Sean Mcconville – författare

Irish Political Prisoners presents a detailed and gripping overview of political imprisonment from 1920-1962. Seán McConville examines the years from the formation of the Northern Ireland state to the release of the last border campaign prisoners in 1962.

Drawing extensively and, in many cases, uniquely on archives and special collections in the three jurisdictions, and interviews with survivors from the period, McConville demonstrates how punishment came to embody and shape the nationalist consciousness. Irish Political Prisoners 1920-1962 commences with the legacy of the Anglo Irish and Irish Civil Wars - militancy, division and bitterness. The book travels from the embedding of Northern Ireland’s security agenda in the 1920’s, and the IRA’s search for a role in the 1930’s (including the 1939 bombing campaign against Britain) to the decisive use of internment during the war and the border campaign years. This volume will be an essential resource for students of Irish history and is a major contribution to the study of imprisonment.

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Irish Political Prisoners presents a detailed and gripping overview of political imprisonment from 1920-1962. Seán McConville examines the years from the formation of the Northern Ireland state to the release of the last border campaign prisoners in 1962.

Drawing extensively and, in many cases, uniquely on archives and special collections in the three jurisdictions, and interviews with survivors from the period, McConville demonstrates how punishment came to embody and shape the nationalist consciousness. Irish Political Prisoners 1920-1962 commences with the legacy of the Anglo Irish and Irish Civil Wars - militancy, division and bitterness. The book travels from the embedding of Northern Ireland’s security agenda in the 1920’s, and the IRA’s search for a role in the 1930’s (including the 1939 bombing campaign against Britain) to the decisive use of internment during the war and the border campaign years. This volume will be an essential resource for students of Irish history and is a major contribution to the study of imprisonment.

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In the previous few years English penal policy had undergone considerable change. Originally published in 1975, the contributors to The Use of Imprisonment focus on the use of imprisonment in such a time of transition, and examine various aspects of penal policy – administrative, organizational, staffing, legal, philosophical. The volume provides a valuable introduction to penal policy and administration, and to some of the central issues in the penological debate at the time.

Influenced mainly by events in the United States, interest had been growing in England in prisoners’ legal rights and in the laws affecting imprisonment. This complemented an increasing mood of scepticism among many psychologists, sociologists and other social scientists in relation to the aims and methods of reformatory imprisonment. Such thinking, although still largely divergent and amorphous, had gone far towards undermining the penological axioms and aspirations of the last few generations. The precise direction of new policy was still unclear, but the essays in this book make various informed suggestions as to the future, and also provide an examination of the present state of several key areas. They emphasise the failure of the treatment model of imprisonment, while at the same time recognising the need to be cautious about breaking down the prison walls and bringing treatment ‘into the community’.

In the previous few years English penal policy had undergone considerable change. Originally published in 1975, the contributors to The Use of Imprisonment focus on the use of imprisonment in such a time of transition, and examine various aspects of penal policy – administrative, organizational, staffing, legal, philosophical. The volume provides a valuable introduction to penal policy and administration, and to some of the central issues in the penological debate at the time.

Influenced mainly by events in the United States, interest had been growing in England in prisoners’ legal rights and in the laws affecting imprisonment. This complemented an increasing mood of scepticism among many psychologists, sociologists and other social scientists in relation to the aims and methods of reformatory imprisonment. Such thinking, although still largely divergent and amorphous, had gone far towards undermining the penological axioms and aspirations of the last few generations. The precise direction of new policy was still unclear, but the essays in this book make various informed suggestions as to the future, and also provide an examination of the present state of several key areas. They emphasise the failure of the treatment model of imprisonment, while at the same time recognising the need to be cautious about breaking down the prison walls and bringing treatment ‘into the community’.

The Routledge Guide to Interviewing sets out a well-tested and practical approach and methodology: what works, difficulties and dangers to avoid and key questions which must be answered before you set out. Background methodological issues and arguments are considered and drawn upon but the focus is on what is ethical, legally acceptable and productive:

From death row to the mansion of a head of state, small kitchens and front parlours, to legislatures and presbyteries, Anna Bryson and Seán McConville’s wide interviewing experience has been condensed into this book. The material set out here has been acquired by trial, error and reflection over a period of more than four decades. The interviewees have ranged from the delightfully straightforward to the painfully difficult to the near impossible – with a sprinkling of those that were impossible.

