THE riot which erupted in Tuam on June 2nd last year was reminiscent of a faction fight from the last century.
The riot in the cemetery in Tuam was followed by further trouble outside University College Hospital, Galway, and other disturbances in Galway and Tuam over the following few days. It led to one of the biggest and most complex District Court hearings in the history of the State.
Weapons confiscated by Tuam gardai during and after the disturbances included three slashhooks, seven iron bars, two shovels, two hatchets, two lump hammers, one butcher's knife, one butcher's saw, two hurleys, sticks and stones. At least nine people were treated in hospital for injuries.
The riot started during the funeral of a businessman, Mr Bernie Mongan. Relatives and friends of the deceased, including members of the Ward and McDonagh families, had gathered for the funeral.
There had been considerable tension between the two families for some time.
Although the cause of the riot is unclear, it was alleged it started when a member of one family accused a member of the other of standing on an ancestor's grave.
The priest who was officiating at the funeral took cover as sticks and stones were hurled through the air. Headstones, wreaths and crosses from graves were used as missiles. Scores of travellers were involved in the fighting.
Several elderly people who were visiting the cemetery were forced to take cover behind other headstones.
Gardai at the scene moved in to break up the disturbances and several injured people were taken to hospital. Here, gardai were forced to block access when a crowd attempted to follow the injured into the building.
More dramatic scenes were witnessed in Tuam the following day when a large crowd attacked the home of Mrs Ellen McDonagh and her family.
Two infants narrowly escaped injury when a decorative concrete ball was torn from a pillar outside the house and hurled through a kitchen window. The ball fell on the floor beside one of the infants, showering the area with glass and debris.
Windows, doors and the roof of the house were badly damaged in the attack, as were two station wagons parked outside.
The disturbances spread to two hardstands near Galway, and one near Tuam. Caravans were wrecked, and cars and vans were also damaged.
Thirty five members of the extended Ward family were charged with offences relating to the attack on the McDonagh home. Twenty two of them were found guilty. The case came to court amid a welter of accusation and counter accusation, and continuing tension between members of the two families.
There were claims that the attacks were orchestrated by older travellers using mobile phones. It was alleged in court that a mafia style gang had organised a protection racket involving travelling families in the west.
Mr Bernie Ward (37), of Coogan Park, Galway, instructed his solicitor to tell the court he did not claim the title "King of the Travellers", which was associated with him.
Two members of the McDonagh family said in evidence that he was known as the king of the travellers of Ireland and England. His solicitor, Mr Gerard Gannon, said Mr Ward did not wish to claim the title.
He said his client had received a number of calls challenging him to fight for his title and he did not wish to be involved in such matters. He asked Judge John Neilan to issue a warning that no challenges should be issued or accepted.
The judge warned everyone in court that any attempt to undermine the court proceedings would be met by a ferocious challenge. He said he did not want the travelling community to start another battle over who was king.
In a dramatic development, four members of the McDonagh family were later accused of lying to the court. They withdrew their earlier statements and apologised to the court. But Judge Neilan told them he did not accept their apologies.
The four brothers, described in court as the "Tuam Four", had previously pleaded guilty in a Dublin court to an assault charge. But when questioned by solicitors for the defence in the Tuam trial, they claimed they had nothing to do with the assault in Dublin and pleaded guilty only because they were advised to do so by their solicitor.
Judge Neilan expressed his astonishment at these claims and threatened to bind the brothers to the peace for five years, ban them from driving for a similar length of time, and confine them to within a mile radius of their homes.
The next day, the brothers withdrew their earlier statements and apologised to the court. On Tuesday, the judge said their perjury had almost wrecked the prosecution case and he agreed that the DPP should be consulted on the matter. He remanded them on bail until tomorrow.
The court also heard claims that barefisted fights involving members of the travelling community were videotaped and shown to about 200 people, who paid 520 a head to watch the fights on a big screen in New York.
One of the defence solicitors, while cross examining Mr Edward McDonagh, accused him of wanting to arrange the fights. He accused Mr McDonagh of being the "Rupert Murdoch" of pay per view bareknuckle fights, and alleged that as much as 550,000 changed hands on one occasion in New York which was connected to such fights.
During the trial, gardai were called in to investigate threatening phone calls made to Judge Neilan's exdirectory number at his home in Co Roscommon. Twenty four hour Garda protection was then placed on his home.