the underside of one of the refuse lorries: Adams, Before the Dawn, p.225.
this was reminiscent of Homer’s Odyssey: Homer, The Odyssey, trans. Robert Fagles (New York: Penguin, 1997), Book 9, p.225.
But Hughes was still weak: H-BC.
when another prisoner: H-BC; Adams, Before the Dawn, p.225; ‘Provos Claim Chief Evaded Security Net’, Guardian, 8 April 1974.
a hijacked helicopter suddenly appeared in the sky: ‘Helicopter Snatch from Dublin Gaol a Boost to Provos’, Guardian, 1 November 1973.
The Provos knew: H-BC.
But the IRA had cultivated: Ibid.
centre of an old mattress while others helped to roll it round him: Ibid.
making it hard to breathe: Adams, Before the Dawn, p.227; Brendan Hughes interview, Radio Free Éireann, WBAI, 17 March 2000.
The lorry trundled around: In the Radio Free Éireann 17 March 2000, interview, he says it was four to five hours.
Hughes heard Valliday whispering: H-BC.
There would be a head count at 4 p.m.: H-BC. Gerry Adams, whose recollection of this episode tracks very closely with that of Hughes, remembers that there was a ‘decoy’ at the head count, so the escape was not discovered that day. See Adams, Before the Dawn, pp.227–228. But Hughes recalls that the decoy had allowed him to escape in the first place, but that this ruse would be discovered at the afternoon head count.
The lorry had ended up in the British Army compound: H-BC.
The sawdust had crept into his eyes: Ibid.
Hughes lay quietly: Ibid.
a giant spike plunged down: Ibid.; Brendan Hughes interview, Radio Free Éireann, WBAI, 17 March 2000.
He pictured it: the spike running straight through him: H-BC.
Hughes had two young children back in Belfast: ‘Hunt on for Long Kesh Escapee’, Irish People, 22 December 1973.
He was just about to identify himself: This detail and the rest of the account of the episode is drawn from H-BC.
in the library on the top floor of the Old Bailey: Interview with Michael Mansfield.
Mansfield was showered with broken glass: Michael Mansfield, Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer (London: Bloomsbury, 2009), p.146.
an ambitious, slightly flamboyant English lawyer: ‘The Best Form of Attack’, Guardian, 25 October 1997.
recently scored his first major legal triumph: Interview with Michael Mansfield; Mansfield, Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer, pp.33–34.
questions about the nature of authoritarian power and resistance: ‘Meet Britain’s Boldest Barrister’, Independent, 7 May 2008.
money he made from the Angry Brigade case: ‘The Best Form of Attack’, Guardian, 25 October 1997.
one empty space, not far from a green Ford Cortina: Mansfield, Memoirs, p.146.
Triumph was ripped apart: Ibid., p.146.
established lawyers would not take the case: Interviews with Michael Mansfield and David Walsh.
their beauty and by the intensity of their commitment: Interview with Michael Mansfield; Mansfield, Memoirs, p.147.
pummelled by the loyalist mob at Burntollet: Interview with Michael Mansfield.
a life that was truly ‘on the edge’: Mansfield, Memoirs, p.147.
‘an explosion of a nature likely to endanger life’: ‘Britain Charges Ten in London Bombings’, New York Times, 13 March 1973.
the building was still being repaired after the bombing: Interview with Michael Mansfield.
It was in this same room: Raleigh Trevalyan, Sir Walter Raleigh (New York: Henry Holt, 2002), pp.376–77.
replica of the surface of King Arthur’s round table hung on one wall: Ruán O’Donnell, Special Category: The IRA in English Prisons, vol. 1: 1968–1978 (Sallins, Ireland: Irish Academic Press, 2012), p.115.
sang rebel songs on the prison bus to Winchester: Dolours Price, ‘The UnHung Hero’, The Blanket, 3 August 2004.
defendants would be escorted in and out by a convoy: ‘Central London Bombs Trial Opens’, Irish Times, 11 September 1973.
marked by an extreme, almost theatrical devotion to security: ‘Security Precautions at Winchester Courthouse’, The Times, 15 November 1973.
Police marksmen patrolled surrounding rooftops: ‘Marksmen on Watch at Conspiracy Trial’, The Times, 10 September 1973.
republicans had tried to purchase a house directly across the street: O’Donnell, Special Category, vol. 1, p.117.
Dolours and Marian flashed V signs to the spectators: ‘Central London Bombs Trial Opens’, Irish Times, 11 September 1973.
Vanessa Redgrave volunteered to post bail for the defendants: ‘Actress, Novelist, and MP Offer Bail for 10 “Bomb Plot” Accused’, Guardian, 28 March 1973.
