faction n OED ~ 3 c (1880-); 5 faction-fight (1841). One of several Irish groups in St. John's which in the nineteenth century frequently joined in pitched battles.
   1863 PEDLEY 294 Two great Irish factions had established themselves [c1815] in St John's. They had various names, denoting the different parts of Ireland from which they came. The watchword of those from the county of Tipperary was 'Clear Air.' 1895 PROWSE 402 The faction fights went on for many years after Colclough left [in 1815]... The Tipperary 'clear airs,' the Waterford 'whey bellies,' and the Cork 'dadyeens' were arrayed against the 'yallow belly' faction—the 'Doones' or Kilkenny boys, and the Wexford 'yallow bellies.' There were besides the 'young colts' and a number of other names for the factions. They fought with one another 'out of pure devilment and divarsion,' as an old Irishman explained it to me.

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