A feud between two traveller families which led to a near riot in Clifden on the day of its annual Pony Show last August led to five members of one family being given sentences varying from three to 12 months for assault.
During the two-day hearing, Clifden District Court was told that up to 60 members of the Ward family from Galway marched down the main street, grabbing iron bars and tools from street stalls and assaulted eight members of the Ward family from Tuam.
One of the accused, Tommy "Jap" Ward, of Castle Park, Galway, accused Anthony Ward, from Tuam, as being the ringleader of the Tuam family. The witness claimed he refereed illegal fist fights which were videotaped and sold.
Those convicted, who were all of Galway, were Michael Ward, Eddie Ward, Derek Ward, Tommy "Jap" Ward senior, his son, Tommy Ward junior, and a cousin, Anthony Sweeney.
After recognizances were fixed in the event of an appeal for each of the accused on their own sureties of £600, two members of the family lodged the required £600 cash for each of the accused.