Borstal Boy

About the show

The title takes its name from the borstal, a British juvenile jail, at Hollesley Bay. The book was originally banned in the Republic of Ireland for obscenity. The story is a recounting of Behan's imprisonment at Hollesley Bay for carrying explosives into the United Kingdom, with intent to cause explosions on a mission for the I.R.A. It shows the young, idealistic Behan, over the three years of his sentence, softening his radical stance and warming to the other prisoners.