RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 256 OVERSEAS LIFE MEMBERS KNOWLES, Miss Moira G., 3 Kirkmay House, Marketgate, Crail. Fife KY10 3RF, SCOTLAND. KNOWLES, Mrs. W. C. G., Wakes Colne Place, Nr. Colchester, Essex. UNITED KINGDOM. KURATA, Mrs. Lucien, 478 Edison Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1TQ. CANADA. LANCHESTER, Mrs. G. W., Alderfen, Surlingham, Norwich NR14 7AW, UNITED KINGDOM. LI, Dr. Choh-Ming, 81 Northampton Avenue, Berkeley, California 94707, U.S.A. LINDSAY, Mr. T. J., M.B.E., 3 Bareena Avenue, Wahroonga, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA. LOTHROP, Mr. Francis B, 176 Milk Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109, U.S.A. MANSFIELD, Miss M. B., 51 Fairlawns, Maldon Road, Wallington, Surrey, UNITED KINGDOM. MCBAIN, Mr. George, c/o Imperial Chemical Industries (Japan) Ltd., Central P.O. Box 411, Tokyo, JAPAN. MCDOUALL, Mr. J. C., The Old School, Souldern, Bicester, Oxon, UNITED KINGDOM. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O., The British Council, Halls Croft, Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon, UNITED KINGDOM. MILL, Capt. Charles Stuart, U.S.M.C., 132 Greenbriar Court, Jacksonville, N.C., 28540, U.S.A. MILLER, Mr. Carl Ferris O., c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255. Seoul, KOREA. O'BRIEN, Mr. J. R., + St. Paul's, 1 Roma Avenue, Kensington, New South Wales 2033, AUSTRALIA. PLAG, Mr. Albrecht (Rev.), 7000 Stuttgart 1, Roemerstr. 41, GERMANY (F.R.). POLAND, Mr. T. D., 15 Bellevue Lawns, Delgany, Co. Wicklow, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND. ROBINSON, Prof. K. E., The Old Rectory, Church Westcoat, Kingham, Oxford OX7 6SF, UNITED KINGDOM. ROTHE, Mr. Ulrich, Wohnstift Augustinum, Apt. 778, 5483 Bad Neuenahr, GERMANY. SINFIELD, Mr. G. H. C., Hong Kong Tourist Association, 159 Bay Street, Toronto, CANADA. SPERRY, Mr. H. M., 64 Hillbrook Drive, Portola Valley, California 94025, U.S.A. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g CONTRIBUTORS Edwin Haydon is a retired Registrar of the Hong Kong Supreme Court. D.H. Liu is a member of the Society with a deep interest in Chinese opera. Alfred Y.K. Lau is a member of the Society with an interest in early colonial Hong Kong. David Faure is a member of the Society, a noted sinologist and a former Editor of the Journal. He is now with the University of Oxford. Anne and Stephen Selby are members of the Society and noted sinologists. Stephen is currently Director of Intellectual Property of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Richard Webb is a member of the Society and a former Administrative Officer of the Hong Kong Government now in business in the Republic Of Ireland. John Hodgkiss, Ph.D is a member of the Society and the Head of the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity at the University of Hong Kong. He is a noted authority on mangroves and kindred flora. R.G. Horsnell is a member of the Society and a Chief Property Services Manager with the Architectural Services Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Keith Stevens, B.A. served with the British Army and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office before his retirement in 1991. He has an abiding interest in Chinese temples and deities and has written numerous articles for the Journal. Dan Waters, M.Phil, Ph.D is a retired Assistant Director of Education of the Hong Kong Government. He is a long-time Member of Council of the Society, and became President in 1997. He has written prolifically on the history and culture of Hong Kong. Peter Vine, LL.D (Hons) is a solicitor in private practice and a prominent resident of Hong Kong since 1947. He is currently, inter alia, President of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Society of Notaries. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 372 AN IRISH FANTASY KEITH STEVENS A wooden effigy of a Chinese man stands above the front door of a pub called The Chinaman in Rathkeale in West Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. It is claimed by the publican to be a portrait image of the Chinese captain of a powerful sailing ship, 'The Mikado' which had brought a valuable cargo of tea to Foynes some time before 1743, the year when local people got together to honour Captain Wongyu. The story goes that some of the Chinese crew were drinking in a wine and spirit store when one of the Chinese crew rushed in from Foynes and announced that a pirate ship had entered the Shannon Estuary and the pirates were plundering towns and villages along the shoreline. Captain Wongyu mustered more than one hundred locals and, together with his crew, they marched against the pirates. In a quick but fierce skirmish the pirates were defeated and the people of the area showed their gratitude by erecting an effigy of him over the door of the building where it stands today. Captain Wongyu died in 1789, some twenty-six years later but did not forget the people of Rathkeale. He is said to have made provision for a sum of money to be sent to the poor of Rathkeale. The statue depicts a Chinese man but with a marked European face and beard, wearing a mandarin-style summer hat, and a half-length blue robe over a faded orange robe. I would guess that it was carved by a European who had never studied a Chinese but had seen some 18th or 19th century illustrations. A quite small round [un-Chinese] gilded medallion or disc hangs or is sewn on to the blue robe high up just below his beard, bearing an unintelligible character or squiggle. It makes a good story but the Chinese did not sail the seven seas during the 18th century and should a junk have reached the British Isles at that time it would have made headline news. Chinese did not import tea into Britain nor, I suspect, would there have been a great market for tea on the west coast of Ireland at that era. Finally, Mikado ================================================================================