When the Irish Revival began to be appreciable Mrs. Kearney determined to take advantage of her daughter’s name and brought an Irish teacher to the house.  Kathleen and her sister sent Irish picture postcards to their friends and these friends sent back other Irish picture postcards.  On special Sundays, when Mr. Kearney went with his family to the pro-cathedral, a little crowd of people would assemble after mass at the corner of Cathedral Street.  They were all friends of the Kearneys—­musical friends or Nationalist friends; and, when they had played every little counter of gossip, they shook hands with one another all together, laughing at the crossing of so man hands, and said good-bye to one another in Irish.  Soon the name of Miss Kathleen Kearney began to be heard often on people’s lips.  People said that she was very clever at music and a very nice girl and, moreover, that she was a believer in the language movement.  Mrs. Kearney was well content at this.  Therefore she was not surprised when one day Mr. Holohan came to her and proposed that her daughter should be the accompanist at a series of four grand concerts which his Society was going to give in the Antient Concert Rooms.  She brought him into the drawing-room, made him sit down and brought out the decanter and the silver biscuit-barrel.  She entered heart and soul into the details of the enterprise, advised and dissuaded:  and finally a contract was drawn up by which Kathleen was to receive eight guineas for her services as accompanist at the four grand concerts.

As Mr. Holohan was a novice in such delicate matters as the wording of bills and the disposing of items for a programme, Mrs. Kearney helped him.  She had tact.  She knew what artistes should go into capitals and what artistes should go into small type.  She knew that the first tenor would not like to come on after Mr. Meade’s comic turn.  To keep the audience continually diverted she slipped the doubtful items in between the old favourites.  Mr. Holohan called to see her every day to have her advice on some point.  She was invariably friendly and advising—­homely, in fact.  She pushed the decanter towards him, saying: 

“Now, help yourself, Mr. Holohan!”

And while he was helping himself she said: 

“Don’t be afraid!  Don t be afraid of it! "

Everything went on smoothly.  Mrs. Kearney bought some lovely blush-pink charmeuse in Brown Thomas’s to let into the front of Kathleen’s dress.  It cost a pretty penny; but there are occasions when a little expense is justifiable.  She took a dozen of two-shilling tickets for the final concert and sent them to those friends who could not be trusted to come otherwise.  She forgot nothing, and, thanks to her, everything that was to be done was done.

The concerts were to be on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  When Mrs. Kearney arrived with her daughter at the Antient Concert Rooms on Wednesday night she did not like the look of things.  A few young men, wearing bright blue badges in their coats, stood idle in the vestibule; none of them wore evening dress.  She passed by with her daughter and a quick glance through the open door of the hall showed her the cause of the stewards’ idleness.  At first she wondered had she mistaken the hour.  No, it was twenty minutes to eight.