Maty is oI+ lo-night Billy Kedne

talking to, lohn Galvin, was nimble enough to avoid

injury. Having drawn blood

the masked raiders withdrew in good order and as no one from the dance was eaqer to go back to IYinogue's house that night they all stayed at lohn Galvin's abode.

The man in the wig

And so the case came before District lustice Kenny ln

Listowel - and not a masked man to be seen. f4r

MacAuley lnterrogated Pat

Minogue on the stand...

Mr MacAuLey - Did yau hear that the people of the district objected to your association

with )ulie Mahony? - No

l'.4r lvlacAuley - As a result of your relationship with this girl did the priest visit your

house? - Yes, because he

was sent by the Galvins.

lYr MacAuley - Did he ask you to send her away? - No, he told me to get fiarried as

soon as we could.

Before District lustice Kenny sent the matter forward to a jury of Pat's peers if such

could be found, Pat, to be fair to him exonerated the Fitzgeralds and said they wouldn't touch him in a

thousand years.

The alibis The jury sat in early July, 1934 to hear the case, The defendants were ready with their alibis. lohn Molyneaux, one of the defendants, had Thomas Relihan as witness that he was at Relihan's house at the time of the incident and that when he went home at 11Pm Joe Lyons, the Parish Clerk was there and they slept in the

same bedl

Another defendant. Patrick Quilter had lames Quilter, described as an old man, in

court to confirm that he had spent the niqht ten miles

away in Ahabeg and didn't even knovv about the incident until over a week later.

lohn Joy of Dromclough was on hand to confirm that Timothy Quilter had been

with him at lerome Stacks on the night of the raid cutting hurleys. Another defendant, James Galvin, had the same

a libi.

The chief defendant, Thomas Thade Galvin and another defendant, David Broderick,

vouched for each other and Thomas claimed that when he retu rned from Brodericks his gun had been stolen from his house. The fact that he didn't subsequently report this

crime did not help his case.

Tom Thade's father, Timothy, with whorn he lived, got on the stand and said that seven or eiqht masked men had raided his house that night

and carried away the gun.

A bunch of blackguards

lohn 14cElligott, Rathea, said he was at the dance that night when three masked men came in. He said that Minoque had shouted "1 know ye, lads" and was struck by one of the raiders. His

Lordship on the bench (whose name is not reported) said; "1 know that district very well

and I believe you could get as fine a bunch of blackguards in Rathea and l'4ountcoal as you would get anywhere in

Ireland".

When called to the stand

Patrick lvlinogue seemed to withdraw, or at least modify, his evidence given at the earlier hearing. Now he

claimed he didn't see Tom Thade carrying a gun when he entered the house.

Pressed by Mr Liston BL he admitted that he had gone to the priest in Lixnaw in

connection with his "sort of' agreement to marry Kate Galvin. He said he was afraid of Thade Galvin.

A shot was fired

Michael Spring was more definite in his evidence. He was at the dance \ /ith his siste.-in-law, Julia, his wife and child. He said Thomas Thade had a gun and pointed it at him and said; "The less talk the better". when he and the women and child were qetting in to the trap to get out of the situation a shot

was fired over their heads by Tom Thade Galvin.