Having returned to Kington on 27 February, Moeran had to prepare immediately for a short visit to Ireland. The first Irish performance of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was to take place in Dublin on 5 March with Nancie Lord as soloist and the Radio Eireann Symphony Orchestra, and Moeran had been invited to attend the concert. He travelled to Dublin on 1 March, with his plan being to stay in Ireland for about ten days, making a brief trip to Kenmare after the concert. On arriving in Dublin, Moeran found that the Irish authorities would not allow sealed airmail letters to be sent from Ireland to any address in British-controlled territory, the consequence being that Moeran could contact Coetmore only by expensive telegram. Furthermore, when he arrived in Kenmare, he became ill and was confined to bed for two weeks. He was obliged to remain until he was well enough to return to Dublin to convince the authorities to grant him special permission to go home, his original two-week visa having expired in the meanwhile.

Unfortunately, from early 1944, public travel between Britain and Ireland was becoming increasingly restricted, and it became virtually impossible after the beginning of April. Ireland, while officially politically neutral, was nevertheless viewed with suspicion by the British authorities, and extensive precautions were taken to prevent the movement of possible German agents. One of Moeran's fellow members of the Oxford & Cambridge Musical Club during the 1920s had been the talented cellist Guy Maynard Liddell. Several of the club programmes show that Moeran accompanied him, and so they must have known each other. In 1940, Liddell had been appointed Director of B Division in the British Security Service (MI5) responsible for all aspects of counterespionage. He would have been particularly interested in travelling British citizens, especially those whose names were familiar to him. Moreover, Liddell's brother Cecil Frederick Liddell had been director of the MI5 Irish Section since the outbreak of the war. Moeran's previous associations with the Irish Republican Army would probably have been known to Liddell, and – while it is unlikely that Moeran was considered to be a major security risk – his being a suspected Nationalist sympathiser would have compounded his difficulties in obtaining a travel permit at a time of heightened sensitivity.