Successful interviewing draws on the survival skills of everyday life. This guide will help you to adapt, develop and apply these innate skills. Including a range of useful information such as sample waivers, internet resources, useful hints and checklists, it provides sound and plain-speaking support for the oral historian, social scientist and investigator.

The Routledge Guide to Interviewing sets out a well-tested and practical approach and methodology: what works, difficulties and dangers to avoid and key questions which must be answered before you set out. Background methodological issues and arguments are considered and drawn upon but the focus is on what is ethical, legally acceptable and productive:

From death row to the mansion of a head of state, small kitchens and front parlours, to legislatures and presbyteries, Anna Bryson and Seán McConville’s wide interviewing experience has been condensed into this book. The material set out here has been acquired by trial, error and reflection over a period of more than four decades. The interviewees have ranged from the delightfully straightforward to the painfully difficult to the near impossible – with a sprinkling of those that were impossible.

Successful interviewing draws on the survival skills of everyday life. This guide will help you to adapt, develop and apply these innate skills. Including a range of useful information such as sample waivers, internet resources, useful hints and checklists, it provides sound and plain-speaking support for the oral historian, social scientist and investigator.

This is a comprehensive, detailed and humane account of the thousands who came into custody during the years of the Northern Ireland conflict and how they lived out the months, years and decades in Irish and English maximum security prisons.

Erupting in 1969, the Northern Ireland troubles continued with terrible intensity until 1998. The most enduring civil conflict in Western Europe since the Second World War cost almost 4,000 lives, inflicted a vast toll of injuries and wrought much destruction. Based on extensive archival research and numerous interviews, this book covers the jurisdictions of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and England, providing an account of riots, escapes, strip and dirty protests and hunger strikes. It paints a picture of coming to terms with sentences, some of which lasted for two decades and more. Republicans and loyalists, male and female prisoners, officials and staff, families, supporters, clergy and politicians all played a part – and all were changed. The narrative includes some of the most remarkable events in prison history anywhere – mass breakouts, organised cell-fouling and prolonged nakedness, and hunger striking to the death; there are also accounts of the prisoners’ very effective parallel command structure. The book shows how Anglo-Irish and intra-Irish relations were profoundly affected and how the prisoners’ involvement and consent were critical to the Good Friday Agreement that ended the long war.

The final part of a trilogy dealing with Irish political prisoners from 1848 to 2000 by renowned expert Seán McConville, this is an essential resource for students and scholars of Irish history and Irish political prisoners; it is also a major contribution to the study of imprisonment.

This is a comprehensive, detailed and humane account of the thousands who came into custody during the years of the Northern Ireland conflict and how they lived out the months, years and decades in Irish and English maximum security prisons.

Erupting in 1969, the Northern Ireland troubles continued with terrible intensity until 1998. The most enduring civil conflict in Western Europe since the Second World War cost almost 4,000 lives, inflicted a vast toll of injuries and wrought much destruction. Based on extensive archival research and numerous interviews, this book covers the jurisdictions of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and England, providing an account of riots, escapes, strip and dirty protests and hunger strikes. It paints a picture of coming to terms with sentences, some of which lasted for two decades and more. Republicans and loyalists, male and female prisoners, officials and staff, families, supporters, clergy and politicians all played a part – and all were changed. The narrative includes some of the most remarkable events in prison history anywhere – mass breakouts, organised cell-fouling and prolonged nakedness, and hunger striking to the death; there are also accounts of the prisoners’ very effective parallel command structure. The book shows how Anglo-Irish and intra-Irish relations were profoundly affected and how the prisoners’ involvement and consent were critical to the Good Friday Agreement that ended the long war.

The final part of a trilogy dealing with Irish political prisoners from 1848 to 2000 by renowned expert Seán McConville, this is an essential resource for students and scholars of Irish history and Irish political prisoners; it is also a major contribution to the study of imprisonment.