SPECIAL CATEGORY
FOR MAEVE
SPECIAL
CATEGORY
The IRA in English Prisons
Vol.2: 1978–1985
Ruán O’Donnell
University of Limerick
IRISH ACADEMIC PRESS
First published in 2015 by Irish Academic Press
8 Chapel Lane
Sallins
Co. Kildare
Ireland
© 2015 Ruán O’Donnell
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
978 0 7165 3301 6 (paper)
978 0 7165 3302 3 (cloth)
978 07165 3303 0 (PDF)
978 0 7165 3316 0 (epub)
978 0 7165 3317 7 (mobi)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Printed in Ireland by Sprintprint Ltd.
Contents
Chapter 2:Gartree, Wormwood Scrubs and the Blanket Protest in England
Chapter 3:Resistance and Reaction
Chapter 4:The May Committee on Prison Reform
Chapter 5:The IRA in England and the 1980–1981 Hunger Strikes
Chapter 6:Prisoners, Politics and Repatriation
Chapter 7:The Broad Front and Mutiny in Albany, 1983
Chapter 8:Prisoners and the Law
Acknowledgements
I acknowledge and greatly appreciate the generous assistance of Eddie O’Neill, Ann O’Sullivan, Siobhan Maguire, Mairin Shiels, Eila Moloney, Liam McCotter, John McComb, Jimmy Ashe and Con McFadden. Documentation and support was received from Eileen Shiels, Jackie Kaye, Maureen Maguire, Mairin Higgins, Billy Armstrong, Leo Wilson (RIP), An tAthair Piaras O Duill, Colm Moore, Gerry Cunningham, Seamus Ó Mathuna, Tomas O’Malley, Gerry Kelly, Mary Pearson, Aly Renwick, Jim McDonald, Kevin Dunphy, Pat Magee, Ronnie McCartney, Ella O’Dwyer, John McCluskey, Pat Hackett, John McCann, Deirdre O’Shea, Eddie and Rose Caughey, Tony Clarke, Eamon Nolan, Gerry McDonnell, Eddie Butler, Damian McComb, Labhras O Donnghaille, Jim Monaghan, Rose Dugdale, Deasun O Longain, Charlie Cunningham, John Fogarty (RIP), Paddy Ryan (RIP), Sean Smyth, Kathleen Horne (nee Doyle), Wally Heaton, Roy Walsh, Mary Walsh (RIP), Eoin Dougan, Irene McDonnell Cahill, Jack Cahill, Tony Coughlan, Muriel Sadlear, Anne Marie Whitaker and the staffs of the Linen Hall Library (Belfast), Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich Library (Armagh), Sinn Féin/Coiste na Iarchimini Archive (Dublin), National Archives of Ireland (Dublin), National Archives (London), Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Belfast), Tamiment Library, (New York University), Glucksman University of Limerick Library, University of Villanova Library (Special Collections) and Hesburgh Library (University of Notre Dame, Indiana).
This series was otherwise aided by Criostoir de Baroid (Ciste Ceant Dunlaoi Teoranta, Corcaigh), Lisa Hyde, Jonathan Scherbel-Ball, Jim and Geraldine Donnelly, Fionntan McCotter, Jim Smyth, Marcas McCionnaigh, Sonja Tiernan, Glenn Rosswurm, Muiris O’Meara (RIP), Chris Fox, Seamus Ashe, Micheal O hAodha, Padraig Óg O Ruairc, John O’Callaghan, Adrian Cormican, Paul Hayes, John Mulqueen, Finbar Cullen, Brian McNally, Gay Clery, Shay Courtney (RIP), Mary Courtney, Geraldine Crawford, Leo Cooper (RIP), Rab Hunter, Charlie Cunningham, Geraldine Bailey, Paul Holmes, Gerry Mac Lochlainn, Ann Rossiter, Joe McKenny (RIP), Paul Norney, Hugh and Winnie Doherty, Joe and Mary Jamison, Rab Fryers, Gerry Mac Lochlainn, Francie Broderick, Aodh O’Lunney, Jack Kilroy, Mike Carty, Owen Rodgers, Jim Panaro, Norman Breslin, Charlie Rice (RIP), Jeff Leddin, Sean McKillen, Ger Maher, Gearoid Phelan, Sean O Murchada, Joe O’Hara, John Logan, John O’Brennan, Charles Caulfield, John O’Connor, Seamus Ashe, Nicky Cuddihy, Briona Nic Dhiarmada, Maire Durack, Jim Cullen, Mick Nolan, Conor Duffy, Catherine Kelly, Lorcan Collins, Rita O’Hare, Pat Doherty, David Yaffe, Bruce Sillner, Tam Brawley, Kathleen Dowley, Patrick Miller, David Granville, Gary O’Reilly, Charlene Vizzacherro, Joe Lennon, Lorcan Collins and Mary Elizebeth Bartholomew. Special thanks to all those who agreed to be interviewed and who entered into correspondence. As always, thanks to Maeve, Ruairi, Fiachra, Cormac and Saoirse O’Donnell.
Ruán O’Donnell
May 2015
Glossary
Activist: Person who directly engages in political campaigns
Active Service Unit: Cadre of IRA personnel
Adjudication: Disciplinary process in the Dispersal System
Adjutant-General: Second in command of the IRA
Allocation: Induction period
