The United Irish Society continued to disintegrate through the spring and summer of 1793. It took almost two months of meetings to get through two addresses, one to the Catholics, one to the nation. Drennan had drawn up both. Part of the problem was Drennan's literary style, which had developed many idiosyncrasies. But it was the principle of addressing the Catholics separately which caused most complaint. Drennan's paper urged them not to abandon reform, and he was annoyed at Tone who seemed to be compromising on the issue. Tone could be sharp, even with those he liked, and his penchant for mockery would have wounded the morbidly sensitive Drennan. Drennan was bitter that the Catholics never employed him professionally and irritated at the influence Tone wielded over opinion in Belfast. But the main reason for the disputes of these months was the fear of publishing anything, and the address which eventually emerged on 7 June was so trimmed and sanitised that even Collins found it anodyne.

I

After the dissolution of the Catholic Committee, Tone seems to have gone into semi-retirement in Kildare, and when in town, he confined his socialising to a few friends. On 9 May Russell arrived in Dublin, summoned to appear before the Lords’ committee. He was urged by friends to testify. Reynolds’ refusal had simply landed him in prison and few wished to see further martyrs created. Tone came up to town on the morning of Russell's examination (10 May) to advise his friend, but in the event the Lords did not ask Russell about Tone's 1791 letter.

That night they attended the United Irish Society. Since December it had been meeting in the Tailors’ Hall, Back Lane. Built in 1706 on the site of a former Jesuit college, it was one of the largest public rooms in Dublin and was used for all manner of meetings, from the grand lodge of freemasons to the Catholic Convention of 1792. Situated in the run-down part of Dublin near Christ Church, its access was through the dimly lit, narrow and foul-smelling area of Skinner-row, High Street and Nicholas Street. ‘The very aspect of the place seemed to render it adapted for cherishing a conspiracy’, reflected a former Trinity College student who attended the United Irish Society early in 1793.