The English public and press became particularly fixated: ‘The Sisters of Terror’, Observer, 18 November 1973.
political radicalism and countercultural instability: ‘Biography of an IRA Bomb Squad’, The Times, 15 November 1973.
earned her the nickname ‘the Armalite widow’: Ibid.
a dangerous by-product of feminism: ‘Deadlier Than the Male’, Daily Mirror, 25 September 1975.
a debonair barrister: ‘Lord Rawlinson of Ewell’, Telegraph, 29 June 2006; ‘Central London Bombs Trial Opens’, Irish Times, 11 September 1983.
‘safe and sound many miles away’: ‘Central London Bombs Trial Opens’, Irish Times, 11 September 1973.
Rawlinson singled out Dolours Price: Ibid.
the defendants maintained their innocence: ‘Bomb Trial Court Told of Threat’, Irish Times, 6 October 1973.
offering a false name had become practically second nature: ‘Accused Girl Says She Would Back IRA Aims’, The Times, 25 October 1973.
a photo of Michael Mansfield’s wrecked Triumph: Interview with Michael Mansfield; Mansfield, Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer, p.148.
Rawlinson spelled out the sequence of events: Peter Rawlinson, A Price Too High: An Autobiography (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989), p.229.
carrying a black canvas shopping bag: ‘Bomb Trial Jury Told of Tools in Shopping Bag’, The Times, 20 September 1973.
police discovered two screwdrivers and a spiral-bound notebook: ‘Police Say What Handbags Held’, Irish Times, 20 September 1973.
Some pages in the notebook were filled: ‘Yard Man Describes Indentations in Notebook’, The Times, 27 September 1973; ‘Ulster’s Price Sisters: Breaking the Long Fast’, Time, 17 June 1974.
diagram of the timing device for a bomb: ‘London Bombs Trial Told About Handbag Secrets’, Irish Times, 12 September 1973; ‘Bombs Trial Jury Told Girl May Have Had Timing Circuit Sketch’, The Times, 12 September 1973; ‘Court Moves to Darkened Room for Notebooks Demonstration’, Irish Times, 3 October 1973.
‘I don’t know what you are talking about’: ‘Bomb Trial Court Told of Threat’, Irish Times, 6 October 1973.
She had joined the IRA only six months earlier: Huntley, Bomb Squad, p.2; ‘Bomb Trial Court Told of Threat’, Irish Times.
insisted that she was a minor, ineffectual figure: Huntley, Bomb Squad, p.24.
the others did not realise until the trial began: O’Donnell, Special Category, vol. 1, p.116.
the older Prices, ramrod straight and proud: Interview with Eamonn McCann.
Dolours selected eye-catching ensembles: ‘The Sisters of Terror’, Observer, 18 November 1973.
She had always been attuned to performance: Ibid.
‘the long-term aim’ … ‘I did not say that’: ‘Violence “Not Included in IRA Principles”’, Guardian, 26 October 1973; ‘Evidence Given on Handwriting’, Irish Times, 26 October 1973.
began to openly heckle Judge Shaw: ‘Defiance from IRA Group Who Pledge Jail Protest’, Irish Times, 16 November 1973.
On the November day that the verdict was to be delivered: ‘Defiant Right to the End’, Daily Express, 16 November 1973.
with everyone who entered frisked: ‘Snipers on Rooftops in Huge Security Check’, Daily Mirror, 11 September 1973.
accompanied by fi
fteen prison officers: ‘Sentences Today As Eight Are Convicted on All Charges’, Irish Times, 15 November 1973.
designed to establish ‘an atmosphere of guilt’: Interview with Michael Mansfield.
today he sat out in the open: ‘Sentences Today As Eight Are Convicted on All Charges’, Irish Times, 15 November 1973.
rowdy Irish people who had come over: ‘Marks in Notebook “Showed Time Bomb Circuits”’, Guardian, 12 September 1973.
When the all-male jury filed in: ‘Hostage Threat As IRA Eight Are Convicted in London Bombs Trial’, The Times, 15 November 1973.
jury was acquitting Roisin McNearney: ‘Sentences Today As Eight Are Convicted on All Charges’, Irish Times, 15 November 1973.
‘I do not know when you leave this court’: Ibid.
the other defendants began to hum a tune: Interview with Hugh Feeney; ‘Sentences Today As Eight Are Convicted on All Charges’, Irish Times, 15 November 1973; ‘Hostage Threat As IRA Eight Are Convicted in London Bombs Trial’, The Times, 15 November 1973.
