as in 1798, projects of great importance had sometimes to be discussed
in public houses.

A few of the Liverpool men came to meet the leaders in a very humble
beer shop, kept by a decent County Down man, Owen McGrady, in one of the
poorer streets off Scotland Road. Here were met on this particular night
a notable company, which included, if I remember rightly, Colonel Kelly,
Colonel Rickard Burke, Captains Condon, Murphy, Deasy and O'Brien, all
American officers who had crossed the Atlantic for the Rising, and still
remained, hoping for another opportunity. There were about half a dozen
of the Liverpool men there. Of these I can remember a tall, fine-looking
young man, a schoolmaster from the North of Ireland, whom I then met for
the first time, my old school-fellow, John Ryan, and John Meagher, a
tailor, possessing the amount of eloquence you generally find in Irish
members of the craft. There was also present, if I remember rightly, Tom
Gates, of Newcastle.

Although the Rising had collapsed almost as soon as it commenced, the
determination to fight on Irish soil had by no means been given up by
the leaders in America. That was why the American officers on this side
remained at their posts, ready for active service at a moment's notice.
At the meeting we learned that there was at that moment an "Expedition,"
as it was termed, on the sea to co-operate with and bring arms for
another Rising in Ireland, should such be found practicable. It was
notorious that, notwithstanding all the efforts of active agents,
comparatively few arms had been got into Ireland. Indeed, my friend John
Ryan, who was in a position to know, estimated that there were not more
than a couple of thousands of rifles in Ireland at the time of the
Rising.