It seemed as yesterday.

And here HE stood grown to manhood.

He needed just that reminder to stir his blood and nerve him for the ordeal of St.Kernan's Hill.
The old order was dying out in Ireland.
The days of spiritless bending to the yoke were over.

It was a "Young Ireland" he belonged to and meant to lead.

A "Young Ireland" with an inheritance of oppression and slavery to wipe out.