At Philipstown he was stopped by RIC, and went to draw on a concealed gun. From Athlone, where he tried to seize the magazine fort, he was sent to south Roscommon. There the police caught up with him and Brig. Brennan in the corner shop at Ballintubber. Escaping, he was crossing a bridge at the River Suck, Galway when the RIC fired and wounded, the fleeing suspect. He crossed again to Roscommon and went to ground in the mountains. Espying on FM Lord French at Rockingham House was hazardous; it was very dangerous for the IRA, in the vicinity of Carrick. Night drilling continued in near silence behind village school houses, but the secret organising continued regardless.