Irish Hunger Strikes Chapter 7

The Blanketmen Fight Back:
With Fists and the "Craic"

Along with the forced washes and the beatings that accompanied them, there now came forced hair and beard shavings. The men were dragged out of their cells, often by the hair, receiving horrific beatings. A man would be held down in a chair by several screws while his hair and beard were cut to the skin with shears more suitable to use on sheep, leaving numerous cuts and scrapes in the scalp. They were then shaved with dull razors.

But it wasn't over! The men were bloody messes and were then dragged off to the tubs of icy cold water to be washed and scrubbed with hard brushes. The open sores and scratches were agonizingly painful when they were touched much less scrubbed.

The screws were often drunk and several of the men were nearly drowned.

The Blanketmen Fight Back

The protesting prisoners fought back in several ways, occasionally physically, although fighting back was nearly suicidal considering the circumstances and the number of screws that would attack the men alone or by twos in their cells. Their most effective offensive weapon, however, was their morale, sense of humor and ability to take what the screws handed out. It was demoralizing for the screws and prison authorities to see how tight the men were. The worse it got, it seemed that the men's spirits rose proportionally.

"Buail orth"

News of the forced washes and shaves spread swiftly through the Blocks. Then word was passed from cell to cell from the camp OC [Officer Commanding] in Irish, so that the screws wouldn't understand: "Buail Orth." Hit Them! The men were in a panic because to physically and aggressively attack the screws when they came to be taken to the washing and shaving area was madness. Yet they knew that something had to be done.

Any man who couldn't find it in himself to resist in this way could leave the protest without disgrace. The men held together, although the situation in each Block was different.

Sean Lennon recalls what it was like in H5: "We in H5 got wind of the forced washes and, after discussion, it was decided that we would resist it with force. Everyone was told to get ready for it and as soon as the screws came to take us out for a forced bath, we were to fight them the whole way, even when they succeeded in getting us into the bath. We all realized what this meant, but saw no other way out. When the decision was shouted around the wings and to the other Blocks that night, it was stated that, if any man felt that he wasn't up to it, he could leave the protest the following morning. Everyone stood their ground."

A tally was taken among the men -- to great jubilation -- of the number of screws each managed to punch or kick or bite before being battered to the ground and knocked unconscious or nearly so.

It was a great victory for the men, even through they got worse in return than they gave. Morale was never higher.

Christmas 1978

The men in the H-Blocks organized a Christmas concert that would begin after the screws left the wings at night. A pantomime, quizzes and a singsong were organized. These concerts and entertainments would soon become a nightly staple for the men. Because there were no newspapers, books, TVs or radios, the men provided their own entertainment and educational activities from pantomimes to quizzes, debates, and Irish language classes. There was also the occasional smuggling of tobacco, not an easily accomplished task -- usually thanks to one of the lad's sainted mothers!

About this time, several of the screws and orderlies took delight in turning the power hoses on the men's cells through the windows from the yard. Needless to say this made life in the middle of winter miserable.

One of the men whose cell was near to the yard, waited as a particularly nasty orderly was about to hose down the men's cells from outside. He hit him square in the face with a handful of excrement, sending the orderly into a wild fit of revulsion. You would have thought he was stricken with a facefull of swarming bees. He was told to expect more of the same if he didn't cease and desist. It would have been funny except that the prisoner was nearly beaten to death in his cell by screws.

Later the same orderly, a Loyalist prisoner who received special remission and favors for sticking it to the Blanketmen, received a paper-clip missile right in the bridge of his nose. It nearly took his eye out. One of the men got hold of a rubber band and made a handy catapult. They never figured out where it came from. That cured the orderly of his penchant for watering the Blanketmen.

1978 Comes to a Close

As the new year was approaching, several very positive things could be seen. The men had not been broken; in fact, their spirits soared as the regime in the Blocks deteriorated. The men were finding ways to sustain comradeship and relieve the boredom and the abuse. The IRA were assassinating particularly vicious screws, including Governor Myles, the second in command of Long Kesh.

But it was also true that the prison authorities could keep this up indefinitely and the men seemed no closer in achieving political status, which was, after all, what it was all about.

Next: The Men Pull Together With Good Humor, Ingenuity, and Lousy Singing