Cork Defence Union

The Cork Defence Union was a non-sectarian and non-political organisation established in Cork, Ireland, October 1885 to ‘unite together all friends of law and order of all classes in this country in a body for their mutual defence and protection’.

The Union was opposed to Home Rule

Home rule

Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....

 and the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

. Landowners, merchants, farmers, shopkeepers, artisans and labourers united under the presidency of the Earl of Bandon

Earl of Bandon

Earl of Bandon was a title created together with Viscount Bernard in the Peerage of Ireland in 1800 for the 1st Viscount Bandon. All the titles became extinct on the death of the 5th Earl in 1979....

 and his assistant Viscount Doneraile

Viscount Doneraile

Viscount Doneraile is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, both times for members of the St Leger family. It was first created in 1703 for Arthur St Leger, along with the subsidiary title of Baron Kilmayden, also in the Peerage of Ireland. This creation became extinct in...

to help those who had become victims of the National League boycotting campaign.