Disney Sued by Irishwoman for Series Portraying Her as IRA Assassin

Disney is being sued for defamation by Irishwoman Marian Price for how she is depicted in a series set in Belfast in the 1970s during some of the worst strife of “The Troubles” between Ulstermen and Catholics in Northern Ireland.

The series, Say Nothing, focuses on the life, disappearance, and murder of Jean McConville, a Belfast mother of ten children, who disappeared in 1972. This is a real, historical case that became the subject of a 2018 book by writer Patrick Raden Keefe, who followed the quest by some of McConville’s children to find their mother’s hidden grave and work out how she was murdered and why, according to The Wrap.

McConville had disappeared amongst the urban strife, internecine violence, terrorism, and open warfare of the times. It was claimed that members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) thought she was an informer to the British. She was eventually abducted and murdered. The woman’s body was ultimately uncovered in 2003, but the investigation also revealed she was innocent of the accusations that sent her to her unmarked grave.

Disney has produced a series about McConville’s abduction and murder, and the series contains many real-life people who were reportedly involved in the incident. And one of those people is Marian Price, who was a member of the IRA and knew McConville. In the last episode of the Disney series, Price is depicted as shooting McConville in the back of the head and killing her.

With the big reveal of the series finale, Price — who now goes by the name Marian McGlinchey — is suing the series and its producers and backers.

Price maintains she had no part in McConville’s murder and insists there is no proof that she was, and she is suing Disney for defamation. She also wants the scene where she is depicted as murdering the mother of ten removed from the series.

The series is reaping plaudits. It has been nominated for an Emmy for “Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie” for the very episode from which Price wants her scene cut.

The series, which was first aired late in 2024, stars Lola Perricrew, Emily Healy, Anthony Boyle, and Hazel Doupe.

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