This was sold in 1863 as Connolly feared he would be drafted into the Union army as a result of the ongoing American Civil War.
"Besides, he realized that it was much easier for him to handle a chanter than a rifle, so he lost no time in getting back to Liverpool, in which cosmopolitan city he remained four years.
He left California for the last time intending to buy the Hibernian Hall in Brooklyn, but was unable, "as his wife would not consent to the sale of her home in Waltham".
[citation needed] O'Neill reported that, "Mr. Burke, to whom we are indebted for the above information, says "William Connolly was the best general player on the Irish pipes on either side of the Atlantic."
Michael Egan, the famous maker of the Irish or Union pipes, who knew all the best pipers of his day, was of the same opinion.