably be boycotted.
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