Inside Man

In 1977, Philip Bray joined the Irish prison service, working in Limerick Prison. At the time, prisons were places where pillows, blankets and even food were scarce. Most prisoners were illiterate and luxuries such as televisons and books were unheard of. Over the following thirty years, Philip bore witness to dramatic changes in the prison service. Inside Man is an account of life inside Ireland's first female high-security prison in Limerick - a place where wealthy Englishwoman-come-IRA-operative Rose Dugdale's pregnancy infamously went unnoticed and feuding gangland families shared cells with the 'Dublin Mafia', whose imprisonment fuelled a violent protest. An account of a career lived at the epicentre of Ireland's turbulent recent decades, Inside Man was the winner of The Tubridy Show / Gill True Story competition in May 2007, seeing off almost 2000 other entrants.

Philip Bray retired in May 2007 after serving for over 30 years as a prison guard in Limerick jail. His account of a career spent in the prison service is more than a diverting memoir; it's an account of Ireland's turbulent recent decades from the perspective of those charged with enforcing the law.