Author
Based on Irish poet Brendan Behan's experiences in a reform school in 1942. A 16 year-old Irish republican terrorist arrives on the ferry at Liverpool and is arrested for possession of explosives. He is imprisoned in a Borstal in East Anglia, where he is forced to live with his would-be enemies, an experience that profoundly changes his life.
Self
Colleagues and relatives reflect on the dynamic life of Irish writer Brendan Behan, beginning with his adolescent years as an activist and his affiliation with the IRA youth group, Fianna Éireann. Behan rises to fame as a poet and playwright and achieves international success in the wake of his successful autobiography, "Borstal Boy." But in his later years, Behan's prominence wanes as alcoholism, egotistical tendencies and a growing obsession with celebrity begin to overtake him.
Author
Thomas Crimmins is a new warder, or guard, in an Irish prison. He is young, naive, and idealistic, determined to serve his country by his part in meting out justice to criminals. His superior, Regan, however, realizes that even prisoners are human beings, and Regan is sick of the eye-for-an-eye attitude that leads the state to execute condemned men, or "quare fellows." Crimmins begins to see that not all is black and white in his new world, and when he becomes involved with Kathleen, the wife of one of the condemned men, his attitude begins to change. When new evidence arises to suggest that Kathleen's husband may not deserve his fate, Crimmins is torn between his duty and his humanity.
