BARBED wire filled the stairway, pallets blocked the doors, the windows were bolted down, but the atmosphere at the "siege of An Grianan" was one of resignation rather than defiance.
A farmer in his peaked cap and overalls wept quietly as he watched gardai surround his home so that hired security men could take possession of his land. Mr Robert Graham (66) inherited his father's 40 acres in Monaghan. With his two sons, Eric and George, he had built up the family holding to 500 acres over the years.
Success and a £2.3 million loan tempted the Grahams to buy the largest farm in Ireland when it came on the market in 1989. But the 3,000 acre farm, much of it reclaimed from Lough Swilly, turned out to be a poisoned chalice.
Yesterday, his son in hospital and his young daughter in law, who is eight months pregnant, being comforted by relatives, Mr Graham was trying to understand what went wrong.
The family, neighbours and friends had kept vigil throughout the night, knowing that the sheriff was due to arrive.
"Everything I ever worked for is gone. I never wanted any money. Everything I earned went back into the farm. It's all I have to live for. What can I do now only crawl into a hole and die," said the elderly man.
He believes the family could have repaid their debts and made a go of An Grianan. "If they had just given us time," he said.
The five year old dispute has ruined his family, he said. He had never been inside a court room until the family fell out with National Irish Bank. Since then he has been in court some 200 times and also found himself in jail at the age of 64.
Yesterday, the tension in the burned farm buildings was palpable.
A two way radio connected the Graham brothers, who remained with their families in their own homes, a mile apart. As news filtered through that Eric's house had been raided, the atmosphere became more charged.
Throughout the afternoon, the family watched with surprise as more and more gardai were brought to the farm. At 6.10 p.m. an ambulance pulled into the farmyard, the gardai put on their riot gear and the local superintendent informed the local Presbyterian minister that for anyone who wanted to leave the building, this was their final chance.
Minutes later, the doors came crashing in.