‘Here’s your blood money!’: ‘But for Roisin Freedom and a Secret Hide-Out’, Daily Express, 15 November 1973.
She rushed out of the courtroom, sobbing: Ibid.
Dolours said, audibly, ‘That’s a death sentence’: ‘IRA Eight Start Hunger Strike After Being Jailed for Life’, The Times, 16 November 1973.
Shaw announced that he would reduce: ‘Life Sentences for Winchester Eight’, Irish Times, 16 November 1973.
defendants were making their displeasure known: ‘IRA Eight Start Hunger Strike After Being Jailed for Life’, The Times, 16 November 1973.
‘I stand before you as a volunteer of IRA!’: Ibid.
‘Up the Provisionals!’ the spectators shouted: ‘Defiance from IRA Group Who Pledge Jail Protest’, Irish Times, 16 November 1973.
‘You must not regard the dock as a political arena’: ‘Defiant Right to the End’, Daily Express, 16 November 1973.
‘Victory is within the grasp of the Irish Nation!’: ‘Defiance from IRA Group Who Pledge Jail Protest’, Irish Times, 16 November 1973.
McNearney was hustled away: ‘Hostage Threat As IRA Eight Are Convicted in London Bombs Trial’, The Times, 15 November 1973.
She was given a name and new documents: ‘IRA Planning to Kidnap 10 Hostages from an English Village in Reprisal for Sentences’, The Times, 16 November 1973.
‘Make no mistake about it’: ‘Deadliest Sentence of Them All’, Daily Mirror, 17 November 1973.
they were going on a hunger strike: ‘IRA Eight Start Hunger Strike after Being Jailed for Life’, The Times, 16 November 1973.
They would refuse food until they were granted: Ibid.
‘We will be back in Northern Ireland’: ‘Sinn Féin Start Campaign over London Bombers’, The Times, 24 November 1973.
Chapter 13: The Toy Salesman
He rented a flat: Dillon, The Dirty War, p.64.
a small, punctilious man, always clean-shaven: Taylor, Brits, p.157.
he looked like a banker, attired in a three-piece suit: ‘Two Top IRA Men Captured in Flat in Fashionable Belfast Suburb’, The Times, 11 May 1974; H-BC. Press reports from that period often described the suit as ‘pin-striped’, but according to Hughes it was a grey check.
convoy of police cars and armoured vehicles: ‘IRA Terror Den Smashed’, Daily Express, 11 May 1974.
a soldier dressed in camouflage: Brits: ‘The Secret War’.
‘Come on, Darkie’, one of the officers said: Ibid.
Hughes had eventually managed to hitch a ride: H-BC.
He rented the property on Myrtlefield Park: Ibid.
had died as an infant but would have been: Taylor, Brits, p.157.
inspired by the thriller The Day of the Jackal: Jonathan Stevenson, We Wrecked the Place: Contemplating an End to the Northern Irish Troubles (New York: Free Press, 1996), p.32.
he had his case of toys and a driver’s licence: Brendan Hughes interview, Radio Free Éireann, WBAI, 17 March 2000; Dillon, The Dirty War, p.63.
‘under the noses of the British Army’: ‘Bridegroom Guise in Kesh Escape’, The Irish People, 27 April 1974.
‘I was good at what I done and I done it’: H-BC.
But his most audacious scheme: Taylor, Brits, p.158; Dillon, The Dirty War, p.65.
Because army intelligence: Taylor, Brits, p.158; Dillon, The Dirty War, p.65.
the tapes were garbled, unintelligible: Taylor, Brits, p.158; Dillon, The Dirty War, p.65.
steal an unscrambling device from the army: Brits: ‘The Secret War’; ‘Provisionals Breach British Security’, Irish Times, 22 July 1974. After this operation was revealed, a British Army spokesman insisted that Hughes had not compromised any significant intelligence, claiming that officials were careful not to say anything sensitive even on ostensibly scrambled lines. See ‘Phone Tapping “Unimportant”’, The Irish People, 3 August 1974.
They had somehow got wind of his hideout: ‘Army Smashes the Provos’ Life at the Top’, Guardian, 11 May 1974.
They also found a cache of materials: ‘Two Men Get 15 Years for Having Rifles’, Irish Times, 4 February 1975; ‘British Army Aims to Press Charges after Disclosure About Lisburn Phone Tapping’, Irish Times, 23 July 1974; Taylor, Brits, p.159.
The documents predicted a kind of apocalypse: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.65–66.
Perhaps he might be induced: Brits: ‘The Secret War’.
‘I told them fifty million wouldn’t sway me’: ‘Decommissioned Provos Thrown on Scrap Heap of History’, Sunday Tribune, 16 April 2006.
