One officer is being treated for a suspected fractured skull. Discover (and save!) [26] Pdraig McKearney was killed by the SAS along with seven other members of the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade in the Loughgall ambush in May 1987, the IRA's biggest single loss of life since the 1920s. He had served 10 years in Long Kesh Prison (also known as the Maze) for offenses relating to the struggle for Irish independence. The article charts the environment Spence presided over in jail, the . [10][17] The British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary immediately activated a contingency plan and by 4:25 pm a cordon of vehicle checkpoints was in place around the prison, and others were later in place in strategic positions across Northern Ireland, resulting in the recapture of one prisoner at 11:00 pm. A place of incarceration and liberation, political debate and historical denial, the H Block cell units of Long Kesh/Maze prison in Northern Ireland housed members of both Republican and Loyalist military groups during The Troubles and are now considered icons of that conflict. Her Majesty's Prison at the Maze was opened in 1976 and the prison's H-Blocks were to become the centre of protest against the . [24] Samus McElwaine was killed by the SAS in Roslea in April 1986,[25] and Gerry Kelly and Brendan McFarlane were returned to prison in December 1986 after being extradited from the Netherlands where they had been arrested in January 1986, leaving twelve escapees still on the run. This article focuses on the controversial figure of Gusty Spence, who was key to the emergence of two artists from an Ulster Loyalist paramilitary background: George Morrow and Bobby Niblock, both of whom fell under Spence's guidance in Long Kesh/the Maze prison. These so-called patriots need to be exposed for the agents they are, and for their extensive links to British nazis and Loyalists. Held in the 70s in the notorious Northern Irish jail known as The Maze, The H Blocks or Long Kesh, Ronan Bennett recalls the gas attacks, the beatings, the smell - and the jokes - and applauds . Control Building Plan. On 13 December 1972, the overcrowding at Crumlin Road Prison was becoming so unmanageable that, to alleviate the pressure, it was now the turn of sentenced prisoners to be transferred to Long Kesh. Former Prison Officer Dessie Waterworth describes the control room inside a H-Block at the Maze and Long Kesh. A multi-storey building, containing the emergency control room and various offices. Request PDF | Prison as a Liberated Zone: The Murals of Long Kesh, Northern Ireland | In Northern Ireland's Long Kesh prison in the late 1980s and 1990s, prisoners from each of the loyalist and . Official aerial photograph of RAF Long Kesh airfield, 28 July 1942. These privileges included free association between prisoners, extra visits, food parcels and the right to wear their own clothes rather than prison uniforms. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. It replaced portacabin visiting facilities that originally served the H-Blocks when they opened in 1976. Some was looking after the tea facilities and stuff like that, others was cleaning out the hut. fast_forward. a loyalist ex-prisoner from the Shankhill Road. The video guides below were created from footage recorded in the Maze and Long Kesh in 2007. It was later to be used for housing sentenced republican and loyalist prisoners from 1972 who were initially granted 'Special . [8] In 1978, the British Government was found guilty and censured by the European Court of Human Rights for "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in the interrogation procedures". The Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher did not initially give in. Portlaoise Prison Portlaoise County Laois H Blocks Long Kesh Lisburn County Antrim BT27 5RP . The motor mechanics vocational training course , 1981 . search. Once put in a holding cell in Belfast, handcuffs were placed very tightly on his wrists and despite numerous requests, the handcuffs were not removed or loosened. There was ordinary prisoners serving the food out and there was a Newry man took exception to one of them because this prisoner was from Newry. [13][15], Outside the prison the IRA had planned a logistical support operation involving 100 armed members,[16] but due to a miscalculation of five minutes, the prisoners found no transport waiting for them and were forced to flee across fields or hijack vehicles. 6. The highlight of your week would be getting the call for a visit Prisoner. A place of incarceration and liberation, political debate and historical denial, the H Block cell units of Long Kesh/Maze prison in Northern Ireland housed members of both Republican and Loyalist military groups during 'The Troubles' and are now Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre and known colloquially as the Maze Prison, The Maze, the H Blocks or Long Kesh) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from mid-1971 to mid-2000.. People are encouraged to write and send cards to the prisoners. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. PRONI ref: INF/7/A/8/10, Audio-described tour of the Compounds / Cages at Maze and Long Kesh | PMA, Audio-described tour of the Hospital at Maze and Long Kesh | PMA, Audio-described tour of the H-Blocks at Maze and Long Kesh | PMA. And that was every morning I done 10 miles around here: 70 laps. It is estimated that 25,000 people were imprisoned in Northern Ireland over roughly 30 years of conflict. Afterwards, the prison was emptied of its paramilitary prisoners as the groups they represented agreed to the ceasefire. Used for exercise and outdoor recreation by the prisoners. More than 130 prisoners were injured in the trouble - nine needed hospital treatment. At this time two prison officers blocked the exit with their cars, forcing the prisoners to abandon the lorry and make their way to the outer fence which was 25 yards away. search. [10][13] Leading unionist politician Ian Paisley called on Nicholas Scott, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to resign. Area for washing, showering and disposal of overnight waste. 