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The Kilmainham Gaol is one of the many important historic sites in Dublin. The British built the jail (1789). Generations of
criminals, ne'r-do-wells, and Irish patriots were held there. Many were held there before deportation to the colonies. Earlier generations had been deported to America, but by the time the Gaol was built, the deportees were sent to Australia. Many famous and notorious people were jailed here. Prisoners included Robert Emmet who spent his last days here. Joseph Plunkett married Grace here, just hours before he was executed. Charles Stewart Parnell was incarcerated here. The Gaol is perhaps most famous because of the many Irish rebels jailed and executed here. Prisoners from the United Irish Rebellion (1796), the Emmet Rebellion (1803), the Great Famine (1845-51), the Young Ireland Rebellion (1848), the Fenian Rebellion (1867), the Land War of the (1880s), the Easter Rising (1916), the War of Independence, and the Irish Civil War were held here. Many were executed here. Perhaps the most famous prisoners were those taken after the Easter Rebellione. About 100 of the rebels spent their last days in the Gaol and after rudimentary trials were shot in the yard. The last prisoner was future president Eamon de Valera. The Gaol after his release in 1924 was shut down. The Irish Government restored the Gaol in the 1960s and it is now a museum opeated at a patriotic shrine.
The Kilmainham Gaol is one of the many important historic sites in Dublin. The name comes from the district of Dublin where it waas built. A jail was located at Kilmainham since medieval times. Kilmainham was in western Dublin, land owned by the Hospitaller Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The British began building the jail on Gallows Hill (1785).The jail opened (1796). It was one of the first reform prisons built in the British Iles. It was designed to keeping inmates separate. It was designedto hold 800 prisoners. The architect was Sir John Traile. The completed jail was described as "for safety, heathfulness, cobvenience, and compsctness to be superior to any Prison in Europe". [Tighe and Martin]
Generations of
criminals, ne'r-do-wells, and Irish patriots were held there. Many were held there before deportation to the colonies. Earlier generations had been deported to America, but by the time the Gaol was built, the deportees were sent to Australia. Many famous and notorious people were jailed here. Pridinors included Robert Emmet who spent his last days here. Joseph Plunkett married Grace here, just hours before he was executed. Charles Stewart Parnell was incarcerated here. Other prisoners included Padraig Pearse and James Connolly.
When the Gaol was first opened, public hangings were conducted at the front of the Gaol. Soon the number of hangings declined (by the 1820s). And many were conducted inside the walls.
When first opened, the Kilmainham Gaol was called 'New Gaol' to distinguish it from the old gaol it replaced. It was described at the time as a "noisome dungeon" which was also located at Kilmainham, a few hundred yards from the new gaol. The officialmame was Dublin Gaol. It was operated by the Grand Jury for County Dublin. It was used for 140 years. As the British Government operated it in Dublin and important political prisoners, especially campaigners for Irish independence, were held here. This and the fact that Kilmainham Gaol looked like a fortress led to it being called the Bastille of Ireland.
Generations of criminals, ne'r-do-wells, and Irish patriots were held there. Many were held there before deportation to the colonies. Earlier generations had been deported to America, but by the time the Gaol was built, the deportees were sent to Australia. convict transportation continued thriughout the 19th century.
Children in the 19h century were sometimes arrested for petty theft. The youngest pisoner at Kilmainham is believed to have been 7 years old. We are unsure just how many children were transported.
Most of the prisoners were men, but men, women and children were incarcerated without destinction up to five persons in each cell. There was no heating and only a single candle provide for light. They served their time in the cold and dark.
One source reports that the women were not segregated. Another soyrce reports a omen's section. This maybhave been a matter of time. Reports suggest that the women were incarcerated in more primitive conditions than the men. This seems striking for the Victoirian era which prided itself in protecting women. Inspectors reported that male prisoners were supplied with iron bedsteads while females 'lay on straw on the flags in the cells and common halls' (1809). Another source reported little improement at mid-century. The women's section was located in the west wing and was reported to be persistently overcrowded.
The dank cells of Kilmainham Gaol held many Irish patriots fighting for independence. The first political prisoner was Henry Joy McCracken and his brother William (1796). The charge was High Treason. [Tighe and Martin] The Gaol is perhaps most famous because of the many Irish rebels jailed and executed here. Prisoners from the United Irish Rebellion (1796), the Emmet Rebellion (1803), the Great Famine (1845-51), the Young Ireland Rebellion (1848), the Fenian Rebellion (1867), the Land War of the (1880s), the Easter Rising (1916), the War of Independence, and the Irish Civil War were held here. Many were executed here.
Perhaps the most famous prisoners were those taken after the Easter Rebellione. The British arrested 14 leaders of Riseig and heldc them in Kilmainham Jail. The British were outraged that the rebels had struck during a time of War. Authorities decided to make an example of these leaders. They were given perfunctory “trials” and then executed by firing squad in the stonecutters’ yard at the jail. The execution coulkd be heard in the neighborhood of the jail. Stories began leaking out. James Connelly was wounded in the fighting and could not stand up to fasce thefiring squad. He haf to be strapped to a chair, Joseph Plunkett and his fiancee, Grace Gifford, who were married in the Jail chapel just hours before execution. They were allowed 10 minutes together after their wedding, in his cell. Four British soldiers accompanied them in their cell and counted down the minutes. The people of Dublin were at first angered by the rebels because of the death and destruction. Slowly as details of the execution leaked out, Irish public opinion began to shift,
The Gaol was primarily operated by the British, but was briefly operated by the Irish Free State. The last prisoner was future president Eamon de Valera.
The Gaol after de Valera's release in 1924 was shut down. Kilmainham Gaol was abandoned as a jail in 1924, by the government of the new Irish Free State. Kilmainham Gaol's historic importance was assured by the men and women who were held or died here for their nationalist ideals.
The Irish Government restored the Gaol in the 1960s. It required lengthy resoration. It is now a museum opeated at a patriotic shrine--a museum on the history of Irish nationalism.There are guided tours of the building. A rather touching art display on the top floor exhibits paintings, sculptures and jewelry of the prisoners not only from Kilmainham, but from prisons all over Ireland.
Tighe, Joan and Liam C. Martin. "Kilmainham Jail, "Dublin Historical Record Vol. 18, No. 4 (Septembr, 1963).
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