"Oglaıġ na h-Éıreann Provi--nals" with a figure of a man in camouflage holding a rifle over his head, colored marker on canvas mounted to a plaque, 1970s-1980s

File — Box: 1, Item: 3

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

Collection contains political artwork created by people incarcerated in Northern Ireland prisons during the Troubles, a period of violent conflict between Protestant unionists and Roman Catholic nationalists in Northern Ireland in the late twentieth century. Artworks include drawings, paintings, leatherwork, and sculpture featuring Celtic revival motifs, doves, the Island of Ireland, weaponry and armed figures, and prison buildings.

Both unionist and nationalist groups are represented in the artworks, including the Republican Movement and the Irish Republican Army, and the Ulster Defence Association and the Orange Volunteers. The artists of the works are not identified. The majority of the works were created in HM Prison Maze, often referred to as Long Kesh or H-Blocks.

Dates

Creation: 1970s-1980s

Language of Materials

From the Collection:

In English and Irish.

Access Note

Collection is open for research.

Historical note: Óglaigh na hÉireann

The phrase Óglaigh na hÉireann translates roughly as soldiers, volunteers, or warriors of Ireland. It was an Irish-language name for the Irish Volunteers of 1913, and it was retained even when the Volunteers became known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence of 1919–1922.

The name has also been used by several other paramilitary groups calling themselves the Irish Republican Army since 1920. These groups each claim to be the sole legitimist modern successors to the original Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Army, and they refused to recognize the authority of the Defense Forces, Northern Ireland, or the Republic of Ireland. These groups included the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA, and the Real IRA.

Source:

"Óglaigh na hÉireann." Wikipedia, accessed on November 14, 2024.