I can confirm the term 'croppy' boys was due to a group of young men in and around Wexford, a sort of mix between early Fenians and outlaws by most accounts. The hid out in the countryside. This led to the practice of forcing them to surrender by threatening their families with death instead, a threat which was frequently carried out! Clearly the tactics associated now with dictatorships such as Lybia and Afghanistan etc, were rife centuries before in Britih ruled Ireland!