Ba mhaith liom buíochas ó chroí a ghabháil leis an iliomad daoine
éagsúla a chuidigh leis an tioncsnamh seo ón tús; murach an cuidiú,
an chomhairle agus an spreagadh s’agaibh, is cinnte nach mbeadh
an leabhar seo indhéanta. Firstly, I want to thank all those narrators,
three of whom, Willie-John McCorry, Billy Kelly and Eddie Keenan,
are sadly no longer with us, who kindly gave up their time to speak
about their experiences. This book is primarily based on your story
and would not exist without your valuable contributions. I want to
thank all those who helped me during my time researching at Queen’s
University Belfast, most notably an t-Ollamh Dónall P. Ó Baoill who
gave me kind help and guidance stretching over several years.
In addition, I must mention a number of others whose advice
guided me along the way: Dr Nollaig Ó Muraíle, and Professors
Kieran McEvoy, Bill Rolston, Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh and Mike
Tomlinson. I’m particularly indebted to my friend Phil Scraton,
who not only gave up his time to write a wonderful foreword, but
also helped shape my intellectual journey and cajoled me to pursue
this research to publication. A number of friends helpfully read
drafts of this book, including my brother Niall, Ciarán Mac Giolla
Bhéin, Seán Mac Bradaigh, Brian Kelly, Féilim Ó hAdhmaill and
Nicola Rooney; Liam Barr gave invaluable help with compiling the
manuscript. Fergal Mac Blaoscaidh was especially generous with his
time and incredibly sharp analysis. My appreciation also extends to
Ciarán Ó Brolcháin, who not only compiled a comprehensive index,
but has also been on hand to help me with countless thankless tasks
over many years. Go raibh maith agaibh a chairde.