Land agitation in county Galway culminated in shots being fired at the home of Francis McCormack at Queensfort, between Dunmore and Tuam in February 1920.
McCormick and sister were the only occupants of the house when the incident occurred and were unscathed, but one of the staff, Miss Kelly, a cook, was said to have had a lucky escape during the firing. More than eight shots were fired at the house and many of the windows of the bedrooms were shattered. Land in Hollymount, county Mayo was said to have been the cause of the outrage. Motor cars used in the attack, which suggested that the people involved had travelled a distance. Speaking after the incident the Rev Dr Gillmartin described it as an ‘abominable outrage’. The agitation continued and this part of Galway would see a number of ‘extensive cattle drives’ during the early months of 1920. The attack at Queensfort came in the same month as the murder of a herdsman at a county Galway estate as agitation for the breakup of landed estates intensified. In March 1920 the murder of Frank Shawe Taylor, a land agent and described as being one of the best known people in the west of Ireland highlighted the extent to which people were willing to go in order to secure land. There was widespread agitation at estates that were under his care.
