During the first half of the 19th century, the County Gaol served as a temporary prison for convicts sentenced to be transported to Australia (Cork County Gaol, n.d.: wall text, Site of Cork County Gaol). For decades, it was also a scene of executions by hanging, despite protests from University officials (Cork Walks - University Walk, n.d.: wall text, Cork County Gaol). 

 

Hangings were moved inside the Gaol due to the development of prison reform and inspections driven by ‘rational utilitarianism’ and ‘Enlightenment’ thinking (see Mclaughlin and Muncie, 2019 for a short history of incarceration). Michel Foucault (1979) argued that the development of prisons and asylums served to create a more ‘disciplined’ society through more efficient forms of punishment, discipline and control. 

 

The last man to be executed at Cork County Gaol was William Healy for his role in the Republican side of the Civil War in March 1923 (Corkman, 2013). 

 

Under the 1878 General Prisons (Ireland) Act, the City Gaol was designated as a female-only prison for the city and county, while the County Gaol was reorganised to house men only (see Munster Express, 1878). It is claimed that the day the act came into force, the women from Cork County Gaol were marched over to Cork City Gaol, and vice versa for the men in Cork City Gaol (T. Spalding, personal communication, September 21, 2023). 

 

Republican prisoners commemoration

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During the War of Independence (1919-1921), republican prisoners were held at the County Gaol. Amongst these was Alfred O’Rahilly, then Professor of Mathematical Physics at University College Cork (Cork County Gaol, n.d.: wall text, Site of Cork County Gaol). Republican prisoners were also held here during and after the Civil War (1922-1923) that followed independence and later during World War II (1939-1945) (ibid.). 

 

In the Autumn of 1920, Republican prisoners undertook a 94-day hunger strike against British authorities in conjunction with Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney, who was transferred to Brixton Prison, London. Two prisoners, Michael Fitzgerald (also known as Mick Fitzgerald) and Joseph Murphy, as well as Terence MacSwiney, died as a result of the hunger strike. Although the episode failed in its immediate purpose, the hunger strike was a focal point for republican pride and generated sympathy for the Irish Independence movement (see the Liberator (Tralee), 1920; Irish Examiner, 1920; and Meath Chronicle, 1920). 

 

In 1921, a number of republican prisoners from the Gaol were executed in Cork, and some were buried here (Cork County Gaol, n.d.: wall text, Site of Cork County Gaol). This included 13 IRA Volunteers who were executed under martial law, which was introduced to the province of Munster in 1920 (see O’Keeffe, 2021). A limestone and bronze plaque made by Cork sculptor Séamus Murphy can be found on the entrance commemorating the Republican prisoners who died or were buried here. The monument was unveiled on the 11th of July, 1948. Alfred O’Rahilly, who then became President of University College Cork in 1943, accepted the memorial on behalf of University College Cork and recalled hearing the gunfire of some of the executions (University College Cork Heritage Services, 2021). A more elaborate monument in the former exercise yard marks their final resting place (Cork Walks - University Walk, n.d.: wall text, Cork County Gaol). 

 

 

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Image of the limestone and bronze monument (photo credit: Conach Gibson-Feinblum, 2023)

 

It’s remaining years

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During the 1940s, the Cork County Gaol was used as a borstal for boys and later as a remand prison (Cork County Gaol, n.d.: wall, text, Site of Cork County Gaol). In 1947, Alfred O’Rahilly succeeded in getting part of the site transferred to University College Cork (in this area is the Electrical Engineering Building - built in 1854). The jail finally closed, and the remainder of the property was transferred to University College Cork in 1957 (ibid.). Described as a “massive old building, with its stone corridors and its narrow, gloomy cells”, the site was deemed “incapable of adaption except for storage” (University College Cork Heritage Services, 2021: Cork Men’s Gaol). Apart from the boundary wall and the Greek Revival facade, the remaining building was demolished. Following this, the New Science Building was built in 1971 (also known as the Sir Robert Kane Building).

 

References

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Corkman. (2013) The last man to be executed at Cork Gaol honoured. Irish Independent. 23 May [online]. Available from:  https://www.independent.ie/regionals/cork/news/the-last-man-to-be-executed-at-cork-gaol-honoured/29290339.html [Accessed 12 June 2024]. 

 

Foucault, M. (1979) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison. Translated by Alan, S. New York: Vintage. 

 

Mclaughlin, E. and Muncie, J. (2019) The SAGE Dictionary of Criminology (4th edition). London and New York: Sage Publications.

 

O’Keeffe, H. (2021) Martial Law, December 1920 [online]. Available from:  https://www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution/collections/mapping-the-irish-revolution/martial-law-december-1920/ [Accessed 5 April 2024].

 

Spalding, T. (2023) Personal communication, 21 September. 

 

University College Cork Heritage Services (2021). The Republican Grave [online]. Available from: https://www.ucc.ie/en/heritage/places-and-spaces/republican-grave/ [Accessed 5 April 2024].

 

Wall text, Cork County Gaol, Cork Walks - University Walk, Gaol Bridge, Cork, Ireland. 

 

Wall text, Site of Cork County Gaol. Gaol Walk, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. 

 

War of Independence Memorial [Limestone and Bronze plaque] (1947). Gaol Walk, University College Cork, Ireland.

 

(1878) CORK CITY PRISON. Munster Express. 6 July [online] p.3. Available from: www.irishnewspaperarchives.com [Accessed 4 June 2024].

 

(1920) HUNGER STRIKE IN CORK GAOL.The Liberator (Tralee). 12 August [online] p. 1. Available from: www.irishnewspaperarchives.com [Accessed 4 June 2024].

 

(1920) THE UNTRIED MEN. Irish Examiner. 9 September [online] p. 5. Available from: www.irishnewspaperarchives.com [Accessed 4 June 2024].

 

(1920) Cork Hunger Strike Ends. Meath Chronicle. 20 November [online] p. 3. Available from: www.irishnewspaperarchives.com [Accessed 4 June 2024].