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| Kilmainham Jail (Victorian wing) |
When it was first built, public hangings took place at the front of the Gaol. From the 1820s very few hangings took place at Kilmainham. A small hanging cell was built in the gaol in 1891.
There was no segregation of prisoners; men, women and children were
incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light
and heat, most of their time was spent in the cold and the dark. The
candle had to last the prisoner for two weeks. Its cells were roughly 28
meters squared. Children were sometimes arrested for petty theft, the youngest said to be a seven year-old child, while many of the adult prisoners were moved to Australia.
At Kilmainham the poor conditions in which women prisoners were kept provided the spur for the next stage of development. Remarkably, for an age that prided itself on a protective attitude for the 'weaker sex', the conditions for women prisoners were persistently worse than for men. As early as his 1809 report the Inspector had observed that male prisoners were supplied with iron bedsteads while females 'lay on straw on the flags in the cells and common halls.' Half a century later there was little improvement. The women's section, located in the west wing, remained overcrowded.
Kilmainham Gaol is said to be haunted by both former prisoners and evil wardens. The scariest place in the prison is said to be its chapel where some people have seen lights going on and off. Others have reported hearing footsteps and strange sounds emanating from cells and corridors. During the Great Famine it was common for small children to be sent into Kilmainham for stealing food, and some of them died in the cells which were packed with inmates at the time. Therefore it is not surprising that a girl wearing 19-century clothes is one of the ghosts reported to haunt the prison... The jail is open every day of the week. The tour guides mostly talk about the prison’s history and famous inmates like the leaders of the Easter Rising.
For more information about Kilmainham Gaol click on this link.
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