Tintown

On the 14th of December 1940, five hundred Irish citizens interned without trial rioted in their prison camp, burning a large part of it to the ground. The Irish government crushed the insurrection without mercy. It was the last battle of the Irish Civil War. In the summer of 1940, a hastily built internment camp on the Curragh of Kildare (better known for horse-racing) opened its gates to receive the first of over a thousand Irishmen. For the next six years, they were held here without trial, suppressed and completely isolated from society. 'Tintown' is the story of the last bizarre battle of a civil war as the Irish Republican Army was crushed by their former comrades and destroyed by internal conflict. It is a poignant account of Ireland's forgotten gulag, told by its former inmates and their guards. Their story is illustrated with colour film from the period and confidential documents from the Military archives. The Southern Irish government rounded up the IRA because they were a threat to neutrality by their efforts to collaborate with the Nazis and destabilize the Free State. An ill-thought out attempt to escape by setting fire to the camp backfired when their network of escape tunnels was discovered. When a second attempt to tunnel out failed, and a 50 day hunger strike left the Government unmoved, morale was broken. Hundreds left the IRA and by the time the camp closed in 1946, there was no IRA. In an adjoining camp, the Allied and German internees lived the life of Reilly, allowed to leave the camp on parole to attend dances, spend the pay forwarded from Berlin and London on drink and women. They had free passes to attend the races at the Curragh, and enjoyed life so much that when the day of release came, some tried to hide to avoid going home. The Irish government was satisfied that they had won. The Minister for Justice, Gerald Boland said: The IRA is dead and I killed it.