As previously mentioned in posts, Bantry town and the surrounding countryside was convulsed with violent outbursts during January 1910. This did not abate with James Gilhooly’s election. A number of local incidents, including the assault on a local land agent in April, kept the political temperature high.

In June a rally in the town organised by the AFIL brought feeling back to boiling point. Although little or no serious incidents occurred during the major speeches by William O’Brien and Gilhooly, a number of events surrounding the rally served to further deepen divisions in the area.

To welcome O’Brien (or, more likely, to call attention to his new-found sympathy for the cause of Ulster unionism) a number of publicans in the town hung out Orange flags from their premises in the days leading up to the rally. The local police viewed this action to be in contravention of laws governing the display of flags and emblems…