Mountjoy Prison is a prison in Dublin whose significance in the account rests on a brief but audacious escape. In late October, the Irish Republican Army leader Seamus Twomey was held there when a hijacked helicopter landed in the prison yard, giving him and several associates an opportunity to board and escape.

Setting and Escape

The helicopter touched down only long enough for Twomey and his companions to climb aboard. The account offers no further detail about the prison’s layout or the escape’s preparation; its emphasis is on the suddenness of the arrival and the narrow window in which the prisoners got away.

Influence Beyond the Prison

The escape established a striking precedent for republican prisoners. At Long Kesh, Brendan Hughes and other prisoners took encouragement from the Mountjoy escape as they considered how to get out themselves. Its example also underscored the risks: security at Long Kesh was tight, and guards reportedly checked refuse bags with spears before rubbish lorries left the facility. Mountjoy’s place in the narrative is therefore not only as the setting of a successful escape, but as an episode that shaped the hopes and calculations of prisoners elsewhere.