One of the first widely circulated tracts: John Mitchel, The Last Conquest of Ireland (Perhaps) (Glasgow: R. & T. Washbourne, 1861).
If the British had employed: Dolours Price, ‘Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome’, The Blanket, 29 June 2006.
‘We’ll be the first women’: Dolours Price to a friend, 23 May 1974, in The Irish People, 22 June 1974.
British had always outmanned: Dolours Price, ‘A Salute to Comrades’, The Blanket, 18 May 2005.
‘massive retaliatory violence’: Roy Jenkins, A Life at the Centre (London: Macmillan, 1991), p.382.
blunt alternative solution: Price affidavit; treatment notes of Dr R. I. K. Blyth (National Archives, Kew).
she gagged, nearly suffocating: This description is derived from an account provided by Dr R. I. K. Blyth, the principal medical officer at Brixton, in a letter to D. A. Watson, treasury solicitor, 13 May 1974 (National Archives, Kew), as well as from the following: Price affidavit; a statement about the experience that Dolours provided afterwards, excerpted in ‘English Government Tortures Irish Prisoners by Force Feeding’, The Irish People, 15 December 1973; and a 2004 interview that Marian Price gave to Suzanne Breen about the experience, in ‘Old Bailey Bomber Ashamed of Sinn Féin’, The Village, 7 December 2004.
substance to slosh down into her: Price affidavit.
raw eggs, orange juice and liquid Complan: Details of the feed are from: Dolours Price to her family, 23 January 1974, in Irish Voices, p.53; ‘Concern Grows Among Relatives of Four Hunger Strikers’, The Times, 16 January 1974; and ‘Old Bailey Bomber Ashamed of Sinn Féin’, The Village, 7 December 2004. The ingredients come from Dolours Price Medical Treatment Notes (National Archives, Kew).
We’ll come off together or not at all: ‘Old Bailey Bomber Ashamed of Sinn Féin’, The Village, 7 December 2004.
Two days later: Treatment Notes for Marian Price.
gruesome ritual: Dolours Price to recipient unknown, 10 December 1973, quoted in The Irish People, 22 December 1973.
After being force-fed in Holloway Prison in 1913: ‘Forcibly Fed: The Story of My Four Weeks in Holloway Gaol’, McClure’s, August 1913.
‘I don’t want the stuff forced down me’: Dolours Price to her family, excerpted in ‘Concern Grows among Relatives of Four Hunger Strikers’, The Times, 16 January 1974.
nearly choke to death: Ibid.
not in the habit of allowing their inmates to kill themselves: Ibid.
Devlin was shocked by the sight: ‘Mrs McAliskey Visits Price Girls’, Irish Times, 11 January 1974; ‘Frightening Appearance of Dolours Price Described’, Irish Times, 7 February 1974.
Dolours’s teeth had started to loosen: ‘Letters on Force Feeding Treatment Forbidden’, The Irish People, 2 February 1974. This was confirmed by the dentist at Brixton. See ‘Ulster’s Price Sisters: Breaking the Long Fast’, Time, 17 June 1974.
Both sisters’ complexions had grown waxy: ‘Sister Tells of Visiting Price Girls’, The Irish People, 2 February 1974.
One doctor mocked the sisters’ conviction: ‘Letters on Force Feeding Treatment Forbidden’, The Irish People, 2 February 1974.
Ulster Irish breeding ‘like rabbits’: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.10.
register how rapidly their strength was dissipating: ‘Old Bailey Bomber Ashamed of Sinn Féin’, The Village, 7 December 2004.
‘The problem was we were too sane’: Ibid.
The psychiatrist knew Roy Jenkins: Ibid.
‘the death of these charismatic colleens’: Jenkins, A Life at the Centre, p.378.
concessions under such duress: Ibid., p.377.
Terrorism was a ‘contagion’: Ibid., p.377.
According to their medical records: Treatment Notes for Marian Price (National Archives, Kew).
a radio was turned up to cover their screams: Miller, History of Force Feeding, p.210.
psychiatrist decried the practice, likening it to rape: ‘Effect of Force Feeding Like Multiple Rape Says Psychiatrist’, The Irish People, 23 March 1974.
‘more than that to break our kid, some pup she is’: Letter from Marian Price to her family, 7 January 1974, in ‘The Price Sisters’, Spare Rib no. 22 (April 1974).
‘An awful lot of people come onto earth’: ‘Lest We Forget’, Daily Express, 1 June 1974.
