Jim Feeheley would visit the Donnelley house earlier in the night as a distraction and to get an understanding on the type of situation they would be encountering that night. There were some more problems associated with these plan such as the society did not plan on Donnelly leaving the Donnelly home and taking his horse to Big Jim Keefe. The society thought Keefe was spying for them and finally they did not plan for Johnny O’Connor to be in the house during the attack.