Derry Gaol, also known as Londonderry Gaol, refers to one of several gaols (

prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

) constructed consecutively in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Derry Gaol is notable as a place of incarceration for Irish Republican Army (IRA) members during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

, and for its numerous

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

s, seven of which took place between 1820 and 1923. On Christmas day 1939 interned

Irish Republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

prisoners took control of the jail, protesting their continued imprisonment without charges or trials. On 20 March 1943, 21 Irish Republican prisoners tunneled their way out of Derry Jail with the assistance of

Jimmy Steele (republican) Jimmy Steele (8 August 1907 – 9 August 1970) was an Irish republican militant. He was one of the most prominent Irish Republican Army (IRA) men in Belfast after the Irish Civil War who held practically every senior position in the Northern Comma ...

. This escape was referred to as "The Big Derry Jail Escape".

Timeline

* 1620: First gaol constructed at the junction of Butcher Street and the Diamond. * 1676: Second gaol constructed at Ferryquay Street. * 1791: Third gaol opens at Bishop Street. * 1824: Fourth gaol, with unique horseshoe design, opens after four years of construction at a cost of over £33,000 * 31 March 1953: Derry Gaol closes.

Executions

* 1820: John Rainey, John McQuade, and Robert Acheson,

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...

gang members convicted of the murder of Henry O'Hagan, escape the third gaol while awaiting execution, are recaptured, and hanged in front of the third gaol * 19 November 1864: Barbara Benett, worked as a sex worker in the local surrounding area during a meeting with one of her lovers he attacked her at which point she stabbed him 5 times consequently killing him and was hanged for her offences at aged 43 also in front of the third gaol. * 6 January 1893: John Boyle of

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

is hanged after being convicted at Ulster

Assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

for the beating death of his wife of 10 years at Aughnacloy * 5 January 1904: Joseph Moan, convicted as the " Trillick murderer" at the Spring Assizes, is hanged for the murder of Rose McCann while she was on her way home to Badoney * 20 August 1908: John Berryman is hanged for the murder of his brother and sister-in-law, William Berryman and Jane Turner Berryman, near

Garvagh Garvagh ( or ''Garbhachadh'' meaning "rough field") is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is on the banks of the Agivey River, south of Coleraine on the A29 route. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,288. It is sit ...

, after the two brothers fell out over shares of a prosperous farm there, and after being convicted at the Londonderry Assizes * 12 February 1921: James McNulty was arrested and held in solitary confinement for his participation in the detonation of a train bridge near his home in

Creeslough Creeslough ( , locally ; ) is a village in County Donegal, Ireland, south of Dunfanaghy on the N56 road (Ireland), N56 road. It overlooks an arm of Sheephaven Bay, with the population of the surrounding area engaged mainly in agriculture, mo ...

, Co. Donegal. He served two years and was released in 1923."Donegal & The Civil War The Untold Story", Liam O'Duibhir, 2011 (Pages 42-44) * 8 February 1923: William Rooney is hanged for kicking 21-year-old Gunnings Mill factory worker Lilly Johnston to death in

Cookstown Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster ...

, after being convicted at the Ulster Winter Assizes in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Folk song

"Derry Gaol" is also another title used for the folk song " The Maid Freed from the Gallows"; some versions of the lyrics bemoan that there is "''no release''" from the Derry Gaol.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Derry (city) Defunct prisons in Northern Ireland History of Derry (city)