Their mother, Chrissie, sounded a similar note: ‘England, You Shall Pay Dearly’, The Irish People, 2 March 1974.
with gruff composure, ‘drink plenty of water’: P-TKT.
Bands like the Dubliners played: ‘“Let the Price Sisters Starve,” Send them Back Says MP’, The Irish People, 16 February 1974.
protests outside the walls of Brixton Prison: Entries in the diary of B. D. Wigginton, governor of Brixton Prison, for 14 April and 20 May 1973. Available on London’s Oldest Prison website, maintained by Christopher Impey.
Sixty women turned up at Roy Jenkins’s London home: ‘Bomb Victim’s Father Now Supports Prices’, The Irish People, 8 June 1974.
The father of a young girl: Ibid.
Even one of the loyalist paramilitary groups: ‘UDA Back Price Girls’, The Irish People, 16 February 1974.
‘when it comes to the crunch, we’re all Irish together’: Dolours Price to her family, 4 February 1974, in Irish Voices, pp.58–59.
closely monitored their own coverage: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.10.
She processed the stories: Ibid., p.7.
‘being called “Dolours and Marian’s father”?’: Dolours Price to her family, 28 January 1974, Irish Voices, p.54.
a seventeenth-century painting by Vermeer: ‘Letter to “The Times” Says That Vermeer Will Be Burnt on Sunday’, The Times, 13 March 1974.
one of the letters contained a sliver of canvas: Ibid.
Dolours had visited Kenwood House: ‘Price Sisters Ask That Painting Be Returned’, The Irish People, 23 March 1974.
Dolours – ‘who is an art student’: ‘Threat to Destroy Stolen Vermeer’, Irish Times, 13 March 1974.
suspicious package appeared in a churchyard: ‘Stolen Vermeer Found in a Churchyard’, Belfast Telegraph, 7 May 1974.
A collection of old masters worth millions: ‘Demand by Art Thieves’, Irish Times, 4 May 1974; ‘Ransom Note Offers Five Paintings If Prisoners Are Moved to Ulster’, The Times, 4 May 1974.
were later recovered: ‘Dr Rose Faces Court Today’, Daily Express, 6 May 1974.
In June, an elderly Irish earl: ‘Hostages Teach IRA Kidnappers All About Racing’, Irish Times, 10 June 1974. Another hostage was not so fortunate. Thomas Niedermayer was a forty-five-year-old German industrialist who managed a plant in Dunmurry. He was abducted from his home on 27 December 1973. According to two of the conspirators involved in taking him hostage, the intention was to trade Niedermayer in an ‘exchange’ for the Price sisters. But within days of his abduction, he died in a struggle with his captors. Niedermayer was secretly buried in a shallow grave. His remains were not discovered until 1980. Had they not been found, his name would probably be better known today as another instance of forced disappearance during the Troubles. See McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.410.
as much dignity as they could muster: Dolours Price to a friend, 23 May 1974, reproduced in The Irish People, 22 June 1974.
‘that steel clamp hurts the old gums’: Ibid.
‘the privilege of killing us’: Ibid.
It was a clinical judgement: Jenkins, A Life at the Centre, p.377.
artificial feeding for 167 days: ‘Jenkins Demands Ultimate: Death for Price Sisters’, The Irish People, 8 June 1974.
Dolours and Marian were thrilled: ‘Price Sisters Losing 1lb Weight a Day’, Irish Times, 27 May 1974.
‘we no longer desire or crave food’: Letter from Dolours Price to a friend, 23 May 1974, reproduced in The Irish People, 22 June 1974.
‘I am carving away at myself’: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.10.
‘Getting nearer to Paradise by the minute!’: Ibid., p.10.
‘living enti
rely off their own bodies’: ‘Price Sisters Losing 1lb Weight a Day’, Irish Times, 27 May 1974.
even walking across the room: Letter from Dolours Price to Chrissie Price, excerpted in ‘Price Sisters Threat’, Daily Mirror, 31 May 1974.
‘ripple mattresses’: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.9.
‘Each day passes and we fade a little more’: Dolours Price to Chrissie Price, 27 May 1974, in Irish Voices, p.61.
three prison officers on constant guard: ‘Price Sisters Threat’, Daily Mirror, 31 May 1974.
fingers long and spindly from starvation: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, pp.11–12.
‘stand back a little’ and be dispassionate: ‘Jenkins Demands Ultimate: Death for Price Sisters’, The Irish People, 8 June 1974.
