She might have continued acting in Dublin, if a new turn to affairs had not been given by the arrival of John Kemble, who was engaged as a star to play at Dublin, Cork, and Limerick. This was towards the end of 1813. Miss O'Neill acted with him, and he wrote to his partner in London, his impressions of her:—
"There is a very pretty girl here with a small touch of a brogue on her tongue. She has great talent and some genius; with a little trouble we might make her an object for John Bull's admiration. They call her here the Dove, in contradistinction to her rival, Miss Walstein, whom they designate the Eagle. I recommend the Dove as more likely to please John Bull than the Irish Eagle, who is only a Siddons diluted, and would be only tolerated when Siddons is forgotten. I have sounded the fair lady on the subject of a London engagement. She proposes to append a very long family, a whole clan of O'Neills, to the engagement, to which I have given a decided negative. If she accepts the offer I will sign, seal, and ship herself and clan off from Cork Street.… She is very pretty, and so, in fact, is her brogue, which, by the bye, she only uses in conversation, and totally forgets when with Shakespeare and other illustrious companions."
The agreement was signed, for three years, at a salary of from £15 to £17 a week. Her brother
