Léitheoir: ‘And Flowers Grew Up Through The Concrete’ by Laurence McKeown reviewed

There is at present a widely varied and ever-increasing number of books available about the conflict in the north of Ireland which escalated from 1968, reflecting how significant and complicated the events of this period – up to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and beyond – have been. 

This body of literature has been produced by historians, journalists, politicians, conspiracy theorists and writers of fiction, and provides factual analysis, investigation of specific events and dimensions, memoirs, poignant human experiences from all sides of the conflict, and reflections on lessons learned. 

Laurence McKeown’s most recent book, And Flowers Grew UP Through The Concrete, is an indispensable addition to this body of work, and is worthy of a prominent place on the bookshelves of anyone with an interest in this period, because it is a powerful analysis, of great literary merit, and is informative, insightful and inspirational.

The book’s title – inspired by a sight McKeown observed during a visit with his children in later years to the now derelict site of the prison - provides an apt metaphor for McKeown’s account of how the prisoners in the H Blocks transcended and prevailed over the harsh and oppressive prison environment to create a community of confident, unbowed, educated and highly motivated political activists. 

Laurence McKeown was sentenced to imprisonment in Long Kesh in 1976, when he was 17 years old, and was a prisoner in the H Blocks for 16 years. 

He joined the hunger strike protest in 1981, and was saved from death after 70 days when he fell into a coma and his mother intervened, which resulted in his survival. 

His account of being on hunger strike is compelling and unsparingly presented, conveying his courage and idealism, the severe physical damage  he sustained  alongside the profound emotional cost to his family. 

One of the book’s most poignant episodes – there are many such occasions, as McKeown sensitively and skilfully weaves personal, emotional memories with events of national and international significance – occurs when his mother tells him as he is near death: ‘You know what you have to do, and I know what I have to do.’

The book narrates how the loss of ten comrades did not bring about a collapse in the prisoners’ morale or feelings of despair. Instead, the leadership in the camp began to organise a new phase in the struggle against the prison regime and government repression. 

There was a total re-assessment  of the Republican resistance which entailed advancing the struggle in a different way: this initially involved a ‘silent campaign’ for segregation and a decision – arrived at after much soul-searching and discussion among the prisoners – to end the refusal to engage in prison work. 

As McKeown records, it was a new form of struggle, and it didn’t come without its own share of pain and great mental reservations. 

The leadership, under Seana Walsh at this period, justified this new direction by quoting the Irish proverb: ‘An duine nach bhfuil láidir cáithfidh sé bheith glic’ – if you’re not strong you need to be smart; and he persuaded the majority of prisoners to go into the system with the aim of destroying it.

The success of this tactic to achieve segregation created the conditions which facilitated the spectacular mass escape from Long Kesh in 1983, serving as a massive boost to Republican morale both inside and outside the prison system and attracting worldwide attention and admiration. 

McKeown gives an account of this audacious achievement which reads like a thriller and demonstrates the ingenuity, courage and discipline of the prisoners.

Following the escape, and despite the savage repression which was inflicted in its aftermath, the prisoners embarked upon a remarkable programme of education, focussing on a wide range of left-wing thinkers, and developing a culture of discussion and debate within the camp designed to create a critical, and self-critical, revolutionary mindset. The outcome of this programme was the emergence of a community based on the values of social justice and democracy, which was well prepared to resume the struggle upon release, and which influenced the development of political strategy with Sinn Fein.

Laurence McKeown provides  a highly  significant and valuable historical record of an important aspect of our recent history which is sometimes overlooked; the book blends astute insight and analysis, honesty , frank personal perspectives and is always inspirational. 

And Flowers Grew Up Through The Concrete’ by Laurence McKeown is published by Beyond The Pale Books and costs £15.95.