Scenes in Austria

From http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=brigade

Scenes in Austria

 

In that same June 1860 Archbishop Cullen was “pessimistic”, sure that a shameful debacle was now inevitable.  A preliminary report from Rome read, “We must only hope that the Irish who come here will not bring down any disgrace on our country … there are some shocking fellows amongst the soldiers … They get drunk and beat one another and some of the Italians into the bargain”.  But at least these men had reached Italy.  Austro‑Irish Count Charles McDonnell, who had illegally recruited many Irishmen, marched them to Vienna to become good Catholic Hapsburgs!  A spy deepened Cullen’s gloom.  “McDonnell … has kept all our young men capable of being any use, acting in Vienna and elsewhere as clerks ‑ writing orders, telegraphic despatches etc.”  Rome confirmed that, “There was quite a scene in Vienna when one of the batches was passing through. An Irishman got drunk, the Austrian police, seven in number went to arrest him, he made opposition, they drew their swords but with the shillelah (cudgel) that never missed fire he knocked down three of them and the others ran for their lives”.

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