I am grateful for the support of a number of individuals and institutions while researching and writing this book.
The staff of the reading room at the National Library of Ireland went out of their way on many occasions to locate material. I am also grateful to the staff of the libraries of University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. The Trojan work of the staff of the Military Archives in digitising the witness statements collected by the Bureau of Military History between 1947 and 1957 has been of enormous assistance in preparing this book.
I would like to thank the staff at Mercier Press, in particular Mary Feehan and Wendy Logue, for their assistance and encouragement throughout the production of this book. I would also like to thank Robert Doran for his work on proofreading the text.
I acknowledge the support of my former colleagues at Kilmainham Gaol Museum, who over the years have been a source of information, debate and inspiration. I am grateful for the assistance of Niall Bergin, who provided images from the Kilmainham Gaol collection for this book. I would like to give particular thanks to Brian Crowley, curator of the Pearse Museum, for the mentoring, advice and help he gave me throughout my time working for the Office of Public Works.
This book would not have been possible without the patience and encouragement of my family and friends, too numerous to mention here by name.
I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to my parents, Kevin and Mary Ryan, to whom this book is dedicated.