Jailbreak: Great Irish Republican Escapes, 1865–1983

Description The IRA’s spectacular 1983 breakout from the Maze Prison was the biggest jailbreak in UK penal history. It was the culmination of a long and valiant tradition of escape bids by Irish republican prisoners, who saw it as their moral duty to escape, attempting to do so in increasingly daring and audacious ways. Spanning the period 1865–1983, this collection features escapes on land, air and sea, including bomb blasts, tunnel escapes, mass breakouts and helicopter airlifts. Jailbreak is a fascinating chronicle, with each chapter featuring a history altering jailbreak, such as Éamon de Valera’s cunning rescue from Lincoln Jail in 1919, the ‘Greatest Escape’ of 112 anti-Treaty prisoners from Newbridge Barracks in 1922 and the epic helicopter airlift of IRA leaders from Mountjoy Prison in 1973. In this hugely entertaining book, James Durney deftly records twenty-three action-packed factual accounts of daring rescues, incredible escape bids and jailbreaks that raised the morale of nationalist Ireland and defied the might of empires and governments. Contents Introduction 1. ‘All the Work of Months is Undone in a Moment’ 2. The Catalpa Rescue 3. Up de Valera 4. Over the Wall 5. Escape or Die! 6. Prison ‘Breaks’ 7. The Ferrets of Kildare 8. Hearts Never Waver 9. Tunnel from Kilkenny Jail 10. The Hole in the Wall 11. The Greatest Escape 12. A Tunnel to Freedom 13. Nineteen Men are Missing 14. I Wish I Was(n’t) Back Home in Derry 15. Having it Away 16. Little Rock 17. The Crumlin Kangaroos 18. The Magnificent Seven 19. Under and Over, Up and Over 20. Redux: Nineteen Men are Missing 21. London Calling 22. Taking the M60 to the Crumlin Road 23. Out of the Long Kesh Maze About the Author James Durney is an award-winning author of over twenty books on Irish national and local history. He works at Kildare County Archives and Local Studies.