In creating Fianna...

"Our main focus was the Atkinsons and McMullens. But we do include source material which (to the best of our knowledge) is presented for the first time. The undercover Pinkerton investigation of Midwestern Fenian circles has not been  detailed  elsewhere. We  include a  rare  inter view with Fenian commander William Atkinson.  Also: a sidebar on the Fenians’ long theological battle with the Catholic Church, including a vignette of the Rev. John McMullen and his Fenian friend – the Civil War hero James Mulligan. This, too, is new to Fenian scholarship.

O n e s p e c i a l n o t e :   n o t h i n g h e r e i s f i c t i o n a l i z e d  o r supposed. There are places where a novelist might be tempted to pick up his pen, but we stick to what we can verify – even if it leaves a tantalizing loose thread. Any conjecture is identified as such.

Writing  is reading.  For a work of this kind, the ratio is one to ten.  This writer benefited from indispensible research assistance and – above all – the wisdom and generous support of editor-publisher Ray McCormack.  We thank Vicki Reynolds Mazur, a family historian whose dedication over many years has produced a trove of information and insights.   And Joe Ann Burgett was a tremendous help sleuthing her way through a mosaic of sources in Detroit and Port Huron."    

From 'Fianna' written by Michael Plemmons. 

©Ray McCormack, 3A Publishing