Documentary On Newstalk presents 'Rebel Prisoner', the story of Seamus Cavanagh, a British army soldier turned Irish Volunteer who was interned in multiple prisons and camps between 1916-24 including Wormwood Scrubs, Frongoch internment camp and the prison ship Argenta.
Rebel Prisoner will be broadcast on Sunday May 1st 2022 at 7am, and will be available on GoLoud and all major podcast platforms. And will be repeated on Newstalk on Saturday May 7th at 9pm
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The programme begins with the mystery of a forgotten diary written over 100 years ago that leads to a story of rebellion and internment. The small notebook was discovered in Derry in the 1990s. It has no name but some curious annotations of numbers and letters and a succinct series of entries with the opening lines.
‘Arrested about 1.45 pm when going back to work, taken to Bishop St, dressed in prison clothes, no charge stated’
The diary was written by Seamus Cavanagh at the time of the Easter Rising 1916 and describes his arrest and transport to various prisons ending up as an internee in Wales. From here the story of Seamus unfolds revealing a stubborn, conservative Irish Volunteer.
The diary was written by Seamus Cavanagh at the time of the Easter Rising 1916 and describes his arrest and transport to various prisons ending up as an internee in Wales. From here the story of Seamus unfolds revealing a stubborn, conservative Irish Volunteer.The documentary traces the life of this soldier, rebel and prisoner, from his experience in wars of empire, to Easter 1916 and into the early 1920s and includes accounts of internment, hunger strike and escape.
Contributors: Colm Toland, Dr Adrian Grant, Michael Gallagher.
Sound Recordist: Gerry Tracey, Mix and additional editing: Rory Donaghy at Blast Furnace.
Rebel Prisoner is a Raw Nerve production, produced and presented by Otto Schlindwein and funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee.
Contributors were Colm Toland, Dr Adrian Grant and Michael Gallagher.Sound Recording by Gerry TraceyStudio mix and voice of Seamus by Rory Donaghy at Blast Furnace.Voice actor was Aoife Schlindwein with traditional singing by Grace Toland.
Images courtesy of Colm Toland.
1. Pages of the once mysterious diary with prison numbers.
2. Seamus Cavanagh recovering from hunger strike in 1922
3. Seamus and Sara with children circa 1916
