Silent Grace

Overview

In 1976 the British Government put an end to the special category status of prisoners from the Provisional Irish Republican Army, no longer treating them as prisoners of war, but as common criminals. Mairéad Farrell – on whose life much of the film seems to be loosely based – was the first woman Republican to be refused political status in 1976. By 1980, when the film is set, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and doggedly resolute: “There can be no question of political status for someone who is serving a sentence for crime. Crime is crime is crime.” Silent Grace seeks to capture the struggle for the restoration of political status that was at the heart of prison protests in Northern Ireland – not just by the more celebrated male prisoners – but by a smaller number of women prisoners, led by Farrell, at the Armagh Women’s Prison.

Cast

Orla Brady

Eileen

C

Cathleen Bradley

Aine Quinn

Conor Mullen

Cunningham

Cara Seymour

Margaret

Rob Newman

Father McGarry

Dawn Bradfield

Geraldine

Patrick Bergin

Peter (as Patrick Connolly Bergin)

Michael Liebman

Warden Mark (as Michael Liebman)

M

Marc O'Shea

Kevin Wheelan

S

Sarah Boyd-Wilson

Ann Bates

D

Dean Pritchard

Patsy

I

Ita Campbell

Nuala

C

Christian McCashin

Young Soldier

Carol Moore

Mrs Quinn

G

Gerry McColgan

Magistrate

Official Trailer

About the Movie