O'Brien left for Wexford and O'Gorman for Limerick to organise those counties.

The next morning the news reached those who remained in Dublin that the Habeas Corpus Act had been suspended, and that a warrant was on its way to Ireland for the arrest of Smith O'Brien.

The choice left was to fight, to become fugitives, or to surrender.

Dillon, M'Gee, Reilly, P.J.Smyth and Meagher decided hurriedly on the first course.

They rejected the proposal to begin the fight in Dublin, as they believed it would be hopeless with the resources at their disposal to contend against a disciplined garrison of 11,000 men in a city a large proportion of whose population was hostile.