Glossary
This glossary has been compiled from terms used by PMA participants to describe their experiences in the prisons known as Armagh Gaol and Maze and Long Kesh. This is not intended as an exhaustive list, but a guide to terms and acronyms relating to the prisons that may be unfamiliar.
Area for washing, showering and disposal of overnight waste.
Prison which held primarily women prisoners until its closure in 1986. Also known as HMP Armagh.
Communal room used by prisoners.
Army Technical Officer.
Irish word used to describe a tightly-packed parcel of tobacco.
Term used to describe body armour worn by prison staff.
Prisoners involved in ‘blanket protest’.
Protest held between 1976 and 1981 at Maze and Long Kesh.
See “punishment block”.
Youth detention centre at Armagh Gaol from the 1960s to 1975.
Members of Ulster Special Constabulary.
Wooden floor polisher used manually.
Interchangeable term used to describe older prisoner-of-war style enclosed areas of Maze and Long Kesh. See also ‘[the] cages’ and ‘[the] compounds’.
Area of Maze and Long Kesh which held internees from 1971 to 1975, and prisoners with special category (political) status from 1972 to 1988. Also known as HMP Maze Compounds, the compounds, Long Kesh, and Long Kesh Detention Centre.
The senior uniform grade of prison staff, responsible for Principal Officers, Senior Officers, and basic grade officers.
Central part of H-Block.
Communications – notes smuggled in or out of prison.
Area of Maze and Long Kesh which held internees from 1971 to 1975, and prisoners with special category (political) status from 1972 to 1988. Also known as HMP Maze Compounds, the cages, Long Kesh, and Long Kesh Detention Centre.
H-Block’s control room, situated in the ‘circle’.
For serious criminal offences.
Irish word meaning ‘meeting’.
Republican organisation for women.
An individual held without charge – similar to internee.
Non-jury courts, introduced for political charges only. Operated from 1973 to 2007.
Serving time in prison. Some participants use the term to mean “experiencing difficulties while serving time”.
Prison staff member in charge of a prison, or specific areas of a prison.
Used by prison staff for the gates around the Maze and Long Kesh site, e.g. Golf 1 was Gate 1. See also ‘tango’.
Prison structures at Maze and Long Kesh built in the shape of a “H”, with a central administrative area (the ‘circle’) and four wings of cells (A, B, C & D wings). Each H-Block was identified by a number, e.g. H-Block 2 or H2.
Also known as Maze Cellular. Operated from 1976 until 2000. See also ‘Maze and Long Kesh’.
For complex court cases.
Alcohol.
Prison hospital.
An individual who is imprisoned without trial – see ‘Detainee’.
Imprisonment without trial.
Immediate Reaction Force, dedicated prison staff trained to deal with serious prison insurrection. Also known by prisoners as the ‘riot squad’.
Irish National Liberation Army.
Irish Republican Socialist Party.
Term used among prison staff to describe the knowledge and skills required to be a prison officer.
Prisoners serving life sentences.
See ‘Maze and Long Kesh’.
Refers to those who want Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Includes prisoners affiliated to UVF, RHC, UDA, LVF and UFF.
Loyalist Volunteer Force.
See ‘Maze and Long Kesh’.
Term used to describe a site which includes Long Kesh Detention Centre, which held internees from 1971 to 1975, and prisoners with special category (political) status from 1972 to 1988, and HMP Maze which held prisoners from 1976 until 2000. The name Maze derives from the local area or townland and Long Kesh was the name given to an RAF airfield that previously existed on the site.
Medical Officer.
Northern Ireland Office, a British government department.
A type of semi-cylindrical hut made of corrugated metal, originating in the First World War and named for its designer, Peter Nissen. The Nissen huts at the disused RAF Long Kesh airfield, which became the Long Kesh Detention Centre, held internees from 1971, and prisoners from 1972.
Protest held between 1978 and 1981 at Maze and Long Kesh, and from 1980 to 1981 at Armagh Gaol. Sometimes known as ‘dirty protest’.
Term used by prisoners to describe the limited diet imposed as punishment.
Officer Commanding: prisoner-appointed representative.
‘Ordinary decent criminals’.
Official Irish Republican Army.
Term sometimes used to describe individuals imprisoned for politically motivated activities.
Term describing talks between elected politicians and armed political groupings which led to the ceasefires and the Good Friday Agreement (also known as the Belfast Agreement) in 1998.
Chamber pot.
Principal Officer – member of prison staff answerable to a Chief Officer.
Political prisoners.
From the Irish word poitín – alcohol.
Political prisoners considered top risk of attempting to escape.
Progressive Unionist Party.
Provisional Irish Republican Army.
Member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
Building with isolation cells.
A centre for visitors to Maze and Long Kesh, run by members of the Quakers and located in the car park adjacent to the prison site.
Red Hand Commando.
Red Hand Defenders.
A prisoner awaiting trial.
Refers to those who seek to end the partition of Ireland and who wish to bring about the reunification of the island of Ireland. Includes prisoners affiliated to Provisional IRA, Official IRA, and INLA.
Royal Ulster Constabulary.
A six-wheeled armoured vehicle.
Republican prisoner responsible for calling out information to fellow prisoners.
Irish word meaning ‘news’ or ‘story’.
Term used by prisoners to denote a prison officer.
Social Democratic and Labour Party.
Sinn Féin.
Pieces of blanket placed on feet to avoid marking floor.
Manual emptying of human waste in the ablutions area.
Similar to prisoner of war status, granted between 1972 and 1976 – also known as political status.
Term used by prisoners to denote those prisoners who assisted with prison work for benefit. Also used by prison officers to denote prisoners who were in prison for the first time.
Member of the Official Irish Republican Party or the Workers Party.
Term used by prisoners to describe prison-issue trousers.
Security office at Maze and Long Kesh, located at the perimeter of the prison boundary.
Used by prison staff for the watchtowers around the Maze and Long Kesh site, e.g. Tango 1 was Tower 1. See also ‘golf’.
Irish word meaning messages. Abbreviated to ‘teac’.
Ulster Defence Association.
Ulster Defence Regiment.
Ulster Freedom Fighters.
Ulster Unionist Party.
Ulster Volunteer Force.
The area where prisoners had their visits from family and / or friends.
Can refer to original portacabin, prefab building and / or two-storey visitors’ building.
Can refer to original portacabin, prefab building and / or two-storey visitors’ building.
Can refer to original portacabin, prefab building and / or two-storey visitors’ building.
Can refer to original portacabin, prefab building and / or two-storey visitors’ building.
Vocational Training Centre.
Corridor with cells. H-Blocks had four wings, each labelled by a letter: A-Wing, B-Wing, etc. Armagh Gaol had three wings with multiple levels, each denoted by a letter and number, e.g. A1-Wing, B2-Wing.
Moving of prisoners to another wing, also known as wing moves.
Young Offenders Centre.
Young offenders.
For further background information on the conflict more broadly, visit the CAIN website: https://cain.ulster.ac.uk
