A grim chapter
The relentless downgrading of prison libraries is both ill-advised and counterproductive.
When Brendan Behan went to borstal, 75 years ago, there was a key thing that helped keep him sane: books.
Behan’s prison experiences included beatings, bullying and constant racism. He recounted them in his memoir, Borstal Boy, a stage production of which (the first in 25 years) has just started a run at the Gaiety in Dublin.
In a key early scene, set in the grim remand prison, Behan gets a particularly bad ...
