Silent Grace 23 years old

A gripping story of friendship and survival.

Silent Grace

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.

Credits

Silent Grace Cast

Name Character
Patrick Bergin He was 50, now 73 years old as Peter (as Patrick Connolly Bergin)
Orla Brady She was 40, now 63 years old as Eileen
Cara Seymour She was 37, now 60 years old as Margaret
Rob Newman He was 37, now 61 years old as Father McGarry
Cathleen Bradley as Aine Quinn
Colm O'Maonlai as Conor
Dawn Bradfield She was 30, now 54 years old as Geraldine
Michael Liebmann as Warden Mark (as Michael Liebman)

Silent Grace Crew

Name Department
Silent Grace poster
Silent Grace (23 years)

A gripping story of friendship and survival.

  • Release day: Sunday, July 01, 2001
  • Runtime: 87 minutes