On Friday 28 April 1916, pinned down by the British Army and with a fire encroaching, Pádraig Pearse said that those not qualified in first aid should leave to avoid expected worse fighting.
Sometimes under fire, they waited for a lull in the gunfire at the Coliseum theatre and passed quietly through an upper balcony.
Flanagan led the way into Abbey Street holding a white flag with a red cross, whence they came under fire again.
At the Parnell monument they were questioned, but they said they were Red Cross nurses from the hospital and were granted passage.
Questioned again by detectives at Portland Row, they repeated their story before being allowed to pass and spend the night at the house of one of the women.