Documentary on women prisoners in the North of Ireland : "A Kind Of Sisterhood" (2016)

[MichaelHerbert]

The film, directed by Michele Devlin & Claire Hackett, spans a twenty-five year period in the North of Ireland covering the first women internees in the 1970s, the killing of a prison officer outside Armagh Gaol in 1979, the Republican women's protest for political status, as well as the closure of Armagh and transfer to Maghaberry prison in 1986. Through first-person testimonies nine women ex-prisoners (8 Republican, 1 Loyalist) recall their experiences of this defining phase of their lives. vimeopro.com/user8040377/a-kind-of-sisterhood/video/201146006

Interesting thanks

Hi there, I'm one of the filmmakers of A Kind of Sisterhood. I'm very happy to answer questions and chat with anyone who watches it and wants to ask more about it. The film is only from the viewpoint of the women, it is a feminist piece of work and we were inspired to make it because of the complete lack of female voices / experiences being told about this recent phase of history.

Hi Michelle, knowing something of the history of this period we thought it was an excellent documentary which deserves to be much better known. It would make an excellent Storyville for instance. We agree about the lack of women's voices with the odd exception eg Mother Ireland. Bernadette Hyland was active in the Irish in Britain Representation Group in 80s and 90s and writes the Lipstick Socialist blog. She wrote this about Irish women in Britain: lipsticksocialist.wordpress.com/2018/12/04/my-review-of-across-the-water-irish-womens-lives-in-britain-1988-mary-lennon-marie-mcadam-joanne-obrien/

Thank you so much for giving me something new to watch in isolation.