In addition, The Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903 enabled the transfer of about 9 million acres (36,000 km²), up to 1914, from landlords to tenants.
In 1920 he was married with a family, living at Moorpark House, Coshla, Athenry, where he was a land agent to a local landlord, and was himself a tenant.
This increased with the arrival of the Black and Tans, whose irregular methods resulted in shootings, assaults, rapes and deaths.
Other people who subsequently died as a result of the unrest in Galway included Ellen Quinn (1 November 1920), a pregnant mother of six and a tenant of Lady Gregory; Fr.
In addition, there were numerous incidents of violence, many of which were recorded with horror by Lady Gregory in her journal, who remarked that "the country has gone wild since the killing of Frank Shawe-Taylor."