PETER DWYER In all the long years that I have acted as clerk of this court, I never felt more pleased at the coming of a new magistrate than when I heard of the discretion of His Excellency in selecting Mr. O’Crowley for this most exalted position.  All that I might say in my congratulations and welcome has already been said, and I can only concur in the good wishes that have been offered, and though a lot more might have been said of one so praiseworthy, I know that Mr. O’Crowley will understand, it is not that we like him less but that we respect him more.  Mr. O’Crowley is a man who is above pride and does not want the walls of Rome or the stones of the Munster roads to know what he does for mankind.  So I will now conclude by wishing him all the success that he deserves, in the future and hereafter.

MR. C. J. M. O’CROWLEY Brother magistrates, members of the Bar, members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and gentlemen:  From the bottom of my heart I thank you for all the high compliments you have paid me this day, and I only hope that I will be long spared to be a source of comfort and consolation to the men and women of Ballybraggan.  I know, of course, that I am not a pararagom of perfection, but I have the wonderful satisfaction of knowing that I have been appreciated in my own time, and that’s more than some of the world’s best poets, philosophers, and other servants of mankind could have said.  The superdalliance of some and the pomposity and congential insufficiency of others have always been a warning to me, and when opportunity sallied forth from her hiding place I never failed to recognise her queenly presence and extend a cead-mile-failte, and make of her my own, so to speak.  Such was the way of Wellington and his contemporary Hannibal, and such must be the way of every man who must serve his country and himself.  And believe me, much as the people of Ballybraggan think about me, I think every bit as much about them.  It is hardly necessary for me to say that we only get what we deserve in this world, and sometimes a little more or a little less as the case may be.  The desirable propensities of the people of the town have endeared me to them with a spirit as strong as that which makes the ivy cling to the oak, and as we see the ivy fondly clinging to that monarch of trees, whether it sprouts its green leaves in the glorious sunshine or falls to the ground with decay, so will I cling to the people of Ballybraggan.  Once again, I thank you, but in conclusion I must say that I will do all in my power to prove worthy of the reliance and confidence placed in me. (Applause)

PETER DWYER The court is now open for the dispensation of justice.  The only case before us to-day is one of house-breaking, drunkenness from excessive use of poteen, which is an illegal drink, and resisting arrest by the police.  The charge is laid against one Richard Fennell, and cross-summonses have been issued to Mr. and Mrs. Fennell.