‘Happy about dying’: ‘Fears Havoc in Ulster If Daughters Die In London’, Associated Press, 1 June 1974.
The Provisionals braced for violence: ‘An IRA Warning If Sisters Die’, Belfast Telegraph, 30 May 1974.
administered the last rites: ‘Price Sisters’ “Last Rites”’, Daily Mirror, 28 May 1974.
‘We’re ready for what is ahead’: Letter from Dolours Price to a friend, 23 May 1974, reproduced in The Irish People, 22 June 1974.
Michael Gaughan, died in Parkhurst Prison: Coogan, The IRA, pp.415–17.
‘getting in at the heels of my hunt’: Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.12.
She was watching TV: Ibid., p.12.
complications associated with force-feeding: ‘The Gaughan Funeral’, Irish Press, 19 June 1974.
later described as ‘forebodings of menace’: Jenkins, A Life at the Centre, p.378.
No place would be safe: Ibid., p.380.
‘We went on hunger strike 206 days ago’: ‘Statement from Dolours and Marian, Gerry Kelly and Hugh Feeney’, 8 June 1974.
The transfer was not immediate: ‘Price Girls in Durham’, Irish Independent, 16 December 1974.
‘That’s near enough for me’: Dolours Price interview in The Chaplain’s Diary, RTÉ Radio.
Marian ran into her cell: Dolours Price, ‘Brixton, Durham and Armagh Gaol, 1973’, in In the Footsteps of Anne: Stories of Republican Women Ex-Prisoners, ed. Evelyn Brady, Eva Patterson, Kate McKinney, Rosie Hamill and Pauline Jackson (Belfast: Shanway Press, 2011), p.134.
Dolours was so drunk with excitement: Ibid., p.134.
The sisters were taken to an air force base: Ibid., p.134.
glimpsed green land below: Dolours Price interview in The Chaplain’s Diary, RTÉ Radio.
flashbulbs lighting up the early evening sky: Price, ‘Brixton, Durham and Armagh Gaol, 1973’, p.134.
Bridie Dolan, their aunt, had died: ‘Provisional Sinn Féin to Establish Its Own 24-Hour Centres to Monitor Ceasefire’, Irish Times, 12 February 1975.
Chrissie Price died of pancreatic cancer: ‘A Voice Uncompromised by Prison, Hunger Strike, Years’, Sunday Tribune, 9 March 2003.
petitioned for compassionate leave: ‘IRA Leaders at Price Funeral’, The Irish Press, 19 February 1975; ‘Price Sisters Send Wreaths As Mother Is Buried in Belfast’, Irish Times, 19 February 1975.
Four hundred people joined the slow-moving cortège: ‘Price Sisters Send Wreaths As Mother Is Buried in Belfast’, Irish Times, 19 February 1975.
Chapter 15: Captives
take the children into care: McKendry, Disappeared, p.23.
‘’til Mummy comes back’: Ibid., p.24.
gathered on the concrete balconies, watching silently: Ibid., p.24.
The oldest child, Anne: Interview with Michael McConville.
four-storey redbrick orphanage: Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, vol. 3, chap. 9, module 4: ‘Sisters of Nazareth, Belfast – Nazareth Lodge’ (2017). The McConville children were initially moved to another home before being placed at Nazareth Lodge; for reasons of narrative economy I have had to condense the sequence of housing arrangements during this period.
numbly accustomed to institutional living: Ibid.
nuns who were legendary for their sadism: ‘The Nuns Poured Boiling Water on Our Heads’, Belfast News Letter, 7 May 2016.
contrive ways to sneak out and run back to West Belfast: Interview with Michael McConville.
‘That’s lies!’: Ibid.
to the De La Salle Boys’ Home: Interview with Michael McConville.
it could have been a hundred miles: Ibid.
a school, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a football pitch: HIA transcript; HIA witness statement.
even had a billiard table: Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, vol. 4, chap. 11, module 3: ‘De La Salle Boys Home, Rubane House’.
‘a pure nightmare’: HIA transcript.
pummelled with fists, strapped with belts: Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry: Rubane; HIA transcript; HIA witness statement.
There were older children there: HIA witness statement.
the children walked around in garments that did not fit: Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry: Rubane.
the staff would hire them out to neighbouring farms: HIA witness statement. Some former staff members from Rubane House have contested this claim.
in the darkened TV room: Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry: Rubane.
Sexual abuse was rampant: Ibid.
plucked sleeping boys from their beds: Interview with Michael McConville.
