Captain Patrick
Curran, Dungarvan, took Patrick McCue, Abbeyside, to court for abusing and
threatening language in October 1877. Their
case was reported in the Waterford News on the 9th of November 1877.
‘Captain Curran was
on board the brigantine Fairy…when the defendant came over from the quay,
called him a blackguard and pig boy, and said, in a threatening attitude ‘By
J…s you had better look out for yourself’.; about half past eight o’clock the
same night the complainant again saw the defendant and some other sailors
coming along Abbeyside; he went to the other side of the road to avoid them,
but when they saw him they called him a blackguard and scoundrel, and abused
him very badly’.
Captain Curran told
the court that the sailors were now on strike as a result of McCue’s
intimidation. He stated that Captains
Christopher and Halley were on board the ship Fairy and witnessed what McCue
said. Captain Curran admitted that he and McCue had called each other liars
previously.
The captain of the Fairy was Hally and he was also a witness to the confrontation between the two men. He said that McCue said to Captain Curran: ‘Did you say that the Dungarvan and Abbeyside sailors were a dirty hungry lot?’ Captain Curran said that he was afraid that McCue would do him an injury. The case concluded with McCue being bound over and had to pay two sureties of £10 each for 12 months, or in default to be imprisoned for two months with hard labour’.
