1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Peep-of-Day Boys

PEEP-OF-DAY BOYS, an Irish Protestant secret society, formed about 1785 Its object was to protect the Protestant peasantry, and avenge their wrongs on the Roman Catholics. The “Boys” gained their name from the hour of dawn which they chose for their raids on the Roman Catholic villages. The Roman Catholics in return formed the society of “The Defenders.”