Co. Fermanagh has a population of 65,000; of which 36,000 are Catholics and 29,000 are non-Catholics. There are 75 salaried officials, of whom 17 are Catholics and 58 are non-Catholics. It will be observed also that in those counties supposed to be Protestant, the Catholic population of Tyrone, Armagh, and Fermanagh is 174,000, whilst the Protestant population is only 165,000. In Co. Antrim only, the Protestants are in a vast majority. And in Ballymoney, Antrim, Portrush, and some other towns of that county, there is not 1 Catholic in any elective body. On the other hand, I find that in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, where the Protestants are to the Catholics in the proportion of 1:9 of the population, they are in the proportion of 1:4 in the Borough Council. In Kinsale, Co. Cork, where the Protestants bear an extremely small proportion to the Catholics, they are as 1:4 in the Borough Council.
Nine years ago, through much trouble and correspondence, I made an inquiry into the provision made in Irish workhouses for the religious interests of their Protestant paupers. I made an analysis of the results, some of which I quote here from the 18th Chapter of “Catholicity and Progress in Ireland” (pp. 346-350).
“In 1882 there were 163 workhouses in Ireland; but some have disappeared, or have been amalgamated since then. At present there are 48 of these in which there is usually no Protestant inmate. The Protestant Minister—
In 7 of these receives no salary.
In 1, a salary of £4 a year for attending to nobody.
In 5, £5, ditto
In 2, £6
In 17, £10
In 2, £12
In 4, £15