One enthusiastic supporter of the new Volunteer movement was Maurice Moore, a retired colonel of the Connaught Rangers. Moore was more concerned with the military than with the political aspect of the Volunteers, and was soon appointed chief inspector. Two others were Tom Kettle and his brother Larry, both members of the radical Young Ireland branch of the United Irish League. Tom Kettle was the chairman and leading light of the branch, which was formed in University College, Dublin, in the mid-1900s by a group of young, progressive nationalists. Other members included Frank Skeffington (later Sheehy-Skeffington), Frank Cruise O’Brien and Rory O’Connor. Larry Kettle was joint secretary of the Volunteers from its formation until the split, ten months later, but apart from that he seems always to have lived in the shadow of his younger brother. Of the remaining ‘followers of the Chief’—John Gore, Michael J. Judge, James Lenehan, Peter O’Reilly and George Walsh—little or nothing is known. Thus, although the Volunteers could truthfully claim that the Home Rule movement was represented on the committee, its representatives were either quite individualistic or of very little importance.
