Catalpa is unique among historical dramas because it is so well-documented from so many competing perspectives. Newspaper articles of the time variously decry the villainy of the rescue or extol the virtue of the caper, while several of the individuals involved published their own accounts of the events. The work of historians is, ultimately, to determine the credibility of sources, to establish not the truth of the matter but the likelihood that the documentation accurately reflects the events as they happened. We have in Catalpa a wealth of resources: the personal correspondence of dozens of individuals, public records, newspaper articles, scholarly texts, reports submitted to Clan Na Gael, and even the clandestine reports of the British Government itself. As such, Catalpa provides an opportunity not to just imagine what the past might have been like but to recreate it in exquisite detail.

This research would not be possible without the work of so many libraries, museums and other centers of cultural preservation, dedicated to maintaining historical records for future generations. We could not tell this story without their work. And for that, we are eternally grateful.