Swing Riots
After an agricultural boom in the Napoleonic wars, farmers were hit by falling prices; many labourers were laid off. Opposition to newer technology appeared in Clare and surrounding districts in 1816 and four local men were gaoled after being convicted of burning a threshing machine. This was the Year Without a Summer caused by volcanic dust in the atmosphere: the local press reported floods, 'long continued wet weather', unripened wheat and widespread civil unrest. Harvests were again terrible in 1828 and 1829, followed by the Swing Riots. The Long Depression (1870–1895) caused many families to move away from the town.