50th Anniversary Blanket Protest 1976–1981 Commemorative Jersey

1976. The year the protest began. The year the uniform was refused.

Mark 50 years since the beginning of one of the most significant acts of resistance in the history of the North of Ireland with this limited-edition Blanket Protest 1976–1981 commemorative jersey.

Designed as a powerful political statement, this premium soccer/GAA-style jersey commemorates the prisoners who refused to accept the criminalisation of their struggle and stood their ground inside the prisons of the North.

At the heart of the design is a striking graphic representing the blanketmen — the prisoners who rejected the prison uniform and instead wore only blankets in protest. On the chest, the words “BLANKET PROTEST 1976–1981” mark the five-year struggle and its place in Irish history.

Across the shoulders are the defiant words of Ciaran Nugent, the first prisoner to refuse the prison uniform:

“If they want me to wear a uniform they'll have to nail it to my back.”

Those words became an enduring expression of resistance.

The front of the jersey also carries a line from Francie Brolly's “The H-Block Song”:

“I'll wear no convicts uniform nor meekly serve my time.”

Together, these words capture the spirit of the men who refused to submit — and the determination that ultimately carried the struggle from the Blanket Protest into the hunger strike of 1981.

The “76” on the back represents the year it all began.

This jersey also honours the prisoners who made that stand, including Ciaran Nugent, the first blanket protester, and James Connolly Brady of Derry, who was the first prisoner from Derry to join the protest.

More than a jersey. A statement.

This is not designed to be a quiet piece of history.

It is designed to be seen.

The green, white and orange colour scheme, powerful blanketman graphic, historic quotations and bold 76 combine to create a jersey that carries a clear message of resistance, defiance and remembrance.

50 years on, the words still stand.