Chapter 14: The Ultimate Weapon
Brixton Prison was a grim colossus: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.7. Other details are drawn from a recollection by the writer Ronan Bennett, who spent nineteen months in Brixton in the late 1970s: ‘Back to Brixton Prison’, Guardian, 31 January 2001.
Dolours and Marian were segregated: Dolours Price to her family, 8 January 1974, in Irish Voices, p.46.
a stream of verbal commentary: O’Donnell, Special Category, vol. 1, p.96.
selling seats at their windows: ‘The Price Sisters’, Spare Rib no. 22 (April 1974).
Brixton even smelled like men: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.9.
adorned with collages of pornography: ‘Back to Brixton Prison’, Guardian, 31 January 2001.
a screw beside you every step of the way: Dolours Price interview in The Chaplain’s Diary, radio documentary, produced by Lorelei Harris (RTÉ Radio, 2002).
The sisters were given numbers: This prisoner number appears on multiple files relating to Price during her time at Brixton that are now held in the National Archives, at Kew.
Dolours and Marian intended to strike until death: Chronology of Events in Connection with the London Bomb Explosions of 8 March 1973 and Subsequent Events, Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ireland (1973), National Archives of Ireland.
Hugh Feeney and Gerry Kelly … both joined them: Interview with Hugh Feeney.
fasting had been used by the Irish: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.7.
In a 1903 play about a poet: The play is The King’s Threshold. William Butler Yeats, The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats, vol II: The Plays (New York: Scribner, 2001), p.122.
The British would not let him go: ‘Mayor McSwiney Dies’, The Independent (US), 6 November 1920.
MacSwiney’s death sparked: ‘MacSwiney’s Funeral’, The Independent (US), 13 November 1920; ‘Tribute Paid in Chicago by Great Throng’, Chicago Tribune, 1 November 1920; ‘10,000 in “Cortege”’, Washington Post, 1 November 1920; ‘Thousands March in MacSwiney’s Funeral Cortege in London’, Associated Press, 28 October 1920.
articulated a philosophy of self-sacrifice: Padraig O’Malley, Biting at the Grave: The Irish Hunger Strikes and the Politics of Despair (Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, 1990), pp.26–27.
MURDERED BY THE FOREIGNER: ‘Thousands March in MacSwiney’s Funeral Cortege in London’, Associated Press, 28 October 1920.
Eve
ntually the officers stopped leaving the food: Marian Price to her family, 3 February 1974, in Irish Voices, p.57.
‘Water only, sister’: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.9.
‘I must be growing up, losing my “puppy fat”!!’: Dolours Price to her family, 10 January 1974, in Irish Voices, p.48.
‘He who blinks first is lost’: Dolours Price, ‘Once Again, the Big Transition’, The Blanket, 28 January 2007.
stars of a different sort of serialised tabloid drama: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.10.
youth and gender, their frail femininity: Ian Miller, A History of Force Feeding: Hunger Strikes, Prisons and Medical Ethics, 1909–1974 (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), p.197.
‘Merry Christmas everyone. Dolours Price is dying’: ‘Protest Now Before It Is Too Late!’ The Irish People, 12 January 1974.
the Great Famine of the nineteenth century: These statistics are endlessly argued over in the literature, but these are both consensus estimates. See R. F. Foster, Modern Ireland, 1600–1972 (New York: Penguin, 1989), pp.323–24.
ships laden with food were leaving Irish harbours: ‘In the long and troubled history of England and Ireland no issue has provoked so much anger or so embittered relations between the two countries as the indisputable fact that huge quantities of food were exported from Ireland to England throughout the period when the people of Ireland were dying of starvation.’ Cecil Woodham-Smith, The Great Hunger: Ireland, 1845–1849 (New York: Penguin, 1991), p.75. This matter is more complex in its particulars than in the broad strokes: during the years in question, Ireland was a net importer of food, even if it did continue to export throughout the famine. Nor was Ireland a monolith: different parts of the country grew and consumed different crops; it was not merely the British but the landlord class in Ireland who were complicit in this diversion of food that could have been consumed at home; Catholic traders and farmers may have speculated on food for personal profit. For a revisionist discussion, see Colm Tóibín and Diarmaid Ferriter, The Irish Famine: A Documentary (New York: St Martin’s Press, 2001), pp.6–16. See also, more broadly, Foster, Modern Ireland, chap. 14. Debates about the actual degree of moral accountability that should properly be attributed to the English are beside the point in this context: in the universe of Dolours and Marian Price, their guilt was taken for granted.
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