It could have been any moment in Irish history. It involved a revolt against central government, attacks on farms and livestock, men on the run and the State behaving in a heavy-handed way.
But this episode does not concern 1798 or 1922 but a series of events just over 40 years ago in Co Offaly in Lusmagh, a district near Banagher. Details of a troubled time in this part of the county can be found in a book, Offaly, History & Society, a collection of interdisciplinary essays on its history, published recently.
The publication is edited by geography lecturer William Nolan and history lecturer Timothy P. O'Neill, both of University College Dublin. The publisher is Geography Publications.
The book carries an essay on the "troubles" in Lusmagh by contributor Brian S. Murphy, who describes what happened there from 1957 to 1960.
The essay has the longish title The Land for the People, the Road for the Bullock: Lia Fail, the Smallholders' Crisis and Public Policy in Ireland, 1957-1960.
An organisation called Lia Fail was founded by Father John Fahy, Lusmagh's parish priest in 1957.
The Clann na Talmhan party had just collapsed and the economic crisis was hitting small holders hard: thousands were being forced off the land.
Lusmagh, with its tradition of faction fighting, support of rebellion through arms and the Land League was waiting for strong leadership, according to the essay.
Lia Fail was formed following a meeting on November 1st, 1957 which had been called to discuss the problems of emigration. By March 1958, it had a radical programme for communal ownership.
"To end involuntary emigration from small family farms, Lia Fail wanted young men to be settled at the expense of expropriated foreigners and, presumably, Protestants," wrote Mr Murphy.
The organisation spread to 11 counties and claimed to have 11,000 members at the end of 1958, even publishing its own newspaper, Lia Fail. On May 1st, 1959, opposing the division of land near the town, the Lia Fail supporters ploughed a roadside field in the shape of a cross. It allocated land to a local widow.
Cattle were driven off the farm and, as a result of the "cattle drive", gardai arrested five men who were detained at Banagher Garda station where they refused bail when they appeared before a special sitting of the court.
A brother of one detainee was among the crowd of 300 men gathered outside the station.
He shouted: "I have come to lead you for Ireland: free those men."
Five men, brothers of the defendants, forced their way into the Garda station yard and one shouted to the prisoners, according to a Garda report reproduced in the essay:
" `We are followers of Jesus Christ, I will go with ye to prison.'
"He repeated this a few times and then approached witness with his hands in the air and said: `Are you a follower of Jesus Christ?'
"Witness did not answer him and Kelly then said: `Anyone who is not a follower of Jesus Christ should not be here.' "
"The five prisoners and their rescuers then broke out past the gardai at the gate and defiantly marched up and down the main street with a crowd," writes Mr Murphy.
The following day, May 2nd, gardai arrested and charged six men, all brothers of the imprisoned men but only one a member of Lia Fail.
On May 3rd, the five original escapees openly attended 8.30 a.m. Mass in Lusmagh. Father Fahy greeted them afterwards and the men announced they were going on the run.
Over the next two days, the Garda Siochana conducted extensive searches for the Lusmagh escapees and on May 5th, conducted a dawn raid on Father Fahy's parochial house.
But an Evening Press photographer and reporter were there and the event received national coverage. Later that day, the local Fine Gael TD, Oliver J. Flanagan, visited Father Fahy to express his sympathy to the priest.
The essay goes on to say the Fianna Fail government was reluctant to prosecute the priest. Meanwhile, the agitation continued, spreading beyond Offaly.
Cattle were driven off land in east Galway, an unoccupied farmhouse was burned down in Lusmagh, and a storehouse was also burned.
An agricultural contractor working on disputed lands was injured when a detonator attached to his tractor exploded but a plan to blow up a farmer's house was scrapped when someone informed the authorities.
Three of the escapees had been recaptured. Some of those arrested for attempting to release them from prison accepted bail and there was dissension in the ranks.
The church played its part too in suppressing the revolt. Bishop William Philbin issued a pastoral implicitly condemning Lia Fail. This was read in the most affected parishes.
Some weeks later, Father Fahy announced his premature retirement from the post of parish priest after 14 years in Lusmagh. This was mid-June, just weeks after the pastoral was delivered.
Divisions in the organisation and in the parish ended Lia Fail and the ratepayers of Lusmagh and Banagher were saddled with a charge of almost £1,000 for damage caused to Cloghan Castle.
The only memorial of Lia Fail to be found in Lusmagh today is a plaque to the memory of its founder, Father Fahy, which was erected in the 1970s.
This is just one of the interesting subjects covered in this publication which can be obtained from most good bookshops or from the Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society, Bury Quay, Tullamore; 0506-21421; price £40.