The Chaplains Diary

The inspiration for the documentary came from a book by Raymond Murray called Hard Time: Armagh Gaol 1971-1986 which is a version of the reports that he wrote during the time he served as the Catholic chaplain in Armagh Gaol from 1971 to 1986.

The number of women political prisoners increased from two in 1971 to more than one hundred in the 1972-76
period.

"At one level the documentary is about a human rights activist and on the other level it is about the experiences of women at that time and what they went through. People were imprisoned for all kinds of political activity. There was also the no wash protest and the hunger strike ... Raymond Murray was there for it all" says producer Lorelei Harris.

On the programme, Raymond Murray reads from his reports and there are contributions from a number of former prisoners including Eileen Hickey and Dolours Price.

Some of the material for the documentary was recorded within the Gaol - which has been derelict since the 1980s by Harris, who describes it as "cold, damp and unadorned."

Produced by Lorelei Harris.

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries