'Say Nothing's Final Trailer Introduces The Price Sisters

FX and Hulu haven't done much to promote the all-episodes-at-once debut of Say Nothing, FX's last major debut for 2024. Based on the book by Patrick Radden Keefe, the series is a deep dive into the "Irish Troubles," as the British used to refer to them, a centuries-long conflict between those in Northern Ireland who were happy to be in the U.K. and those who wished for their section of the country to reunite with the rest of the Republic of Ireland. The final trailer, released less than a day before all episodes debut, introduces viewers to the Price Sisters, central to the series. But were the Price Sisters actually real? Did two teenage girls really lead the 1970s terrorist attack that blew up the Old Bailey?

One reason Say Nothing is so highly anticipated, despite the lack of American marketing, is that Keefe's book was a massive best seller on both sides of the pond. It's a gripping tale of a mother who was disappeared by the Irish Republican Army, two girls who were radicalized by violence, and a pair of leaders who fought for freedom only for one of them (whom many still think betrayed the IRA) to turn to peace and became instrumental in forging the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

But the real reason that Keefe's book and the series are so gripping is that they're all true. Marian and Dolours Price really existed, and by their own accounts, they were radicalized after a peaceful demonstration turned violent.

The Price sisters were born to a Catholic family in Northern Ireland that were passionate separatists from the U.K. government and had been proud members of the IRA. Dolours, born in 1950, was four years older than Marian, and the two were super close. They grew up believing in the right for their country to have independence, and though their parents teased them about blowing things up, they didn't believe in violence as an answer. Instead, they were part of a group that took its cues from Martin Luther King Jr. in America and started staging non-violent protest marches, including in 1969, from Belfast to Derry.

The "People's Democracy March" was a New Year's timed protest. Most of the organizers and protestors were students at Queen's University of Belfast and had to get back to work and school starting on January 5. The plan was to walk for four days, beginning January 1, and arrive in Derry on the 4th. However, on the march's final day, as it reached Burntollet Bridge, the peaceful protestors were set upon by Ulster loyalists, aka, those who wanted to remain in the U.K. Hundreds were injured, and the Price sisters, horrified, became convinced that the only way to fight such hate was to turn to violence themselves.

The two joined up, meeting Brendon Hughes and Gerry Adams, who are also real-life figures in Irish history. Adams is the name most Americans will recognize. He was hailed as helping pass the Good Friday Agreement with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The Price Sisters became leading members of the IRA and were already well-known in the movement when the 1973 Old Bailey bombing occurred. After that, they became two of the most wanted women in the U.K. The two were sentenced to two life terms, but upon arrival in jail, they began a prolonged hunger strike along with fellow prisoner Hughes. Marian was freed in 1980 for health reasons; her sister was freed a year later. In the 1990s, both were vocal opponents of the peace process, declaring that this was not what they had gone to jail and nearly starved to death for.

Hughes was released several years later, in 1986, only to discover Adams had turned to the political realm in his absence. Hughes was also a vocal critic of the peace process while working for amnesty for all IRA prisoners. He passed away in 2008; Dolours died of a drug overdose in 2013. Of those imprisoned, only Marian remains alive today, though she was jailed again in 2011 when it came out that she had participated in other bombings. She was freed again in 2013.

The reason that Keefe was able to put together these stories was due to an oral history project undertaken by Boston College in the mid-aughts. Both Dolours and Hughes sat for detailed interviews, giving a historical account of the IRA's activities in the 1970s. The condition was that the tapes would not be released until everyone involved was dead. However, in 2011, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) subpoenaed the material as part of the ongoing search for the disappeared mother, Jean McConville. A lengthy legal battle ensued, with the Northern Ireland police finally getting access in 2013 after Dolours' passing.

The story of Jean McConville, who was abducted one night, leaving her ten children orphans, is also true, as is the story that it took over 30 years before the NI police found her remains. Though McConville is not the center of the TV series, her disappearance serves as a reminder that the IRA didn't just go after British subjects but turned on their own out of fear and paranoia.

Say Nothing is well worth watching, whether you're a massive history buff, an Anglophile looking to learn more about The Troubles, or just someone who wants to understand why those we label terrorists are driven to turn to violence and the toll that violence takes on their lives.

All nine episodes of Say Nothing will debut on Thursday, November 14, 2024, on Hulu and Disney+ under the Hulu tile.