Description
Book SynopsisIrish Political Prisoners presents a detailed and gripping overview of political imprisonment from 1920-1962. SeÃn McConville examines the years from the formation of the Northern Ireland state to the release of the last border campaign prisoners in 1962.
Drawing extensively and, in many cases, uniquely on archives and special collections in the three jurisdictions, and interviews with survivors from the period, McConville demonstrates how punishment came to embody and shape the nationalist consciousness. Irish Political Prisoners 1920-1962 commences with the legacy of the Anglo Irish and Irish Civil Wars - militancy, division and bitterness. The book travels from the embedding of Northern Irelandâs security agenda in the 1920âs, and the IRAâs search for a role in the 1930âs (including the 1939 bombing campaign against Britain) to the decisive use of internment during the war and the border campaign years. This volume will be an essential resource for students
Trade Review
"Irish Political Prisoners, 1920–1962 is a meticulously researched book that marks the partial culmination of an ambitious scholarly endeavour. It is...an unsurpassed account of how the struggle for Irish freedom was shaped by the carceral experiences of its protagonists. This is a fascinating book written with style, verve and scrupulous attention to detail. It will be read with profit by those who take an interest in politics, history, penal policy, or criminal justice."-Ian O’Donnell, University College Dublin
"...it is important in our understanding of Irish and Anglo-Irish history that we have such a reliable guide to show us the role played by Irish political imprisonment, a guide who is prepared to unveil so wisely what happened in these arguable quieter years of Irish political development." Richard English, University of St. Andrews
Table of ContentsList of abbreviations. Author’s note. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1 Loyalties: Britain and Ireland. 2 Northern Ireland: ourselves alone. 3 Closing the books: Britain and Ireland, 1920 -6. 4 An instrument of war: Free State prisoners, 1922-4. 5 Women in prison. 6 The inter-war years in the South. 7 Northern Ireland: internment in the 1920s. 8 Imprisonment in Northern Ireland: the inter-war years. 9 The 1939-40 bombing campaign. 10 Internees in Northern Ireland, 1939-45. 11 Imprisonment in Northern Ireland, 1939-48. 12 A world at war: guarding the state. 13 Imprisonment and internment in Éire, 1939-48. 14 The Border Campaign, 1953-62. 15 Convicted prisoners in Northern Ireland and England, 1954-62. 16 Northern Ireland: internment, December 1956-April 1961. 17 Be careful what you wish: the Republic of Ireland in the 1950s. 18 Internment in the Republic of Ireland: July 1957-March 1959. 19 The desolated shrine. Notes. Bibliography. Index.
