We have seen how Irish the South African episcopate has been from the
very outset. Most of the clergy belong to the same missionary race,
as also do the nuns of the various convents, and the Christian
Brothers, who are in charge of many of the schools. Of the white
Catholic population of the various states of the South African Union,
the greater part are Irish. There are about 25,000 Irish in Cape
Colony in a total population of over two millions. There are some
7,000 in Natal, I,500 in Kimberley, and about 2,000 in the Orange
River Colony. In the Transvaal, chiefly in and about Johannesburg,
there are some 12,000 Irish. A few thousand more are to be found
scattered in Griqualand and Rhodesia.
As has been already said, the total numbers are not large in
proportion to that of the population generally, and they belong
chiefly to the industrial and trading classes. The most notable names
among them are those of prelates, priests, and missionaries, who have
founded and built up the organization of the Catholic Church in South
Africa. But there are some names of note also in civil life. Sir
Michael Gallwey was for many years Chief Justice of Natal; the Hon.
A. Wilmot, who has not only held high official posts, but has also
done much to clear up the early history of South Africa, is Irish on
the mother's side; Mr. Justice Shiel is a judge of the Cape Courts;
Eyre and Woodbyrne are Irish names among the makers of Rhodesia; and
amongst those who have done remarkable work in official life may also
be named Sir Geoffrey Lagden, Sir William St. John Carr, and the Hon.
John Daverin. Lagden was for many years British Resident in
Basutoland, the Switzerland of South Africa, where the native tribes
are practically independent under a British protectorate. Griffith,
the paramount chief of the Basuto nation, has been a Catholic since
1911. Sir Geoffrey's tactful policy and wise counsels did much to
promote the prosperity of this native state, and during the trying
days of the South African War, he was able to secure the neutrality
of the tribesmen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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