A few weeks later “United Ireland” appeared in its old publishing office in Abbey Street.  Mr. O’Brien was set free on April 15th, Messrs. Parnell, Dillon and O’Kelly were released on May 2nd, and Michael Davitt and others soon afterwards.

CHAPTER XVIII.

PATRICK EGAN.

It will be seen that when “United Ireland” was “on the shaughraun” during the time that William O’Brien was in prison, though he was able to send communications out regularly, the direction very largely devolved upon Patrick Egan, who had taken up his quarters in Paris for that and other purposes of the Land League.  I may say that I have been in frequent communication with Mr. Egan ever since, and it is but recently that I got a letter from him touching upon this matter.  In making some valuable suggestions as to the contents of this book, he says, “There just occurs to me as I write, a point that you might introduce as an added feature, namely—­all the leading articles that appeared in ‘U.I.’ during those fateful months (or almost all of them) were written by William O’Brien in Kilmainham Prison, smuggled out by the underground railroad, which ran upon regular scheduled time, and were despatched by trusty messengers to me in Paris, which messengers brought back on their return journey the matrices to which you refer for the next issue of ‘United Ireland.’

“There were four messengers, in order to avoid attracting attention—­two of them the Misses Stritch, whose father had been a resident magistrate in Ireland.  They were fine patriotic girls, and active members of Miss Anna Parnell’s Ladies’ Land League.  Both are now dead.”

After a time Patrick Egan returned from Paris to Ireland, calling upon me in Liverpool on his way home.

On more than one occasion he has visited me at my home in Liverpool.  It was always with sincere pleasure that I saw the alert figure, the keen yet smiling eyes, the trim moustache and beard, which were the first impressions one got of his personality.  His unvarying suavity and politeness might have deceived a casual observer into supposing that he was not a man of abnormal strength of character; they were only the silken glove to conceal the hand of iron.  Emphatically a man of determination and practical common sense, he united to these qualities a remarkable degree of tact.  In addition to much routine matter, which need not be specified here, although grave enough at the time, our meetings were concerned with important work in which we were engaged, as, for instance, the O’Connell Centenary, the political prisoners, and combating the measures being taken to swell the tide of emigration from Ireland.

In dealing with the eventful career of Patrick Egan may I be allowed to go both backward and forward in my dates, in order to bring the story of his life into, as far as possible, one consecutive narrative.

Born in County Longford, he was brought to Dublin by his parents when quite young.  His shrewd business qualities enabled him to make his mark early in life, and his fine administrative abilities admirably fitted him for the post he attained as managing director to the most extensive flour milling company in Ireland.