Rickard Deasy walked on to the pages of Irish history when, as leader of the National Farmers' Association, he led an historic march for the rights of farmers from Bantry to Dublin in 1966.
The smartly dressed ex-soldier with the Oxford accent was an unlikely leader of the farming community which at that stage had no unified voice, had an average income of a little over £7 per week and was sorely in need of leadership.
They were also in the process of finding a political voice especially one that would be listened to by Fianna Fail. Up to that point, Fianna Fail had tended to regard them, in the words of one commentator, as merely "Fine Gaelers on tractors". The tall figure carrying his trademark blackthorn stick and wearing a black beret, is remembered with pride in the farming community which fell into step behind him and marched from all parts of the country to a mass rally of 30,000 farmers in Dublin in October, 1966.
He and his followers came into direct confrontation with the new Minister for Agriculture, a young man called C. J. Haughey, who had taken up the portfolio in October 1964 and who refused to meet the farm leaders.
Relations between Mr Haughey and the fledgling farm organisation had, according to State papers, deteriorated, as farmers all over the country refused to pay their rates.
In an initialled note to the Taoiseach, Mr Lemass, in 1965, the then Minister for Justice, Mr Brian Lenihan wrote: "It now appears that the NFA may cave in on this matter (rates strike). As you know Charlie Haughey has sent a `surrender' statement to them for their agreement. In view of this development we can hold our hand for the present."
Instead, farmers became more militant and Rickard Deasy, arrived with his men demanding to meet Mr Haughey. Mr Haughey sent a message to say he was not available. Mr Deasy said they would wait "a bloody month, if necessary, to meet him". Ministers' comments were initially derisory. In time, they had to change their tune.
In fact they waited 20 days to meet Mr Haughey, a meeting arranged by the Taoiseach, Mr Lemass, on the day before his successor, Mr Jack Lynch, was chosen to replace him.
But the Government's problems were not over. Despite getting a new Minister for Agriculture, Mr Blaney, and meeting with Mr Lynch, the NFA intensified its campaign and in November 1966, a national blockade took place of roads and railways in which 12,000 farmers were involved at 120 venues.
The seriousness of this situation was underlined by the fact that the Government actively canvassed the idea of using the Army to break the NFA blockade. It decided against this course of action only after it had been persuaded that this would be politically counter-productive.
In January 1967, a second blockade occurred and a commodity strike began on March 5th. Some 80 Irish farmers were imprisoned in Mountjoy and Limerick jails.
According to the then national secretary of NFA, Sean Healy, Rickard Deasy kept his head and his dignity throughout these difficult times. He also kept his freedom because the Government was afraid to imprison him.
He recalled having to travel under an assumed name to meet Cardinal Conway in Armagh when it emerged that there were calls to excommunicate the farmer activists. The meeting had been arranged by the then Archbishop of Cashel.
Sean Healy said that pressure on the NFA leadership, and Rickard Deasy in particular, was very intense indeed and he was the subject of a personalised smear campaign.
"We were likened to the Nazis. The truth is that the idea to hold the march was influenced by the writings of Pope John XX111, the actions of Martin Luther King and by discussions we had with Mr Nehru in New Delhi," he said. i at his residence home Kinsealy provided grounds for these suspicions. His background made him well fitted for a leadership role. Born of wealthy parents in Leeson Street, Dublin, in 1916, the young Deasy was brought up on his mother's farm at Carrigahorig, near Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
He was educated at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire, and Christ Church College, Oxford, where he obtained a degree in economics. He joined the Army as a private in 1939.
A year after he joined, he was commissioned as an officer in the Sixth Field Battery, Kildare Barracks, and eventually became commander of this unit. Later he was appointed to the Depot and School of Artillery at Kildare, as an instructor. Before the end of the Emergency, he became O/C 13th Field Battery, leaving the Army to take over the family farm following the death of his mother in October 1944. He remained a Reserve Officer for some years after leaving the Army.
He joined the National Farmers' Association (NFA) when the organisation was formed in 1956 in Terryglass, Co Tipperary, and his progress in it mirrored his Army career. In 1961 he became president of the NFA, taking over the leadership from the founder, Dr Juan Greene. He remained president until 1967.
After retiring from the NFA, he became involved in the Labour Party, standing as a candidate in North Tipperary in 1969 when he received an insignificant vote from the electorate.
Last autumn he was back in Dublin. It was also October and the streets were full of marching farmers. This time there were 40,000 farmers and he was an honoured guest of the Irish Farmers' Association, the organisation he helped found.
With him was his wife, Sheila, and the farmers were addressed by his son Ruaidhri, in his capacity as chairman of the organisation's grain committee.
The late Rickard Deasy, who was 83, has two other sons, Rickard and Robin, and a daughter, Lucila.
Rickard Deasy: born 1916; died July, 1999