This essay explores the meanings of the one of the spaces Long Kesh/Maze prison, analysing the imagery of a series of Loyalist murals painted on the interior walls of a demolished H Block (H7). One of very few records to document these particular murals, it considers the problem of material presences and absences in the processes of conflict resolution. Based on field-work at the prison site, the essay is an example of Purbrick’s sustained investigation into the historical significance of Long Kesh/Maze prison as an architectural structure and site of heritage.

The essay was first presented as a paper to the World Archaeological Congress (University College Dublin, 2008) and develops Purbrick’s previous work with archaeologists John Schofield and Axel Klausmeier (Re-mapping the Field: New Approaches in Conflict Archaeology, 2006) and her interpretation of sites of conflict (Contested Spaces, 2007, co-edited with Jim Aulich and Graham Dawson).