When Mr William O’Brien was labouring for the wretched “congests” in the West and founding the United Irish League to make the great final onslaught on the ramparts of landlordism, a few of us in the South were engaged unpretentiously but earnestly to get houses and allotments for the agricultural labourers, and to provide them with work on the roads during the winter months when they could not labour on the land.  Ten years previously we had laid the foundations of what we hoped would be a widespread national movement for the regeneration of the working classes.  The founder of that movement was the late Mr P.J.  Neilan, of Kanturk, a man of eminent talent and of a great heart that throbbed with sympathy for the sufferings of the workers.  I was then a schoolboy, with a youthful yearning of my own towards the poor and the needy, and I joined the new movement.  Two others—­the one John D. O’Shea, a local painter, and the other John L. O’Shea, a carman (the similarity of their names often led to amusing mistakes)—­with some humble town workers, formed the working vanguard of the new movement, what I might term a sort of apostolate of rural democracy.  Our organisation was first known as the Kanturk Trade and Labour Association.  As we carried our flag, audaciously enough, as it seemed in those days, to neighbouring villages and towns, we enlarged our title, and now came to be known as “the Duhallow Trade and Labour Association.”  I was then trying some ’prentice flights in journalism and I managed to get reports of our meetings into the Cork Press, with the result that demands for our evangelistic services began to flow in upon us from Kerry and Limerick and Tipperary.  But, even as we grew and waxed stronger we still, with rather jealous exclusiveness, called ourselves “the parent branch” in Kanturk.  We are, by the way, a very proud people down there, proud of our old town and our old barony, which has produced some names distinguished in Irish history, such as John Philpot Curran, Barry Yelverton and the adored fiancee of Robert Emmet.

In time we interested Michael Davitt in our movement, and we achieved the glorious summit of our ambitions when we got him to preside at a great Convention of our Labour branches in Cork, where we formally launched the movement on a national basis under the title of the Irish Democratic Trade and Labour Federation.  The credit of this achievement was altogether and entirely due to Mr Neilan, who had founded the movement, watched over its progress, addressed its meetings, framed its programme and carried it triumphantly to this stage of success.  Unfortunately, when all seemed favourable for the spread of the movement, though not in opposition to the National League but as a sort of auxiliary force, moving in step with it, the disastrous Split occurred.  It spelt ruin for our organisation because I think it will not be denied that the workers are the most vehement and vital elements in the national life, and they took sides