Abstract

Using the Latin American concept of ‘testimonio’ as a suitable tool of analysis, this article explores the narrative experiences of former detainees who ‘went public’ with accounts of State brutality and torture relating to the conflict in Northern Ireland. Referring directly to these historical narratives alongside the findings of a series of contemporary interviews with Republican former detainees, the article argues that the core aspects of testimonio – collective struggle, resistance, audience and action – can all be observed in the accounts of those who were subjected to State violence in the detention system of Northern Ireland and that these accounts represent particular ways of challenging the official discourse around the conflict, its historiography and its legacy.