Mareena's 'Pick of the Week'

27. Helicopter Song by The Wolfe Tones - 25th Anniversary (1991)

Mountjoy Prison, as it is known today, was opened in 1850 
as Mountjoy Gaol - nicknamed 'The Joy'

Why did I choose this song? The Helicopter Song is a number one single by the extremely popular Irish band The Wolfe Tones. The song tells the story of the brazen daylight escape of three Irish Republican Army prisoners from Dublin's Mountjoy Jail. On October 31, 1973, an IRA member hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to fly to Mountjoy where the three prisoners - J. B. O'Hagan, Seamus Twomey and Kevin Mallon - were lifted by helicopter from the exercise yard of the D wing of the jail at 3:40 pm. The incident was a major embarrassment for the Irish government.

Despite The Helicopter Song being immediately banned by the government, the song topped the Irish popular music charts, peaking on November 22, 1973 and staying at Number One for four weeks. 

A manhunt involving twenty thousand members of the Irish Defence Forces and the police force of Ireland, the Garda Síochána, was launched for the escapees. Kevin Mallon was recaptured at a dance in a hotel on 10 December 1973; and imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison - which he also escaped from during a mass breakout of nineteen prisoners on 18 August 1974. He was recaptured in Dublin in January 1975 and returned to Portlaoise Prison.

J. B. O'Hagan was recaptured in Dublin in early 1975, and also imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison. After he served out his original twelve-month sentence, he was immediately rearrested and sentenced to a further two years for escaping. Seamus Twomey evaded recapture until 2 December 1977, when he was spotted sitting in a car in Sandycove by members of the Garda's Special Branch who were investigating an arms shipment after a tip from the Belgian police. He drove away after spotting the officers, before being recaptured in the center of Dublin after a high-speed car chase. He was also imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison until his release in 1982.