But the books biggest impact came in its contribution to the cause of Irish nationlism. The book was highly influential at the time as many readers were shocked to hear of the ‘dark age’ conditions in which some prisoners were still being held on Spike Island, despite some efforts at reform in other prisons within the Victorian penal system. There was a loud call for reform which started right here on Spike Island and would be exported to the world, called the ‘Spike Island system’. His journal was first published in book form in New York in 1854. During his journey, he began to write his famous ‘Jail Journal or ‘Five Years in British Prisons’, his diary of his experiences from Dublin and on Spike Island until his arrival in New York on the 29th of November 1853.

Following his conviction in Dublin on the 27th of May 1848, Mitchel was transferred under military escort to Spike Island on H.M.S Scourge, where he was incarcerated for three days, and on to Bermuda and eventually Australia in 1850. He was sentenced to fourteen years transportation and at the time Bermuda in the Caribbean was one of the main destinations. In 1848 he was the first person to be convicted of sedition under the ‘Treason Felony Act’, a sentence created with him in mind. In order to silence Mitchel, to rob him of his heroic status and his possible martyrdom, the British government passed the 1848 Treason Felony Act, which sought to treat treason as a common crime. When Mitchel produced his own republican newspaper, the United Irishman, it sold out immediately and readers hung on every word. While the Times thundered against him which only seved to raise his profile further. Ireland simmered and was angry and ready for rebellion in the 1840’s and Britain was fearful that the rousing Mitchel could be the spark to light a revolutionary fire. London’s Punch magazine emphasised his international standing by portraying him as an Irish monkey, challenging the Great British Lion. He was an outspoken critic of British rule in Ireland, in particular the government’s lack of reaction to the Irish famine. He was a solicitor, an Irish nationalist activist and a political journalist. He became a leading member of both the ‘Young Irelander’ and the ‘Irish Confederation’ movements. The film also includes some undetailed moderate violence, anti social behaviour (graffiti and shoplifting), and a theme of terminal illness and bereavement.John Mitchel was born near Dungiven, County Derry in 1815. However, the drug taking is fairly incidental and the film as a whole does not promote or encourage drug misuse. Drugs There is sight of marijuana smoking and the taking of pills. In another scene, masturbation is briefly implied when a boy is seen in his bedroom. In one scene a boy and a girl kiss and undress on a bed, although there is no clear sight of nudity. Sex The strong verbal sex references normally occur in the context of banter between the band members, including comic references to masturbation, oral sex, and erections. The film also contains a range of moderate bad language (eg 'wanker', 'prick'), milder bad language (eg 'dickhead', 'twat', 'shit', 'piss', 'bollocks', 'bastard', 'bloody', 'arse'), and some discriminatory terms (eg 'retard', 'spac head').

Language The film contains frequent strong language ('f**k'), as well as the occasional use of very strong language ('c**t').

Spikeisland