ARCHIVES
Smashing H-Block
Dozens of books have been written about the political fall-out from the 1981 H-Block hunger-strike and Margaret Thatcher’s criminalization policy that preceded it. Several have been written from the perspective of the prisoners and hunger-strikers themselves. A...
Old Comrades Reunion
Jim Gibney writes about a unique reunion of former prisoners – those who took part in the protest for political status in Armagh Jail and the H-Blocks between 1976 and 1981: There have been many episodes in the conflict over the last fifty years when republicans...
‘John Lennon’s Dead’
Veteran republican Gerry O’Hare reviews former POW Síle Darragh’s memoir of life for imprisoned women during the struggle for political status: It is a grey hulk so familiar to us all. Armagh Women’s Gaol. The very name is redolent of another age. But, it has to be...
BBC History of 1981
The BBC has produced a website dedicated to the story of the protest for political status, including the blanket protest and the two hunger strikes, involving footage that has been rarely seen. Five short videos are used to illustrate the atmosphere between 1976 and...
Nothing But An Unfinished Song – Launch
Denis O’Hearn’s bestselling biography of Bobby Sands, Nothing But An Unfinished Song, has been translated into French and will be launched at Fête de l'Humanité on the 16th-18th September. More details about the launch can be found here. Bobby Sands. Jusqu'au bout...
Hold No Fear For Us
Former hunger striker Laurence McKeown, in a powerful analysis of 1981, writes of the legacy of that historic period, how it informs today’s struggle for freedom and independence and how republicans and unionists can attempt to come to terms with the past. Laurence...
IRA O/C’s Armagh Memoir
Síle Darragh was the IRA O/C in Armagh Gaol during the hunger strike in 1980 and until her release in 1981. Earlier this month her book about her time in jail during the protest for political status was launched during Féile an Phobail in West...
Thousands Pay Tribute
Thousands of republicans from across Ireland and many overseas supporters marched through Camlough last Sunday, in the national commemoration to honour the 1981 hunger strikers and Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg who had died on hunger strike in English jails in 1974...
Tom McElwee Commemoration
Last Sunday a commemoration was held in Bellaghy in honour of Tom McElwee, the ninth republican prisoner to die during the 1981 hunger strike. The parade assembled at McElwee’s home place in Tamlaghduff and was led by a group of ex-POWs carrying photographs of the...
London Seminar on Internment
Twelve-year-old County Armagh schoolgirl, Majella O’Hare was “executed” according to a former senior British officer who served in the North and is now a leading Tory MP. MP Patrick Mercer made this startling admission at a seminar on internment at...
