circle which gravitated around the hall included Republicans, farmers, and trade unionists, and the hall was also used as a Dáil Court (a judicial system run by Sinn Féin to counter the British court system). There in the Dáil court, local farmers settled land disputes. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Gralton came to be viewed with suspicion, particularly by members of the National Army, who arrested him for taking forceful possession of disputed land. After his release and shortly after the start of the Irish Civil War, Gralton once again returned to the United States. While there he joined the Leitrim Republican Club of New York in 1927. Following the death of his brother Charles, Gralton returned home again to Leitrim to take over his farm and look after his parents. Gralton once again took up political activity. He ran the Revolutionary Workers' Group in Leitrim, a predecessor of the Communist Party of Ireland. Gralton reopened his old hall in Effrinagh and once again started to organise free events and spread his political views. Around the same time he joined Fianna Fáil. However, he didn't last long in the party and was expelled for his radical views. In August 1932 he rejoined the IRA. As a "convinced communist and atheist", being expelled from Fianna Fáil and joining the IRA, Gralton was developing a reputation as an agitator in Leitrim. Local priests became to speak out against him and his hall, denouncing it as a "den of prostitution" and communism. This led to violent protests against these dances, which culminated in a shooting incident. In December of 1932, the hall was burnt down. Following this, on 9 February 1933, he was served with a deportation order to return the United States of America, on the basis that he was an alien. Gralton went on the run while demanding a fair trial and received support from the Dublin based Revolutionary Workers Group. Some Republicans such as Peadar O'Donnell and George Gilmore came to his aid, but others did not. The local IRA unit opposed his deportation but took little active measures to stop it. There has even been speculation it was members of the local IRA themselves who burnt down Gralton's hall, seeing him as too radical even for the IRA. The IRA in 1933 did not wish to be identified as communist, particular as the Cumann na nGaedheal party