In
several instances they went in formidable bodies to the presentment
sessions, apparently under the impression that the ratepayers, there
assembled, had something to do with fixing the amount of wages, which of
course was a popular error. On Monday, the 28th of September, a special
sessions was appointed to be held at Kilmacthomas, some fourteen miles
from Dungarvan, and notices were extensively circulated the day before,
by unknown hands, calling on the people to assemble at Dungarvan on that
day, as the military would be away at the sessions. The avowed object of
this assemblage was to seize provisions by force, or at least to lay
down a scale of prices beyond which they should not be raised. The
authorities had, of course, timely notice of this movement, and left a
sufficient force in the town to protect it. The precaution was not an
idle one, for soon after the dragoons took their departure for
Kilmacthomas, about five thousand men entered Dungarvan, led by a person
named Power, well known in the locality as "lame Pat." The town was
guarded by sixty soldiers and fifty-four police, but in the face of such
numbers, their officers considered it the best policy to stand upon the
defensive, and do nothing until a breach of the peace had been
committed.
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