On 19 December 1919, Savage and 10 fellow Fenian paramilitaries, including Mick McDonnell, Tom Kehoe, Seán Treacy, Seamus Robinson, Seán Hogan, Paddy Daly (Leader), Vincent Byrne, Tom Kilcoyne, Joe Leonard and Dan Breen, met after planning to assassinate the then British Viceroy, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Supreme Commander of the British Army in Ireland, Lord John French, as he returned from a private party which he had hosted the previous evening at his country residence in Frenchpark, County Roscommon.