Description
Armagh Prison was the only women’s prison in Northern Ireland during the conflict. There, republican women prisoners took part in the dirty protests to demand the restoration of political status, which had been withdrawn by the British government in 1976, and three of them joined the hunger strike of 1980. What held these young women together was solidarity and a wit that must have baffled the jailers. John Lennon is dead is the ironic title Síle Darragh chose for her account of protest and resistance. Her account from inside the prison, full of humour and feeling, offers a unique description of the diverse experiences of the women of Armagh.
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Synopsis of John Lennon ha muerto
Armagh Prison was the only women’s prison in Northern Ireland during the conflict. There, republican women prisoners took part in the dirty protests to demand the restoration of political status, which had been withdrawn by the British government in 1976, and three of them joined the hunger strike of 1980. What held these young women together was solidarity and a wit that must have baffled the jailers. John Lennon is dead is the ironic title Síle Darragh chose for her account of protest and resistance. Her account from inside the prison, full of humour and feeling, offers a unique description of the diverse experiences of the women of Armagh.
Síle Darragh
1958, Belfast (Ireland)
She was the officer in charge of the republican female prisoners at Amagh Prison during the hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981. In 2011, she recounted her experiences in the book John Lennon’s Dead, which was reissued in 2022 and has now been published in Spanish for the first time. Since her release, she has worked for Sinn Féin.
