In 1976 the British Government put an end to the special category status of prisoners from the Provisional Irish Republican Army, no longer treating them as prisoners of war, but as common criminals. Mairéad Farrell – on whose life much of the film seems to be loosely based – was the first woman Republican to be refused political status in 1976. By 1980, when the film is set, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and doggedly resolute: “There can be no question of political status for someone who is serving a sentence for crime. Crime is crime is crime.” Silent Grace seeks to capture the struggle for the restoration of political status that was at the heart of prison protests in Northern Ireland – not just by the more celebrated male prisoners – but by a smaller number of women prisoners, led by Farrell, at the Armagh Women’s Prison.
Directed by Maeve Murphy
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Cast
Orla Brady
Eileen
Cathleen Bradley
Aine Quinn
Conor Mullen
Cunningham
Cara Seymour
Margaret
Rob Newman
Father McGarry
Dawn Bradfield
Geraldine
Patrick Bergin
Peter (as Patrick Connolly Bergin)
Michael Liebman
Warden Mark (as Michael Liebman)
Marc O'Shea
Kevin Wheelan
Sarah Boyd-Wilson
Ann Bates
Dean Pritchard
Patsy
Ita Campbell
Nuala
Christian McCashin
Young Soldier
Carol Moore
Mrs Quinn
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