ONE of Greece’s top civil right’s lawyers, Failos Krainidots, a keen student of Irish history, was so impressed with a book which he picked up in a Dublin bookshop that he travelled with his family to Limerick to identify places of interest mentioned. No, the book was not the celebrated Angela’s Ashes, but rather Jim Corbett’s, Not While I Have Ammo, which deals with the dark turbulent times of Limerick from Easter 1916, right through to the War of Independence and the Civil War, and the effects it had on Limerick people afterwards. Mr Krainidots was on tour of Ireland in August, and when finished reading the book, he headed for the Strand Barracks and other locations to allow him get a deeper insight of happenings at the time. Since the launch of his book “Not While I Have Ammo,” author Jim Corbett, has been left amazed by the level of support he has received about his grandfather Connie MacNamara’s defence of the Strand Barracks during the Irish Civil War.
It has been received warmly not only from Limerick people, but from Irish people from all over the South and North of Ireland, and from Irish communities worldwide, and also non Irish with a keen interest in history.
As well as the Limerick Associations abroad such as in London, where Jim was a guest speaker at a dinner in September, It has also appealed to the Limerick Association of New York and the Irish community in Ohio. Since the launch, he has had some memorable experiences, On a personal note, one of the experiences which touched Jim deeply was, after leaving Limerick to live in London in 1988, he lost contact with a very close friend. After reading a newspaper article about Jim’s book, he established contact and their close friendship was re-established.
This is a fascinating book With Christmas approaching, it is worth considering as a present for a loved one.
