At all times in our history the English have been quick and extreme in exacting vengeance for any violent, direct action taken against landlords. Occasionally a select Committee of the Commons was set up to enquire into the circumstances. Such a Committee in 1852 took evidence from local big-wigs, clergy and the Attorney General for Ireland in the case of the attack upon Meredith Chambre of Killeavey earlier that same year. Chambre was shot and wounded, but made a full recovery.
The people were suffering extreme distress after the Great Hunger that was just then drawing to a close and harsh landlords were evicting many of the surviving cottiers and peasant farmers to amalgamate their holdings and convert them to pasture. Questions germane to this were posed to witnesses. One must accept that most were conscious that they would be seen as reflecting their community’s [or legal] position. The Attorney General insisted that Chambre had never dispossessed his tenantry and indeed, had expended