The Cork City Gaol

As grim as Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, Cork City Gaol was one of Ireland’s most terrible prisons.

Now converted into a museum, the prison is a poignant reminder of the conditions under which inmates were held at the time.

A guided tour takes you into the depths of the prison and its cells: a spine-chilling visit that plunges you into the heart of a troubled, precarious history, where men were treated with cruelty and violence.

History of Cork City Gaol

A prison with a sad reputation, built in the 9th century

The Cork city gaol – © Andrei Nekrassov

Construction work on Cork Prison began in 1806, under the direction of Thomas Dean and architect William Robertson.

The work lasted several years, until the prison opened its doors for the first time in 1824.

Very modern for its time, Cork City Gaol initially enjoyed an excellent reputation: the cells were cold and damp, but the prison’s structures made it a place of incarceration considered “comfortable” for its time. (Let’s not be fooled: prison conditions there were very tough indeed).

In 1870, Cork Prison underwent a number of transformations, and its west wing was slightly enlarged to accommodate more prisoners. It was at this time that Cork City Gaol became a prison exclusively for women.

It therefore transferred its male inmates to other prisons, such as Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, and now houses an exclusively female population, guilty of crimes and offenses ranging from simple begging to theft and murder. Some are pregnant, give birth within the prison, and raise their children in unsanitary conditions.

However, the Irish Civil War (1922/1924) forced the prison to take in a few men opposed to the Treaty of London, who were incarcerated from 1922 to 1923. The latter serve their sentences alongside the female inmates, which is bound to create a certain amount of tension within the prison.

In 1923, the Cork City Gaol closed its doors for good: deemed unhealthy and aging, the prison could no longer accommodate prisoners, and was finally abandoned for several years. It was later taken over by the Irish state, and converted into a museum in 1993 to recount the prison’s history, but also to bear witness to the difficult conditions of detention at the time.

Visit Cork City Gaol

Immerse yourself in the miserable daily lives of ex-prisoners…

A cell of the Cork City Gaol – Olivier Bruchez – cc

A guided tour of Cork City Gaol is compulsory, and will take you to the different wings of the prison.

In particular, you’ll discover the west wing, one of the largest parts of the prison, with over 40 cells in a 3-storey hemicycle. The whole is connected by an iron staircase, giving access to the upper floors.

To spice up your visit, as you explore the prison, you’ll come across numerous mannequins featuring jailers and inmates in a wide variety of situations.

These include scenes of inmates being beaten with whips in their cells, priests coming to confess prisoners, and prison guards in everyday scenes, playing cards or guarding certain parts of the prison.

If you’re brave enough, you’ll then have the chance to try out one of the most horrifying experiments, where your guide will ask you to lock yourself in a cell, to see for yourself the full extent of prison conditions at the time. Thrills guaranteed! Fortunately, you’ll be free in less than a minute…

Finally, you’ll be invited to attend the screening of a film that recreates a trial from the period as faithfully as possible.