I wish to thank the many people who spoke to me in recorded interviews or over a pint of Guinness and furnished the memories, information and documents that made this book possible. Their stories are the stuff of the pages that follow. I am also grateful to Conor O’Clery, Don Murray, Besty Vriend, Stephen Taylor, Mary Sixsmith, John Cooney and Kit Grover for their generous help with my research and their attentive reading of the text.