Dear Sarah is a 1990 made-for-television film about Giuseppe Conlon who was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment after being implicated as one of the Maguire Seven during the 1970s. The film was produced by Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...

, directed by Frank Cvitanovich

Frank Cvitanovich

Frank Cvitanovich was a Canadian documentary film maker, who made much of his best work for British television.-Early years:Cvitanovich was born in Vancouver, the son of a Yugoslavian immigrant...

 and written by Tom McGurk

Tom McGurk

Tom McGurk is an Irish poet, journalist, radio presenter and sportscaster from Brockagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.From 1983 to 1996 he was married to the broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan...

. It starred Stella McCusker, Barry McGovern

Barry McGovern

Barry McGovern is an Irish stage, film and television actor. He was educated at Castleknock College, Dublin.-Background:McGovern is a former member of the RTÉ Players and the Abbey Theatre Company. He has worked in theatre, film, radio and television, as well as written music for many shows, and...

 and Paddy Rocks, and was aired in 1990 by RTÉ in Ireland and on the ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 Network in the United Kingdom.

Plot summary

The film is based on the letters Giuseppe Conlon wrote from prison to his wife Sarah

Sarah Conlon

Sarah Conlon was a Northern Irish housewife and a prominent campaigner in one of the most high-profile miscarriage of justice cases in British legal history...

 after he was convicted in 1976 along with six members of the Maguire family of running an IRA bomb factory in North London. Conlon received twelve years imprisonment, but died in custody in 1980.

Sarah Conlon spent many years campaigning to clear the names of her husband, and son Gerry (who had been wrongly jailed over the 1974 Guildford pub bombings). The others jailed along with Giuseppe Conlon were later released after serving their sentences, and the convictions were quashed on appeal in 1991. The Guildford Four

Guildford Four

The Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven were two sets of people whose convictions in English courts for the Guildford pub bombings in the 1970s were eventually quashed...

 had their convictions overturned in 1989.

Cast

• Stella McCusker - Sarah Conlon
  Sarah Conlon
  Sarah Conlon was a Northern Irish housewife and a prominent campaigner in one of the most high-profile miscarriage of justice cases in British legal history...
  
  
• Barry McGovern
  Barry McGovern
  Barry McGovern is an Irish stage, film and television actor. He was educated at Castleknock College, Dublin.-Background:McGovern is a former member of the RTÉ Players and the Abbey Theatre Company. He has worked in theatre, film, radio and television, as well as written music for many shows, and...
  
   - Giuseppe Conlon
• Paddy Rocks - Gerry Conlon
• Bronagh Gallagher
  Bronagh Gallagher
  - External links :*...
  
   - Anne Conlon
• Janice McAdam - Bridgid Conlon
• Elsa Johns - Young Sarah
• Eileen Pollock
  Eileen Pollock
  Eileen Pollock is a Northern Irish actress.-Career:She is probably best known for playing the part of 'Lilo' Lill in Carla Lane's comedy Bread, she has also appeared in such productions as Play for Tomorrow , After You've Gone , Far and Away , and most recently, Wild About Harry, in 2000.Other...
  
   - Mary Kelly
• P.H. Moriarty - Warder Deans

See also

• In the Name of the Father, a 1993 film which also relates events surrounding the Guildford Four case.