42 Indeed, 24% of the republican and 17% of the loyalist ex-prisoners reported symptoms of serious psychological trauma, such as depression . . There must have been over a hundred men, all with long, dirty, greasy hair, long beards some longer than others totally unkempt. [2][3] On 31 October 1973, three leading IRA members, including former Chief of Staff Seamus Twomey, escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin when a hijacked helicopter landed in the exercise yard of the prison. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. menu. Inside Man: Loyalists of Long Kesh -., Smith, William 9781780730646 | eBay [28] Robert Russell was extradited back to Northern Ireland in August 1988 after being captured in Dublin in 1984,[29][30] as was Paul Kane in April 1989. Read "H Blocks An Architecture of the Conflict in and about Northern Ireland" by Louise Purbrick available from Rakuten Kobo. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. [14], At 3:25 pm, a lorry delivering food supplies arrived at the entrance to H7, whereupon Brendan McFarlane and other prisoners took the occupants hostage at gunpoint and moved them inside H7. One officer was stabbed with a craft knife, and another was knocked down by a blow to the back of the head. They crashed into another car near the gate and abandoned the car. Chapel Plan. [55], The prison break was dramatised in the 2017 film Maze, written and directed by Stephen Burke, and starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Barry Ward. But the British government still resisted and on 5 May, after 66 days on hunger strike, Sands died. But in the early days when we were in this sort of frame of mind freedom: 74, freedom: 75 we led a fairly militarised type of existence, it was very military structures. katherine noelle wyman; cape breton post obituaries 2022. location symbol text in word; list of female jockeys australia; mike conley house columbus ohio address Initially, the internees were housed, with different paramilitary groups separated from each other, in Nissen huts at a disused RAF airfield that became the Long Kesh Detention Centre. [4], However, Special Category Status was short-lived. The other prisoners escaped over the fence, and by 4:18 pm the main gate was closed and the prison secured, after 35 prisoners had breached the prison perimeter. However, this was not done soon enough to prevent the escape. "Our day" is the date hoped for by Irish nationalists on which a united Ireland is achieved. corporals killings helicopter footagethe hardy family acrobats 26th February 2023 / in was forest whitaker in batteries not included / by / in was forest whitaker in batteries not included / by [6][9] In March 1975, ten prisoners escaped from the courthouse in Newry while on trial for attempting to escape from Long Kesh. Following the introduction of internment in August 1971, Long Kesh a disused World War 2 airfield near Lisburn, south of Belfast was used as an internment camp. [14] James Prior announced that the prison's governor had resigned, and that there would be no ministerial resignations as a result of the report's findings. Gerard given Governor ground groups hand happening head heard hospital Hugh huts injuries internees John kicked knee Lagan Valley later Long Kesh Loyalist morning move night Northern Ireland period pitch present priest prison officers protest received Rees refused Republican returned riot . The former Maze Prison/Long Kesh in Lisburn, near Belfast, is one of the primary sites associated with the 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland. close. The British government refused to back down. D. Morley Camp O/C 4th Batt. And you got your day in by studying, by walking the yard, by running around the yard in the mornings, doing a bit of training, by doing handicrafts, by political discussions, reading, arguing. ***** List provided by: 'The Writing Cmpaign' 4110 Farmdale Road Philadelphia, PA 19154 USA tel (215-637-3728) . In fact, despite the opening of the H-Blocks in 1976, they remained in use until 1988, with people who had been sentenced before 1976 finishing their sentence in the cages/ compounds and anyone sentenced after March 1976 going into the H-Blocks. 37 prisoners climbed into the back of the lorry, while Gerry Kelly lay on the floor of the cab with a gun pointed at the driver, who was also told the cab had been booby trapped with a hand grenade. The hospital contained both individual cells and small wards. Existing prisoners remained in separate compounds and retained their Special Category Status with the last prisoner to hold this status being released in 1986. All naked to the waist, just wearing the prison, the trousers from the prison uniform. Ex-prisoners from the Maze are subject to increased scrutiny by the security forces. The RUC and army arrested 342 Irish nationalists, but key Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) members had been tipped off and 104 of those arrested were released when it emerged they had no paramilitary connections. In October 2006, demolition work started in preparation for construction on the site. 8. Only one of the H-Blocks remains, alongside the prison . H-Block classroom, 1981. I jumped at the chance, especially as I was able to . Prisoners without Special Category Status began protesting for its return immediately after they were transferred to the H-Blocks. The H-Blocks, eight in total, first opened in 1976. Internment, used several times in Northern Ireland's