Richard O’Rawe

In the Name of the Son


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      ADVANCE PRAISE FOR IN THE NAME OF THE SON

      ‘As fond as O’Rawe is of Gerry Conlon, this is not a hagiography. Conlon is shown in all his imperfect splendor, his contradictions and complexities, as both a victim of the conflict in Northern Ireland and ultimately a survivor whose inherent humanity and decency rise above ancient animosities and modern human failings. Written by someone who emerged from the same cauldron that swallowed so many of their generation, O’Rawe’s unsparingly honest account does many things, none more so than make us fervently wish that Gerry Conlon lived much longer, because he had so much more to teach us.’

      –Kevin Cullen, columnist and former Ireland correspondent for The Boston Globe

      ‘A vivid, bracing, often funny account of the wild and tragic but ultimately inspiring life of Gerry Conlon. With great affection and compassion for his subject, Ricky O’Rawe has written a biography that captures Conlon’s self-destructive demons, but also his infectious lust for life.’

      –Patrick Keefe, The New Yorker

      ‘Rick O’Rawe has written a searingly honest, deeply moving and all encompassing account of the life of Gerry Conlon. Gerry’s lust for life was only matched by his unquenchable thirst for justice not just for the Guildford 4 but for all those who have fallen foul of an often corrupt and politically loaded judicial system. The author deserves praise for refusing to allow his lifelong, deep friendship with Conlon to whitewash many of Gerry’s own personal failings. Yet in the end O’Rawe still does justice himself to the memory of a remarkable, courageous and lovable character.’

      –Henry McDonald, The Guardian

      ‘Gerry Conlon’s remarkable life deserves the honest integrity O’Rawe brings to his task. It is a labour of love but without being a hagiography of his friend … [and] contributes to the ongoing quest for truth – how the State got it so wrong and why no one has been brought to justice for the Guildford Pub Bombings … These are questions Gerry Conlon fought to have answered and which O’Rawe lays out with forensic detail.’

      –Kevin R. Winters, international human rights lawyer

      Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Conlon grew up together in Belfast’s Lower Falls area – they were life-long best friends and confidantes. O’Rawe is a former Irish republican prisoner and was a leading figure in the 1981 Hunger Strike in the H Blocks of the Maze prison. He is the author of the best-selling book Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike (2005) and Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer that Changed Irish History (2010).

      In the name of

      the son

      In the name of

      the son

      THE GERRY CONLON STORY

      RICHARD O’RAWE

book logo

      First published in 2017 by

      Merrion Press

      10 George’s Street

      Newbridge

      Co. Kildare

      Ireland

       www.merrionpress.ie

      © Richard O’Rawe, 2017

      9781785371387 (Paper)

      9781785371394 (Kindle)

      9781785371400 (Epub)

      9781785371417 (PDF)

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

      An entry can be found on request

      Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      An entry can be found on request

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved

      alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or

      introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

      means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)

      without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the

      above publisher of this book.

      Interior design by www.jminfotechindia.com

      Typeset in 11.5/14.5 Adobe Caslon Pro

      Cover design by www.phoenix-graphicdesign.com

      Cover front: Gerry Conlon in New York, 1990. Photo courtesy of the Conlon family.

      Cover back: Courtesy of Hugh Russell/The Irish News

      Contents

       Foreword by Johnny Depp

       Acknowledgements

       Prologue

       One

       Two

       Three

       Four

       Five

       Six

       Seven

       Eight

       Nine

       Ten

       Eleven

       Twelve

       Thirteen

       Fourteen

       Fifteen

       Sixteen

       Seventeen

       Endnotes

       Bibliography

       Index

      Upon Thinking of My Long-Lost

      Brother, Gerry …

      20.8.17