Dolours Price and Stephen Rea

Say Nothing

This flow follows a relationship that joins a former militant and a Protestant actor while exposing the tension between private life and public history.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

An Early Encounter An Early Encounter from "Say Nothing". A Meeting Before the War Shared cultural ground Dolours Price and Stephen Rea meet through student and civil-rights circles in Belfast.

An Early Encounter from "Say Nothing". A Meeting Before the War Shared cultural ground Dolours Price and Stephen Rea meet through student and civil-rights circles in Belfast.

A Meeting Before the War Shared cultural ground Dolours Price and Stephen Rea meet through student and civil-rights circles in Belfast. He is drawn toward theatre as she moves toward armed action. Separate paths Rea leaves for acting work while Price enters the IRA. Their lives diverge, but the encounter survives as a point of connection across the conflict.

A Play on the Eve A Play on the Eve from "Say Nothing". Rea on a London Stage An uncanny coincidence Price watches Rea perform in Brian Friel’s The Freedom of the City on the eve of the London bombings.

A Play on the Eve from "Say Nothing". Rea on a London Stage An uncanny coincidence Price watches Rea perform in Brian Friel’s The Freedom of the City on the eve of the London bombings.

Rea on a London Stage An uncanny coincidence Price watches Rea perform in Brian Friel’s The Freedom of the City on the eve of the London bombings. The play concerns protesters misidentified as terrorists. Two lives cross again Rea’s performance gives the coming attack an unsettling theatrical frame. He does not yet know that Price is in London as an operational leader.

Marriage and Field Day Marriage and Field Day from "Say Nothing". A Shared Cultural Life Reconnection after prison After her release, Price and Rea reconnect and marry privately in Armagh.

Marriage and Field Day from "Say Nothing". A Shared Cultural Life Reconnection after prison After her release, Price and Rea reconnect and marry privately in Armagh.

A Shared Cultural Life Reconnection after prison After her release, Price and Rea reconnect and marry privately in Armagh. She joins his theatre work and helps manage the practical demands of Field Day. Public scrutiny returns Price’s licence restricts her movement, while Rea’s career develops in England. Their relationship has to negotiate both the past and the conditions placed on her freedom.

Family Beyond the Conflict Family Beyond the Conflict from "Say Nothing". Children and Ordinary Life A new family Price and Rea have two sons and build a family life between London and Belfast.

Family Beyond the Conflict from "Say Nothing". Children and Ordinary Life A new family Price and Rea have two sons and build a family life between London and Belfast.

Children and Ordinary Life A new family Price and Rea have two sons and build a family life between London and Belfast. Price is devoted to her children, having feared prison would make motherhood impossible. History remains present Rea’s work increasingly engages with the Troubles, and public curiosity about Price follows the couple. Private domestic life cannot entirely escape the political story attached to her name.

The Marriage Ends The Marriage Ends from "Say Nothing". A Relationship Under Strain Distance grows The marriage eventually ends after years in which trauma, addiction, and Price’s unresolved political grievances…

The Marriage Ends from "Say Nothing". A Relationship Under Strain Distance grows The marriage eventually ends after years in which trauma, addiction, and Price’s unresolved political grievances…

A Relationship Under Strain Distance grows The marriage eventually ends after years in which trauma, addiction, and Price’s unresolved political grievances weigh on her life. Rea maintains a public distance from questions about her past. A final public image Years later, Rea carries Price’s coffin at her funeral. Their shared history remains visible even after the relationship has broken down.

Late 1960s

March 1973

1981–1985

1989–1993

2003