suspicious circumstances in connection with him. A man
resembling him in appearance, and evidently disguised, had been seen in
company with individuals supposed to be police agents. But as there was
a man belonging to the organisation named Arthur Anderson, who strongly
resembled Corydon, the real informer, suspicion fell upon Anderson.
After Corydon had thrown off the mask and openly appeared as an
informer, I had an opportunity of seeing him, and, so far as my memory
serves me, this is what he was like: At first sight you might set him
down as a third-rate actor or circus performer. He wore a frock coat,
buttoned tightly, to set off a by no means contemptible figure, and
carried himself with a jaunty, swaggering air, after the conventional
style of a theatrical "professional." He was about the middle height, of
wiry, active build, with features clearly cut, thin face, large round
forehead, a high aquiline nose, thick and curly hair, decidedly "sandy"
in colour, and heavy moustache of the same tinge. His cheeks and chin
were denuded of beard.
It was in the Liverpool Police Court I saw John Joseph Corydon, as the
newspapers spelled his name--if it were his name, which is very
doubtful, for it was said in Liverpool that he was the son of an
abandoned woman of that town.
There was at that time a reporter named Sylvester Redmond, whom I knew
very well, a very decent Irishman, who made a special feature of giving
humorous descriptions of the cases in the police court. I was told by
someone in Court that the man whose hand Sylvester was so cordially
shaking was the noted informer, Corydon. I was very much disgusted with
the old gentleman, until I heard afterwards that some wag among the
police had introduced the informer to him as a distinguished
fellow-countryman.
After the collapse of the Chester scheme, McCafferty and Flood made
their way to Ireland to be ready for the Rising, but were arrested in
Dublin, charged with being concerned in the raid on Chester. They were
both in due course put upon their trials, and sent into penal servitude.
I find, from a graphic sketch written for my "Irish Library" by William
James Ryan, that in the convict ship that took John Flood into penal
servitude was another distinguished Irishman, John Boyle O'Reilly, whose
offence against British rule was his successful recruiting for the
I.R.B. among the soldiery. Another lieutenant of John Devoy, who had
charge of the organisation of
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