HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in Lisburn, Northern Ireland

Opened in 1971 on the site of a former Royal Air Force base, few places in Northern Ireland tell the story of the Troubles as powerfully as the former HM Prison. Referred to as 'Maze Prison', 'Long Kesh' or 'the H-Blocks', it became one of the most infamous prisons in Europe and worldwide, housing both republican and loyalist paramilitary prisoners during decades of conflict. The prison is best known for pivotal events that shaped modern Irish and British history, including the Blanket Protest, the 1981 Hunger Strike led by Bobby Sands (whose face you may have seen on murals around Belfast), a

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