McCracken and her sister Margaret met Thomas Russell, then an outlaw, when in July 1803 he came north in the hope of advancing the plans of Robert Emmet and Anne Devlin for a renewed insurrection. The sisters would not have contradicted the advice given to Russell by their eldest brother Francis and by Samuel Neilson that there was no appetite for a further rising. This Russell himself confirmed when news of Emmet's precipitous attempt in Dublin persuaded him to nonetheless raise the United Irish standard in County Down. James (Jemmy) Hope was to find the same in Antrim: former United men were convinced the cause was hopeless.