short history, was reintroduced by its Stormont government on 9 August 1971 (McGuffin 1973). A red brick, multi-storey building within the prison complex. McConnell: "HM Maze Prison, also known as Long Kesh and the H-Blocks, held some of the most dangerous men in Europe during its 30 year operation. The official inquiry into the escape placed most of the blame onto prison staff, who in turn blamed the escape on political interference in the running of the prison. PRONI ref: INF/7/A/8/21, Once a week youd maybe get out to the gym Prisoner, You could have played basketball, 5 a sides, volleyball, stuff like that Prisoner. [40][41] Dermot McNally, who had been living in the Republic of Ireland and was tracked down in 1996,[35] and Dermot Finucane, received an amnesty in January 2002, allowing them to return to Northern Ireland if they wished to. They organised themselves along military lines and exercised wide control over their respective H-Blocks. [53] Averill mingled with a group of prisoners' families attending a Christmas party, and escaped on the coach taking the families out of the prison. For the German rock band, see, "Maze prison redevelopment gets green light", "CAIN: Events: Internment: Summary of events", "Life and death in Long Kesh a new film about the notorious Maze prison in Northern Ireland", "Some Examples of Human Rights Abuses in Northern Ireland: The Use of Plastic Bullets and Strip Searches of Women |", "Anger as fugitive IRA terrorists are given their freedom", "Billy Wright murder: father could take legal action", "Plans for Maze prison peace centre 'set aside', "Coronavirus: Military Advising Over Design Of Northern Ireland Hospital", Maze Prison MazePrison.Com History Behind The Wire, Luxury hotel, equestrian centre, cinema complex welcome to the new Maze, Archaeology at the Maze/Long Kesh Site, Northern Ireland (Laura McAtackney), Ceasefires of the Provisional IRA, UVF, UDA and RHC, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HM_Prison_Maze&oldid=1141313798, 2000 disestablishments in Northern Ireland, Internment camps during the Troubles (Northern Ireland), Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Articles with MusicBrainz place identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:20. The army camp was closed in September 2000. However, he said the officers involved had never been disciplined and there were no plans to do so. In the biggest prison escape in UK history, 38 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners escaped from H-Block 7 (H7) of the prison. [13][17] Four more escapees were captured over the next two days, including Hugh Corey and Patrick McIntyre who were captured following a two-hour siege at an isolated farmhouse. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. How useful is the clip of William for an historian studying life in the cages/ compounds of Long Kesh? Also known as the canteen. [38][39] Tony Kelly was arrested in Letterkenny, County Donegal in October 1997 but was not extradited. Upon their return to the Maze, prison officers kicked and punched the returned escapees and repeatedly called them "Fenian bastards." By 1972, there were 924 internees and by the end of internment on 5 December 1975, 1,981 people had been detained; 1,874 (94.6%) of whom were Catholic/Irish nationalist and 107 (5.4%) Ulster Protestants/loyalists.[3]. Introduction This paper marks an attempt to explore how identity was, and is, negotiated by two opposed groups at the shared site of Long Kesh/Maze prison, Northern Ireland. Catholics are marching for civil rights and loyalist attacks have brought the British army onto the streets to quell the riots. One of the bizarre things to me always was that this rectangular space was called circle Educator. Ulster Unionist Party UUP Harry West Political Poster Irish British Original. You had the very basics. During the extradition hearing of fugitive and Maze Prison escapee James J. Smyth at the U.S. district court in San Francisco, Maze prison governor John Baxter admitted that guards brutalised the returning inmates following the 1983 breakout and later lied in court by denying the prisoners had suffered dog bites. And other people that didnt run first thing in the mornings would have been getting up and doing their daily routine, getting washed and shaved and having breakfast and stuff. The cages/compounds were segregated along political lines. This map was used by the prison staff for an overview of the entire site. Reproduced with the permission of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. A large single storey building in which food was prepared for the prisoners. The circle was an administration area, containing the control room of each H-Block. All naked to the waist, just wearing the prison, the trousers from the prison uniform. [17] The site is now known as Balmoral Park. Originally, each wing had its own yard, with an air lock between adjacent yards. Explain your answer, using the clip and your contextual knowledge. [14][19] The report also placed blame with the designers of the prison, the Northern Ireland Office and successive prison governors who had failed to improve security. The prison warders simply patrolled the perimeter of the camp. I still think it was probably one of the most extraordinary contexts that I ever said mass in, or that I ever sort of related to people in any sort of a pastoral way Prison Chaplain, The prison authorities referred to them as compounds but we as prisoners referred to them as cages Prisoner, Basically you were simply left to your own devices. Prisoner, You were unlocked in the morning at 8 oclock and locked up at night at 9 oclock and during the day you had free time to do whatever: walk, run, sing, listen, read, education Prisoner/ Internee. 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