From our point of vantage we waited until we saw the forces of the British law depart to their barracks. Then we proceeded on our way, and entered the house they had been raiding, where we enjoyed a pleasant tea. From Meagher’s we came south again to Leahy’s of Boherlahan, the famous family of Tipperary hurlers. After that we went to Donnelly’s, of Nodstown, in the same district, where we held a meeting of our Brigade Council on a Sunday evening. With our colleagues we discussed plans for more active operations, and produced the proclamation we had drawn up ordering all British armed forces to leave South Tipperary under penalty of death. Although Headquarters had refused their sanction we decided to publish it. About the end of February it was posted up in several parts of the county. The newspapers published it with mocking headlines. It seemed a tall order no doubt at the time, but subsequent events showed that we saw further ahead than either the newspapers or our own Headquarters gave us credit for. After that meeting we decided to return northwards towards Creany, sending word ahead as we always did. We sent a message to Patrick Kinnane to meet us with a car, and started our long tramp in the dismal night. At Upperchurch we were met by Kinnane, Doherty and Patrick Dwyer, and we headed for Murphy’s house at Creany. It was three o’clock in the morning when we reached our destination. Seldom did we suffer more than that night from cold and exposure. The weather was harsh, even for February, and the district was wild and mountainous. When we arrived at Murphy’s house we were ravenously hungry. Murphy was a great character. He was locally known as “the Stationmaster”—why, I don’t know, for the nearest railway station was fifteen miles from his house. He was preparing a great meal of smoked ham and eggs for us. So hungry was Hogan that instinctively, and half unconsciously, he began to eat the raw ham as it was being put on the frying pan. In a few minutes he was seriously ill, and we thought he was going to die. He soon revived, but for weeks afterwards he was far from well. His illness at this time was very unfortunate for us, because we had made up our minds, in spite of Headquarters’ orders, that we would try to get to Dublin, as we could no longer endure the misery of our existence.