Up Like A Bird – Brendan Hughes with Douglas Bay

Brendan Hughes’ gritty memoir charts his rise through the ranks of the Provisional IRA in the early 1970s as it evolved into one of the most sophisticated guerrilla movements in the world.

With all the ingredients of a fast-paced thriller, Hughes reveals how he led a secret IRA unit that planned and executed the celebrated helicopter escape from Mountjoy Jail in 1973 and carried out a series of audacious bank raids in the Republic.

For the first time, he also tells the inside story of how the IRA planned a mass breakout from Portlaoise Prison in 1974. Shortly afterwards, his relationship with the IRA leadershp turned sour and former comrades were ordered to execute him.

For almost half a century he has been written out of history. Until now.