went absent without leave and returned to Dundalk, where she briefly became engaged to a young man named Sean McKeowan. Although McKeowan himself was disinterested in any form of politics, Ward is known to have frequently drunk in Dundalk pubs where, according to acquaintances, she frequently socialised with men affiliated with the Official IRA. She is also known to have briefly lived under the alias Teresa O'Connell, on one occasion listing her age when briefly detained by the Royal Ulster Constabulary as 14 years, eight months. The following year, Ward returned to England, being discharged from the WRAC shortly thereafter. She briefly worked in a restaurant before returning to Dundalk to again work as a riding instructor in August 1972. She returned to England the following summer; initially residing with family in Stanbury Place, Offerton, Stockport. On 26 August 1973, Ward was discovered sleeping rough on the concourse of Euston railway station and detained for questioning. Shortly thereafter, she obtained employment as a chambermaid at a hotel near the Elephant and Castle. This employment lasted until she was dismissed on 10 November. The same day, Ward travelled to Ireland via Holyhead. January–February 1974 In the weeks prior to her arrest, Ward had lived a somewhat nomadic and destitute lifestyle; alternately sleeping rough around Euston station and hitchhiking to locations such as Cardiff to temporarily sleep at the house of an acquaintance. Less than two weeks prior to her arrest, Ward obtained employment as a groom with Chipperfields Circus. She commenced her employment with the circus in Belle Vue, Manchester on 26 January. Shortly thereafter, the circus relocated to the Cotswolds, arriving at Chipping Norton at approximately 2:30 a.m. on 3 February. That evening, Ward and several colleagues visited the local Blue Boar pub on nearby Goddards Lane, remaining at this venue for several hours. The following day, Ward quit her employment. Ward's appeals state that in the days prior to her arrest, she had most often slept rough around Euston station and Primrose Hill with a man named Ernest Mayall and a woman referred to in her appeal transcripts as a "Welsh girl", both of whom she later claimed to have first met in London on 8 February. Four days later, she and Mayall travelled by bus to Cardiff, with Ward leaving the duffel bags she had purchased in Chipping Norton inside a freight container. The following day, Ward hitchhiked