About the Author

John Dorney was born in Dublin in August 1980 and grew up in the southern suburb of Rathfarnham. He studied history and politics in University College Dublin and completed a Masters Thesis on the 16th century Irish chieftain Florence McCarthy entitled, Florence MacCarthy and the conquest of Gaelic Munster, 1560-1640. Intrigued by an Irish language memorial near his home that is dedicated to a republican militant assassinated in the Irish Civil War, he began researching the period surrounding Irish independence and partition in 1916-23 in 2006. He is particularly interested in the specifics of this often murky period in Dublin. He has worked variously as a bicycle courier, English language teacher and in assorted other jobs. He is currently studying in Masters' course in journalism. He lives in Dublin, speaks Spanish to a reasonable standard and has a keen interest in the Spanish speaking world, especially Spain and the Basque country. Apart from history, he enjoys sport, especially cycling and football. He is a supporter of Shamrock Rovers FC, though as much out of personal nostalgia and social ties as sporting reasons.