Kilmainham Jail

Kilmainham jail is located in Kilmainham near Inchicore, on the south side of Dublin. The foundations were laid in 1786. The Dublin authorities fearing a spread of the French Revolutionary ideas to this county carried out further expansions to the original plans for the  jail and delayed the official opening until 1786.

 The dark corridors, thick iron doored punishment cells, the chapel, the hanging room and the execution yard can still be seen in their original conditon. The jail was filled with political prisoners that was to last for nearly 130 years. Among the first to arrive were Henry Joy McCracken and many of his United Irish Men associates. Today it is a major museum with items relating to the 1916 rising as its care collection.

 The rebels of 1798 were soon followed by the supporters of Robert Emmet's revolt. The Fenian rising of 1867 and the activities of the land league in the 1880s led to more people being detained. The last prisoner to be held in Kilmainham jail was Eamon de Valera who was released on the 16th of July 1924. Executions carried out included the five Invincibles, found guilty of the murder of Cavendish and Burke in the Phoenix Park. The signatories of the 1916 Proclamation and most of the other leaders of the Easter rising were shot by firing squad in the stone breaking yard.

           Kim Uzell & Rachael Smyth

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