In 1972, at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a widowed mother of 10 named Jean McConville was abducted from her Belfast apartment by home invaders. Her children never saw her alive again. The family spent decades seeking answers from the Irish Republican Army, who were known to have “disappeared” fellow Catholics during that time, as to what happened to McConville and why. This quest is the central theme of Patrick Radden Keefe’s acclaimed 2018 book, Say Nothing. The bestseller has been adapted into a compelling nine-episode FX miniseries, also titled Say Nothing, that resonates not only as a gripping true-crime drama but also as a timely and powerful work of political art.
While the mystery of McConville’s disappearance serves as the narrative backbone, Keefe (an executive producer) and creator Joshua Zetumer weave several related stories into a profound reflection on radicalism, regret, and the complexities of political violence. From a distance, we witness the rise of Gerry Adams, who would become the long-time leader of Irish republican party Sinn Fein. Although an onscreen disclaimer acknowledges that Adams has always denied being an IRA member or participating in its attacks, the show portrays a ruthless young Gerry (Josh Finan) orchestrating bombings and ordering the deaths of compromised comrades.
But the heart of Say Nothing, which will be available to stream on Hulu starting November 14th, is the story of Dolours Price, portrayed as a young woman by Belfast native Lola Petticrew and in middle age by Maxine Peake, in two unforgettable performances. Raised by Catholics who had been imprisoned and maimed for the republican cause, the brilliant firebrand Dolours and her quieter but, as it turns out, more militant sister Marian (Hazel Doupe), briefly explored nonviolence in the 1960s. This strategy, however, only resulted in beatings at the hands of Protestant police. The Price sisters soon joined the Belfast branch of the IRA, rejecting the support roles of their mother’s generation in favor of front-line action. In one daring sequence, early in the series, they rob a bank disguised as nuns.
A less glamorous aspect of Dolours’ IRA career involved driving traitors and other locals deemed liabilities across the border to Ireland proper, where she knew her confederates would execute them. Perhaps too perceptive for her own good, she remained conflicted about this particular form of violence. “I just didn’t think my contribution to this war would be killing Catholics,” she says. Barely out of her teens, Dolours harbored a burning desire to attack London and instill in Northern Ireland’s English overlords the same fear she and her family had always felt.
A disputed border. A generations-spanning conflict rooted in land, identity, and faith. The oppressed population of one side resists the military occupation of the wealthier overlord, but endures the brunt of the bloodshed. Questions of war vs. insurgency, freedom fighter vs. terrorist, the ethics of either side using civilians as collateral damage in the pursuit of what they perceive as justice. The Troubles seem more than a little relevant to the ongoing tragedy in Israel and Palestine; earlier this year, Irish artists like Bono and Glen Hansard criticized the Israeli government. Without sacrificing the specificity of Dolours’ story, Say Nothing captures the moral, ideological, and emotional complexity of such struggles, past and present.
At a time when extreme viewpoints are prevalent, some might find the show’s compassion for its protagonist unsettling. An episode that unfolds with the frenetic energy of a spy thriller positions her as the clever yet nervous leader of a group of teenagers planting car bombs. But then it progresses through the next four decades of history, structured by the older Dolours’ candid interview for a confidential Belfast oral-history project. And as her story becomes increasingly intertwined with the McConvilles’ quest for the truth about Jean and with Gerry’s use of power to evade accountability, the series leaves the impression that life is long. Regardless of the merits of their cause, a young revolutionary with a conscience will grow up to be haunted by the very worst things they did in the service of it.