Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins.

History

Mountjoy was designed by Captain

Joshua Jebb Sir Joshua Jebb, (8 May 1793 – 26 June 1863) was a Royal Engineer and the British Surveyor-General of convict prisons. He participated in the Battle of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812, and surveyed a route between Ottawa ...

of the Royal Engineers and opened in 1850. It was based on the design of London's

Pentonville Prison HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...

also designed by Jebb. Originally intended as the first stop for men sentenced to

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

, they would spend a period in separate confinement before being transferred to Spike Island and transported from there to

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

. A total of 46 prisoners (including one woman, Annie Walsh) were executed within the walls of the prison, prior to the abolition of capital punishment. Executions were carried out by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

and firing squads, after which the bodies of the dead were taken down from the

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

and buried within the prison grounds in unmarked graves. The list of Irish republican prisoners executed at Mountjoy Prison includes: *

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Brit ...

* Patrick Moran *

Frank Flood Francis Xavier Flood (1 December 1901 – 14 March 1921), known as Frank Flood, was a 1st Lieutenant in the Dublin Active Service Brigade during the Irish War of Independence. He was executed by the British authorities in Mountjoy Prison and was ...

* Thomas Whelan *

Thomas Traynor Thomas Traynor or Trainor (27 May 1882 – 25 April 1921) was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) hanged in Mountjoy Prison during the Irish War of Independence. Background Traynor was born on 27 May 1882 in Tullow in County Carlow, Ir ...

Patrick Doyle Patrick Doyle (born 6 April 1953) is a Scottish film composer with Irish heritage. A longtime collaborator of actor-director Kenneth Branagh, Doyle is known for his work composing for films such as ''Henry V'', '' Sense and Sensibility'', ''Haml ...

* Thomas Bryan * Bernard Ryan * Edmond Foley * Patrick Maher * Rory O'Connor *

Joe McKelvey Joseph McKelvey (17 June 1898 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish Republican Army officer who was executed during the Irish Civil War. He participated in the anti-Treaty IRA's repudiation of the authority of the Dáil (civil government of the Iri ...

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows ( ga, Liam Ó Maoilíosa, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England to an English father and Irish mother, he grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to Irelan ...

* Richard Barrett *

Thomas Harte Thomas Harte was the first of seven Irish Republican Army (IRA) members executed by Irish forces in Mountjoy Prison and Portlaoise Prison prisons between 1940 and 1944. On 6 September 1940 IRA Capt. Tom Harte of Lurgan, County Armagh was executed ...

* Patrick McGrath * Maurice O'Neill *

Charlie Kerins Charlie Kerins ( ga, Cathal Ó Céirín; 23 January 1918 – 1 December 1944) was a physical force Irish Republican, and Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army. Kerins was one of six IRA men who were executed by the Irish State between Sep ...

Annie Walsh from Limerick, who was found guilty of murdering her husband, was executed in Mountjoy prison on 5 August 1925. She remains the only woman ever executed by the Irish State which was founded in 1922. On 13 October 1923 Irish Republican prisoners in Mountjoy Prison began the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes, protesting being interned without charges or trial and poor prison conditions. Close to 500 men began the hunger strike in Mountjoy and the strike quickly spread to other camps and prisons with over 5,000 prisoners taking part nationwide. Andy O'Sullivan, from County Cavan, died on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

on 23 November 1923 in Mountjoy Prison. After being convicted of murdering a Garda officer,

, former Chief of Staff to the

Anti-Treaty IRA The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

, was hanged at Mountjoy Prison on 1 December 1944. The last execution carried out in the Republic of Ireland, that of Michael Manning, took place in Mountjoy Prison on 20 April 1954. Some Irish leaders involved with the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War were held there. On 14 May 1921, an IRA team led by Paddy Daly and

Emmet Dalton James Emmet Dalton MC (4 March 1898 – 4 March 1978) was an Irish soldier and film producer. He served in the British Army in the First World War, reaching the rank of captain. However, on his return to Ireland he became one of the senior fig ...

mounted an attempt to rescue

Sean McEoin Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglic ...

from the prison. They used a captured armoured car to gain access to Mountjoy, but were discovered and had to shoot their way out. The Fenian poet, author of the popular song "Rising of the Moon", John Keegan 'Leo' Casey was imprisoned here during the 1860s; subsequently in the 20th century playwright and IRA activist

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

was also gaoled within. On 31 October 1973, it was the scene of a spectacular escape by a hijacked helicopter by three

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

prisoners, including Seamus Twomey and J.B O'Hagan. By 2006, a 60-hectare site had been acquired for €30 million at Thornton Hall, Fingal, where a replacement for Mountjoy was to be constructed. The new facility was intended to accommodate 1,400 prisoners. The site was planned to include court facilities, video-conference links, medical and therapeutic facilities, but due to government cutbacks these plans have now been sidelined.

