The Police Gazette or Hue & Cry was established in the 1820s and published every week in Dublin, on behalf of the inspector general. Circulated to all Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan barracks, the Police Gazette contained descriptions of persons wanted for criminal activities, desertion and escape from mental asylums or custody. A section was allocated to each county with additional space reserved for the Scottish and English police forces. Members of the Irish Constabulary had to memorize the descriptions of the listed felons and received a reward of £1 (almost one week's pay) for apprehending a criminal from a Hue & Cry notice.

This 1854 edition of the Hue & Cry contains a large number of notices for the criminal damage of property. During the first half of the 19th Century, Ireland’s population was predominantly rural and agrarian outrages were common. Many rural workers were farm labourers living in poverty on rented land. They had few rights and lived a precarious existence relying on labouring, potato crops and the domestic linen industry to pay their rents. Agrarian secret societies sprang up over Ireland to defend the rights of these labourers. Conflict between secret societies and landlords over conacre rents, the price of potatoes, and the rates of wages often resulted in crime against property or persons.