Joe Stanley was raided very many times by the Dublin Metropolitan Police, for offences under The Defense of the Realm Act (DORA). The initial raid was early in 1916 and finally in 1918 they closed the Gaelic Press and Art Depot, giving truth to the real meaning of the phrase "mosquito press"
With these two enterprises Joe blatantly flouted the laws suppressing free speech and was engaged in both printing and publishing material that supported the burgeoning nationalist and republican movements whether in music, poetry, political opinion and propaganda - under the very noses of the Dublin Metropolitan Police - and that wolf was always going to come to the door, one final time. The financial loss incurred proved to be a very significant setback for Joe.