2 AUGUST 1879, Page 3
The Ennis election resulted in a victory, though a very
bare victory, for the Home-rule candidate, Mr. Parnell's candidate, Mr. Finegan. Mr. Finegan received 83 votes ; Mr. O'Brien, Q.C. (the candidate of the Roman Catholic priests), 77; and Mr. Wilson Fitzgerald (the Conservative), 54. Though a very
i narrow victory, it was in some respects a critical one over the Church, as Mr. O'Brien was well known, and had the full support of the clergy. Mr. Finegan, however, is said to have served in the Pontifical army, and in the French foreign logien in the war of 1870, and that would tell greatly in his favour with an Irish constituency.