#gerry conlon

They terrorized me for seven days. After that, they threatened to kill my father. I'd have fucking signed anything after that.

In the Name of the Father (1993). An Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.

PROVED INNOCENT by GERRY CONLON

Been looking for this book for years - Amazon would sometimes have it but it was usually hardback and I am not a massive fan of hardback unless I'm collecting 🤦😂 does that make me a book snob?

Guiseppe Conlon was arrested while travelling to London from Belfast to help his son, Gerry Conlon. Guiseppe had one lung, emphysema, and had just undergone chemotherapy. He died in prison five years later. On 5 October 1974 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) targeted Guildford, Surrey, because it was situated close to a number of garrison towns. The PIRA planted two six-pound gelignite…

I watched In the Name of the Father some time last March and it punched me in the feels. It follows the real life story of Gerry Conlon, a man falsely imprisoned for fifteen years for a crime he never committed, the bombing of a pub in Guildford that resulted in the death of five people. Additionally charged was his father as well as some friends and family members. While Gerry was in some ways foolish and didn't always follow the law (part of the reason he was in England was because of his history with petty thief), he was far from a bomber or a killer, and far from deserving fifteen years in prison. And I feel like Daniel Day-Lewis did a really good job of showing this. The foolishness of youth, the pain that was inflicted upon him, the flashes of anger at the injustice of it all, the sorrow that came from losing his father and fifteen years of his life, the joy when finally he was released were all so sad and real and vivid. You wanted him to be free because you knew that it was the right thing. He wasn't perfect, but he was innocent. The scene of the first court was heartbreaking to watch. Not to mention that one of the Maguire Seven was only fourteen when they sent him to prison, and when he came out he was eighteen. But the second courtroom scene was so different. I think we could see the moment when he realized he was going to be free. And if you watch the actual clips of the real life Gerry Conlon he talks about not feeling bitter and that just... I can't imagine that. I would feel bitter. But I've read that he fought against injustice because of his experiences. It made me tear up and I don't normally cry during movies.