Michael and Tucker ran away: Ibid.
took their shoes away: HIA witness statement; ‘Sons Recall 30 Years of Painful Memories’, Irish News, 24 October 2003.
Billy and Jim, were reassigned: HIA transcript.
‘were in it together’: HIA witness statement. Several of the McConville children offered testimony to the HIA. The transcripts of this testimony have been publicly released, but the individual names have been redacted, in order to preserve their anonymity. While I have honoured that convention here, the testimony itself was a valuable resource in understanding conditions at the home. Billy McConville is now dead, but when he offered his testimony, he chose to waive anonymity. See ‘Son of Jean McConville Reveals Hell of Being Abused by Notorious Paedophile Priest Brendan Smyth’, Irish Mirror, 6 November 2014; ‘I Was Victim of Abuse in Boys’ Home, Jean McConville’s Son Tells Inquiry’, Belfast Telegraph, 7 November 2014; ‘McConville Children Abused in Home Following Murder of their Mother’, Irish News, 21 January 2017.
The De La Salle Brothers later admitted: ‘Sisters of Nazareth Become Second Catholic Order to Admit to Child Abuse’, Guardian, 14 January 2014.
she struck out on her own: McKendry, Disappeared, p.29.
She found work at: Ibid., p.29.
They married when she was eighteen: ‘Jean McConville’s Daughter: “If I Give Up Fighting, They’ve Won”’, Guardian, 5 July 2014; McKendry, Disappeared, pp.2–6.
sent this time to a ‘training’ school: Interview with Michael McConville.
Known as Lisnevin: Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, vol. 5, chap. 15, module 7: ‘Lisnevin’.
kids who were too rough or too wilful: Ibid.
tall perimeter fence, which was electrified: Interview with Michael McConville; Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry: Lisnevin.
He would later joke: Interview with Michael McConville.
regular sectarian skirmishes: ‘Inquiry Told of “Sectarian Abuse” at Co Down Training School’, Belfast Telegraph, 2 September 2015.
Sister Frances, who looked out for him: Interview with Michael McConville.
children never spoke about what had happened: Interview with Michael McConville.
Adams had tried, twice, to escape: ‘Release of Long Kesh Men Cancelled After Car Bombings’, The Times, 27 July 1974; Adams, Before the Dawn, pp.230–32.
predictable routine of prison life relaxing: Adams, Before the Dawn, p.222.
Hughes and Adams shared Cage 11: H-BC.
their bond grew tighter: Adams, Before the Dawn, p
.242.
socks over their hands, like gloves: Ibid., p.223.
prisoners organised lectures and discussion sessions: H-BC.
‘our barbed wire ivory tower’: Adams, Cage Eleven, p.3. Also see Lachlan Whalen, ‘“Our Barbed Wire Ivory Tower”: The Prison Writings of Gerry Adams’, New Hibernia Review, vol. 10, no. 2 (Summer 2006), pp.123–39.
Hughes read speeches by Fidel Castro; Adams recited the rosary: H-BC.
As the conflict entered its sixth year: ‘Portrait of a Hunger Striker: Brendan Hughes’, The Irish People, 6 December 1980.
‘defeat suited them better than victory’: Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.197.
toppling of regimes seemed like something: Ibid., p.150.
they must force change within their own lifetimes: Ibid., p.197.
what would come to be known as the ‘long war’: Ibid., pp.149–51.
Adams also began to subtly modulate: This recollection from Joe Doherty is quoted in a PhD thesis by John F. Morrison, ‘The Affirmation of Behan?’ An Understanding of the Politicisation Process of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement through an Organisational Analysis of Splits from 1969 to 1997 (University of St Andrews, 2010), pp.184–85.
in 1975, he began writing a series: Adams has acknowledged that ‘Brownie’ was his pen name. See Adams, Cage Eleven, p.3.
etched in tiny handwriting on cigarette paper: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.19.
baby-faced propagandist named Danny Morrison: Adams, Before the Dawn, p.247.
But Adams also used the columns: H-BC.
he paced around the yard: H-BC.
But Adams believed that the Provos: Urban, Big Boys’ Rules, pp.30–31.
Adams gave Hughes a hug before he walked to the gate: H-BC; Adams, Before the Dawn, p.251.
He joked that of the two of them: H-BC.
internment had officially ended: ‘Cautious Reactions As the Last N.I. Detainees Are Set Free’, Irish Times, 6 December 1975.
paramilitary suspects would be charged: Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.177.
you got the same uniform: ‘One Man, One Cell’, Irish Times, 26 February 1976.
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