Launch of award-winning H Block history books at Mayo library

Derry author Eoghan Mac Cormaic will host a double book launch at Mayo County Library in Castlebar on Friday, October 21, at 7.30 p.m.

Mac Cormaic, who has lived in Galway since his release in 1991 after 15 years in prison, has published two books in recent months – Pluid: Scéal na mBlocanna H 1976-81 (Oireachtas Literary Award winner) and On the Blanket: An A to Z of Prison Resistance.

The books recall the epic 1976-81 prison struggle which ended with the deaths of ten prisoners on hunger strike, and will be available to purchase on the night.

These first-hand accounts of the prison struggle are described as being rich in humour and pathos, telling the prison story in a unique way.

Former hunger striker Raymond McCartney said that the recent publications of memoirs from blanket prisoners are invaluable to prison researchers as primary source material from those who were part of the making of that history.

Mac Cormaic's two books give readers an insight into life in the H Block wings during the darkest days, but will also reveal a previously untold story or resistance, resilience, comradeship and even humour.