Maze Prison escape attending a Christmas party, and escaped on the coach taking the families out of the prison. He was never apprehended. The 1983 Maze prison break was dramatised in the 2017 film "Maze", directed by Stephen Burke. Maze Prison escape The Maze Prison escape (known to Irish republicans as the Great Escape) took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze (also known as Long Kesh) was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe, and held prisoners convicted of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles.
Patrick Donnelly (Irish republican) Patrick Donnelly (Irish republican) Patrick Donnelly was an Irish Republican Army volunteer, perhaps best known for his part in the Crumlin Road Gaol breakout of 1943. Having been sentenced to twelve years imprisonment, Donnelly was Officer Commanding the IRA prisoners in 'A' Wing, when it was noticed that there was an unused trapdoor in the roof of a toilet block. It was decided that Donnelly, along with Hugh McAteer (whose suggestion it had been), Jimmy Steele, and Ned Maguire would escape through this, with the aid of rope ladders fashioned from torn bed sheets and across the prison roof, followed