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.