Silent Grace

Silent Grace (2001) is a drama film directed by Maeve Murphy rated 6.7/10.

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

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)

Marc O'Shea

Kevin Wheelan

Sarah Boyd-Wilson

Ann Bates

Dean Pritchard

Patsy

Ita Campbell

Nuala