Incidents

In August 2006, prisoners who were normally separated from the rest of the population for safety were mixed together for a night with mentally ill inmate Stephen Egan. Prisoner Gary Douche was killed by Egan who was found not guilty of murder due to a lack of responsibility. This prompted the Minister of Justice to seek a limit of 520 inmates on the capacity of the prison. In October 2010, the prison was placed under lockdown after a night of violence and rioting involving more than 70 inmates. It started when a number of prisoners attacked three prison officers with pool cues and balls during recreation. Reinforcements were brought in from around Dublin to quell the riot and a number of Alsatians dogs from the riot unit were also deployed. In 2016, figures were released showing that Mountjoy Prison saw a disproportionate number of prisoners hospitalised due to assaults and self-harm. In response, the Irish Penal Reform Trust said the "ongoing levels of violence and intimidation in Irish prisons, particularly in Mountjoy Prison, must be addressed".

Composition

Main Prison

Mountjoy Prison is constructed along a radial design with four main wings, A through D, each of which have three landings, as well as an underground basement landing. The wings are connected to a central circle, known simply as 'the circle'. When originally built in 1850 it had 500 cells each of which was designed for single capacity. Many parts of the original building have either been renovated or destroyed. At the time of the 2009 inspection, there were 371 cells in the main unit of the prison. These are the original cells which were built in 1850 for single occupancy. Their size varies from 3.91m x 2.06m to 3.43m x 2.06m. The prison was built with in-cell sanitation but this was removed in 1939 when it was deemed that 'prisoners were using too much water'. However, all cells in the main jail have in-cell sanitation following refurbishment in the period 2010 to 2015. These cells contain a toilet, a sink, a television and a small kettle. Facilities in the prison include gymnasiums, computer classes, carpentry, masonry and a wide variety of school activities such as music, drama and cookery. Prisoners can undertake to complete academic exams in the school such as Junior Certificate, Leaving Certificate and even Open University. Additionally, there is an on-site kitchen and bakery where trusted inmates are given employment under supervision.

Medical Unit

The Medical Unit, otherwise referred to as the drug detoxification unit, is a three storied structure. It provides accommodation for sixty prisoners in forty-eight single person cells and three cells that can accommodate up to four people. All the cells in this unit have in-cell sanitation facilities. It is equipped with medical facilities, classrooms and kitchen facilities. The Inspector of Prisons reported in 2009 that this unit was bright and clean and did not suffer from overcrowding.

Controlled Behavioural Unit

The Controlled Behavioural Unit, known as the CBU or the Block, is used for unruly prisoners or those on punishment and is located in the 'D' Base, underneath the D wing. This includes 24-hour lock-up, with the exception of one hour of open air exercise, and no integration with other inmates.

Separation Unit

The Separation Unit had 35 cells. It also had kitchen facilities a shower block and a laundry. In the late 1980s, inmates diagnosed with HIV or AIDS were housed in the separation unit. This policy was brought to an end on 1 January 1995. Following the unit's refurbishment in 1997, all cells had in-cell sanitation. The separation unit was closed indefinitely in 2014 following an inspection by the Inspector of Prisons.

Mountjoy Campus

The Mountjoy Campus is home to three other separate penal facilities. *

Dóchas Centre The Dóchas Centre (Irish: ''lárionad le Dóchas'') is a closed, medium security prison, for females aged 18 years and over, located in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Ireland. It is also the committal prison for females committed on remand or sente ...

* St. Patrick's Institution *

Training Unit The Training Unit () is a semi-open, low security prison located on the grounds of the Mountjoy campus in Dublin 7. It receives prisoners eighteen years of age and over and is designed to provide industrial training to inmates prior to the relea ...

People associated with Mountjoy

A former governor was Charles Arthur Munro, brother of the Edwardian satirist

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultu ...

.Introduction p24 of ''The Unbearable Saki'' by Sandie Byrne, Oxford University Press, 2007 The schizophrenic French surrealist playwright Antonin Artaud was briefly detained in Mountjoy before his deportation from Ireland as "a destitute and undesirable alien".

Thomas Ashe Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

was also a former inmate of the jail for his involvement in the Easter rising 1916. After a protest of starvation he was transferred across the street to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital on 25 September 1916 where he died a few hours after arrival.

Peadar O'Donnell Peadar O'Donnell ( ga, Peadar Ó Domhnaill; 22 February 1893 – 13 May 1986) was one of the foremost radicals of 20th-century Ireland. O'Donnell became prominent as an Irish republican, socialist activist, politician and writer. Early life Pea ...

, IRA Commander of the 2nd Northern Division was imprisoned in Mountjoy Gaol and the Curragh. Following the end of the Irish Civil War, he participated in the mass republican hunger strike (1923 Irish Hunger Strikes), remaining on hunger strike for 41 days. O'Donnell's prison experience and eventual escape in March 1924, are described in his 1932 memoir ''The Gates Flew Open''.

Bibliography

Carey, Tim : ''Mountjoy – The Story of a Prison'' :The Collins Press : 2000 :

References

External links

Mountjoy PrisonMinister announces site for new Mountjoy complex
— ''from the official Irish Prison Service website''
Inspector-General of Prisons and Places of Detention, 3rd Annual Report – 2005Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee 2004 Annual ReportMountjoy Prison Portraits of Irish Independence: Photograph Albums in the Thomas A. Larcom Collection
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Prisons in the Republic of Ireland 1850 establishments in Ireland