Philip Barron of Durrow House encouraged the Protestant landlord, Henry Villiers-Stuart of Dromana, to run in the 1826 election in support of Catholic emancipation. Daniel O’Connell spoke locally and Philip Barron also invited Thomas Wyse, a Waterford Catholic merchant, politician and persuasive orator, to address meetings in Ballylaneen and Faha. Henry Villiers-Stuart won a significant victory, ousting George Beresford, the fourth son of Lord Waterford, as MP for Waterford. Beresford retaliated against his tenants who voted for Villiers-Stuart by evicting them.
