Jailbreak: Great Irish Republican Escapes, 1865–1983

‘ What has taken place here today was a carefully planned exercise to secure the release of a substantial number of POWs. The block is now under our control.’ The infamous 1983 H-Block breakout, which saw 38 IRA prisoners escape from Long Kesh prison, was the biggest jailbreak in UK penal history. It was the apex of a long tradition of escape bids by republican prisoners, who saw it as their moral duty to escape, attempting to do so in increasingly daring and audacious ways. The Jailbreak Chronicles is the definitive book of Irish republican prison escapes from 1865 to 1983, depicting daring events that bolstered the morale of nationalist Ireland and cast a shadow of disgrace on prison authorities. Each chapter features a history-altering jailbreak, such as de Valera’ s rescue from Lincoln Jail in 1919, the ‘ Greatest Escape’ of 112 prisoners from Newbridge Barracks in 1922 and the epic helicopter airlift from Mountjoy Jail in 1973. Delve into unflinching and urgent first-hand accounts of political prisoners defying oppressive prison conditions and fighting for Ireland’ s freedom in this thrilling testament to republican resistance.

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.