BOOKS

WRITINGS FROM PRISON

Writings from Prison stands as a testament to courage and the political prisoner’s indomitable struggle for recognition and freedom. Foreword by Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and Introduction by Nobel Peace Prize winner Sean MacBride.

You can find many items relating to Bobby Sands and the Hunger Strikes available online at the Sinn Féin Bookshop, 58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland. Tel. 00 353 18148542. Email: sales@sinnfeinbookshop.com

Republican Merchandising Belfast Ltd.,
52/53 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 4PD, Ireland. Tel [028] 90243371

Mercier Press Ltd., Unit 3, Oak House, Bessboro Rd, Blackrock, Cork. Phone 00353214614700. email – info@mercierpress.ie

ONE DAY IN MY LIFE

One Day in My Life is available online at the Sinn Féin Bookshop.

Introduction by Gerry Adams

Bobby Sands was 27 years old when he died. He spent almost nine years of his life in prison because of his Irish republican activities. He died, in prison, on 5 May 1981, on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike at Long Kesh Prison, outside Belfast. This book documents a day in the life of Bobby Sands. It is a tale of human bravery, endurance and courage against a backdrop of suffering, terror and harassment.

It will live on as a constant reminder of events that should never have happened – and hopefully will never happen again.

You can find many items relating to Bobby Sands and the Hunger Strikes available online at the Sinn Féin Bookshop, 58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland. Tel. 00 353 18148542. Email: sales@sinnfeinbookshop.com

Republican Merchandising Belfast Ltd.,
52/53 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 4PD, Ireland. Tel [028] 90243371

Mercier Press Ltd., Unit 3, Oak House, Bessboro Rd, Blackrock, Cork. Phone 00353214614700. email – info@mercierpress.ie

THE DIARY OF BOBBY SANDS

In this diary we can see the grit, humanity, humour and politics of a great Irishman – Danny Morrison

The first seventeen days of Bobby Sands’ H-Block hungerstrike to the death, written by him in diary form, with an introduction by Danny Morrison.

You can find many items relating to Bobby Sands and the Hunger Strikes available online at the Sinn Féin Bookshop, 58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland. Tel. 00 353 18148542. Email: sales@sinnfeinbookshop.com

Republican Merchandising Belfast Ltd.,
52/53 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 4PD, Ireland. Tel [028] 90243371

Mercier Press Ltd., Unit 3, Oak House, Bessboro Rd, Blackrock, Cork. Phone 00353214614700. email – info@mercierpress.ie

HUNGER STRIKE – REFLECTIONS

Hunger Strike—Reflections, edited by Danny Morrison*, was first published in 2006 but has now been republished with additional contributions from George Stagg (brother of hunger striker Frank Stagg) and Senator Frances Black, among others.

Well-known novelists and poets, former prisoners and activists reflect upon the deaths of the ten republican hunger strikers which proved a turning point in relations between Britain and Ireland. Most of the pieces here were specially commissioned, and while they differ greatly, what they have in common is a sense of the intensity of the experience of the hunger strike at the time, and the intensity of the impression made by it even now, forty years later.

Contributors also include David Beresford, Tom Hayden, John Montague, Roy Greenslade, Eugene McCabe, Ulick O’Connor, Nell McCafferty, Peter Sheridan, Medbh McGuckian, Robert Ballagh, Shane Connaughton, Timothy O’Grady, Christy Moore, There are less familiar names, too: William Brown, an ecumenical Christian; Sorj Chalandon, a French journalist; Frank Durkan, an American human rights lawyer; Mary Nelis, an activist and mother of two prisoners; Pedram Moallemian, a former Iranian student.

The book is published on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ending of the hunger strike.

*Danny Morrison is a former prisoner, a novelist, playwright and former editor of An Phoblacht/Republican News.

For books, DVDs, CDs and republican memorabilia

An Fhuiseog

55 Bóthar na bhFál
Béal Feirste
BT12 4PD
Ireland
Guthán/Telephone 028 90243371
Facebook – An Fhuiseog/The Lark

Sinn Féin Bookshop

58 Parnell Square
Dublin 1
www.sinnfeinbookshop.com
sales@sinnfeinbookshop.com
Guthán/Telephone 00353 87 2301882

TEN MEN DEAD

Ten Men Dead – by David Beresford.

Ten Men Dead was written by the former Guardian correspondent to Ireland, the late David Beresford (d. 2016). It is a harrowing and thought provoking read about comradeship, selflessness and courage and devotion to one’s cause and principles. Drawing extensively on secret ‘comms’ (communications) and letters from the prisoners smuggled out at the time, David Beresford tells an intensely human story, offering a searing portrait of strife-torn Ireland, of the IRA, and the struggle of political prisoners against British brutality.

“Possibly the best book to emerge from the war in Ireland… An excellent history of the 1981 hunger strike in Ireland that details the broad cast of characters with insight and care.” – The New York Times Book Review, Best Books of 1989.

NOR MEEKLY SERVE MY TIME

Nor Meekly Serve My Time: The H-Block Struggle, 1976-1981 – by J. B. Campbell.

The H-Block Struggle from 1976-1981 as told for the first time by the prisoners themselves. For five years hundreds of Irish republicans in Long Kesh prison endured deprivation and brutality which culminated in a seven-month long hunger strike resulting in the deaths of ten men.

Available online at Amazon.

NOTHING BUT AN UNFINISHED SONG

Nothing But An Unfinished Song: Bobby Sands, the Irish Hunger Striker Who Ignited a Generation – by Denis O’Hearn.

O’Hearn’s biography tells the story of the remarkable life of Bobby Sands who was twenty seven years old when he died. He spent almost nine years of his life in prison because of his activities as an IRA activist. When he died on 5th May 1981, on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike against repressive prison conditions in Britain’s notorious H Blocks, parliaments across the world stopped for a minute’s silence in his honour. Nelson Mandela followed Sands’ example and led a similar hunger strike in South Africa, and Fidel Castro compared his suffering to that of Jesus. He is an enduring figure of resistance whose life has been an inspiration to millions around the world. Denis O’Hearn’s powerful biography, with new material based on primary research and interviews, illuminates for this enigmatic and heroic figure.

Available online at Amazon.

JOHN LENNON’S DEAD

John Lennon’s Dead is the ironic title of Síle Darragh’s account of a life of protest and resistance in Armagh Gaol in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the two hunger strikes, and of how life on the outside played out on the inside. It is, by far, one of the best accounts of life in jail by a female prisoner. Told with wry humour and great feeling it goes a long way in redressing the imbalance in the prison history which for many reasons has focussed on the blanket protest in the H-Blocks where ten republicans died on hunger strike in 1981.

 “…a quite personal and powerful story … the best description yet of the atmosphere, the emotions and the suffering which the women of Armagh Gaol experienced and endured between 1976 and 1981.” – Gerry Adams

Available online at Amazon

ON THE BLANKET

On The Blanket – By Tim Pat Coogan

Tim Pat Coogan was the first Irish journalist to bring attention to the appalling conditions in British prisons in the North when in 1980 he published On The Blanket, just before the end of the first hunger strike. Due to a legal action it was withdrawn soon afterwards but this valuable book is once again available. Contains interviews with prisoners and hunger strikers.

Available online at Amazon.

RHYTHM OF TIME POSTER

Rhythm of Time Poster –  Poem composed by Bobby Sands, IRA Volunteer, who died on Hunger Strike in 1981. This poster gives the complete version of the poem and depicts images from it.

Available online from the Sinn Féin Bookshop.