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.