Mackonochie did not think of taking another parish and moved into the Clergy House of St Alban's as a freelance. This was a happy arrangement for all, and there was no clash between the old priest and the new (Fr Suckling). For a time Mackonochie undertook a fair amount of work in the parish, but he was weakening mentally. He travelled several times to the continent and often visited the Bishop of Argyll, his friend Alexander Chinnery-Haldane, in Ballachulish, Scotland, a place which he loved. Increasingly his home was his brother's house at Wantage, another place very dear to his heart, where he continued to assist in parochial work as much as possible.