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The following was delivered at Paddy Boyle’s Farewell Dinner on 28th January, 1991, an extraordinary meeting of the Escape Committee. Written By Aidan Fee
Rev. Padres, fellow prisoners, and members of the Prison Visitors Committee. This is a bitter-sweet occasion. We are here to celebrate the escape of one of the Academy’s longest-stay detainees. His success in escaping came perhaps as a surprise to many - it should not have.
Rev. Padres, fellow prisoners, and members of the Prison Visitors Committee. This is a bitter-sweet occasion. We are here to celebrate the escape of one of the Academy’s longest-stay detainees. His success in escaping came perhaps as a surprise to many - it should not have. Looking back on his time as a prisoner of war, it is possible to discern clearly that this man’s spirit was never broken. True, in some sense he was a ‘sleeper’ - just waiting the cell to activate plan x or x2 or dy/dx. In many photographs of the prisoners he sits, apparently content to be there for the “mug shot” surrounded by row upon row of mindless minders. This early work with the prisoners’ rights organisation the INTO was carried out with zeal and efficiency. He was instrumental in bringing in figures such as Mustaph-Al-Mackle (an Iragi name?) to argue the case for improvements in our conditions, following the move to the new prison camp on the Killymeal Road. He was also the figure who was given the unenviable task of helping new young prisoners to acclimatize to conditions in the prison. During these induction periods he calmed many suicidal cases - his visions of ‘life beyond’ kept them sane, facing as they were the horrifying brutality of their captors. Often he would keep morale up with his favourite quotations, a particular favourite being Shaw’s ‘Teaching is casting fake pearls before real swine!’ His attempts to raise the cultural tone of the prison with references to French cinema - jokes about Brigitte Bardot - were greatly appreciated. The French connection deserves mention in any official history of this period. Commander Boyle’s annual journeys to France where on parole from the prison in Dungannon involved him in some essential reconnaisance for a break out. His resources on the Normandy coast and at Dunkirk convinced him of the impossibility of an escape by boat. A subsequent journey to the beach at St. Tropez, armed only with a bucket and spade, confirmed his belief in the value of digging - for concealment - and this was this technique which he was to perfect on his return to the Academy Camp. His work on the escape tunnel between the old P.O.W. camp on the Killyman Road and the Dungannon Teachers’ Centre on Thomas Street is legendary. The cynical decision of the authorities to re-site the camp on the Killymeal Road and to have it guarded by helicopter gunships was an undoubted blow to his plans but undeterred, Commander Pat Boyle continued in his quest for the perfect route out. His password was always “Revise! Revise!” The true story of his escape will, of course, not be known for years, perhaps for ever. But no doubt other escape tunnels were begun and they are there yet. We remember Pat one famous day explaining what he had been doing in the ceiling space of Room 10. His official explanation (retrieving maths books) was so plausible it fooled many. Many will also remember the removal of Pat’s fake cupboard from the first floor to the ground floor - a key decision in tunnelling which revealed the consummate skill of the man. Your success, Pat Boyle, is an inspiration to us. We who remain salute you! |
