{"id":1604,"date":"2020-07-24T14:00:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prisonmemoryarchive.flywheelsites.com\/?page_id=1604"},"modified":"2025-01-14T08:58:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T08:58:03","slug":"life-in-the-cages-compounds-of-long-kesh","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/prisonsmemoryarchive\/pma-for-education\/life-in-the-cages-compounds-of-long-kesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Life in the Cages\/ Compounds of Long Kesh"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Life in the Cages\/ Compounds of Long Kesh<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Following the introduction of internment in August 1971, Long Kesh \u2013 a disused World War 2 airfield near Lisburn, south of Belfast \u2013 was used as an internment camp. \u00a0The camp was divided into compounds (also known as \u2018cages\u2019), each surrounded by razor-topped wire fencing and containing multiple makeshift Nissen huts to accommodate the internees. The cages\/compounds were not only used to hold internees, however. Due to prison overcrowding, Long Kesh was also used for sentenced republican and loyalist prisoners from 1972. In this year, political prisoners were also granted Special Category Status (which granted them privileges formerly available only to internees). 1972 was also witness to the renaming of the site as Maze Prison, although prisoners continued to refer to \u2018Long Kesh\u2019.<\/p>

Following the end of the policy of internment in December 1975, the cages\/ compounds continued to be used for prisoners. In fact, despite the opening of the H-Blocks in 1976, they remained in use until 1988, with people who had been sentenced before 1976 finishing their sentence in the cages\/ compounds and anyone sentenced after March 1976 going into the H-Blocks.<\/p>

In total, 22 compounds\/ cages were constructed in Long Kesh. Although there were some variations across the compounds\/ cages, they generally consisted of four Nissen huts which were designed to accommodate 80 men, with half of one hut serving as a dining\/ recreational area. The cages\/compounds were segregated along political lines. Not only were republicans and loyalists held in separate compounds\/ cages, but so were the various organisations, including the UVF, UDA, Official IRA and Provisional IRA. Free association was permitted within each compound\/ cage from 8am until \u2018lock-up\u2019 at 9pm.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Learn More Here<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Source<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Article<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Devlin, B. (1982). <\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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An Interlude with Seagulls: Memories of a Long Kesh Internee. <\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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https:\/\/cain.ulster.ac.uk\/events\/intern\/docs\/devlin.htm<\/a><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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