[4] Éamon de Valera, who had voted against the Anglo-Irish treaty and headed the Anti-Treaty movement during the civil war, came to power in 1932 and was re-elected in 1933.

[citation needed] In 1933, Fine Gael emerged as a political party—a merger of Cumann na nGaedheal and the National Centre Party.

[5] Eoin O'Duffy, a key figure in Irish politics, encouraged farmers to withhold payment of land annuities to the government.

On 13 August 1934, an auction took place at Marsh's Yard in Copley Street in Cork, featuring cattle seized from farms in Bishopstown (Coveney) and Ballincollig.

[9] A man named Michael Lynch (wearing the distinctive blue shirt) and approximately 20 others reportedly managed to enter the yard.

The occasion allowed for a significant show of force for Eoin O'Duffy and the Blueshirts, and featured Roman salutes and military drills.

[10][11] Farmers in Munster reportedly stopped work for an hour, and Blueshirt members asked shopkeepers to close their businesses, as a show of respect for the "martyr".

[6] In August 1940, a memorial was unveiled on the tomb of Lynch in Dunbulloge Cemetery in Carrignavar, County Cork, consisting of a limestone Celtic cross and pedestal.

[15] The pedestal is engraved with a quote from the American orator, William Jennings Bryan: "The humblest citizen of all the land, when clad in the armour of a righteous cause is stronger than all the hosts of error".