The Basilica Recreation Centre - Before and After----------------------------------------------------------- Canadian Women's Press Club. In 1912 she formed the Catholic Women's League of Edmonton which was a forerunner and parent league of the CWL of Canada . In 1913 Katherine was sent to London to act as the secretary and assistant to the Agent General of Alberta in Britain. This was a fateful move as it brought her into contact with Ireland, the birthplace of her grandparents. In 1914, before her visit to Ireland, she considered herself a "Home Ruler" - a supporter of limited self-government for Ireland within the British Empire. After her visit, she became a strong supporter of an independent Ireland. What explains the sudden transformation? She was shocked at the condition in which she found the Irish people, and the fact that prior to her visit she had come in contact with the large Irish expatriate community in London. This included a large number of Irish speakers and Irish language activists, members of the Gaelic League. Katherine had discovered Ireland and her roots. She began her crusade for Irish independence that would occupy the rest of her life. While in London she became friends with Padraic 6 Conaire (1882-1928) who is now acknowledged as the most important writer in Irish of the early 20th century. Together they collaborated on a play called The Cherry Bird. Also in London she had met Sir William Van Home, builder of the CPR and they discussed collaborating on a history of the railway. This meeting also led Katherine to researching and writing most of the biography of Van Home. Katherine returned to Canada in the fall of 1915 having resigned her position with the province of Alberta. After the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, she became more active in representing the case of Irish Independence. By May of 1918 she claimed that she had spoken on this topic in every province of and through the U.S.A. In November 1919 she moved to Washington , D.C. , where she established the Irish National Bureau, funded by the Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF). This office became a centre for Irish lobbying in Washington as well as a base for Katherine's lecture tours to promote Irish self-determination. In 1920 Katherine launched a speaking tour of Canada with the objective of setting up branches of the Self-Determination for Ireland League as each stop. She began her tour in the Maritimes on July 2 and on July 8 returned to her native province for a lecture in Charlottetown . Her Canadian tour was an 72