SecretHeron
26-11-2011, 11:59 PM
Sligo Gaol is a former prison located in Sligo town, Ireland which was open from 1823 to 1956.
The jail sat on an 8-acre (32,000 m2) site and was designed to hold 200 inmates in a polygon-shaped building, with the Governor's residence situated in the centre of the prison. Construction of the jail began in 1818 and it was opened in 1823 at a cost of £30,000.
The jail provided its own hospital wing, surgery, dispensary, cookhouse, furnace, clothing store and school.
Gas was introduced to the jail in 1879. This allowed the provision of heating via hot water pipes and earned it the nickname of the "Cranmore Hotel".
Male inmates in the prison were forced to undertake hard labour. This labour included the picking of oakum, rock breaking and wood chopping. Other forms of male labour included shoemaking, tailoring, carpentry, glazing, and painting, whilst female inmates were employed to sew, knit and wash clothes.
During the 20th century the jail was self-sufficient and produced its own food, the surplus of which was sold outside the prison at stalls in Sligo.
The final public hanging at Sligo jail occurred on 19 August 1861 when 26 year old Ballymote native Mathew Phibbs, also known as the "Ballymote Slasher", was hung for murdering William and Fanny Callaghan and a servant girl Anne Mooney in January of the same year. The last person to be hanged within the prison was a Mr. Doherty of Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim in 1903 who was convicted of murdering his son.
The jail isn't open to the public and what's left of it is now within the confines of the County Council yard. I managed to gain quick access this time last year as I'm a member of our local mountain rescue team and we had just converted an unused garage/shed in the yard into our vehicle base.
One of the several stone staircases
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8148.jpg
Ground floor corridor
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8152.jpg
Ground floor corridor from the other direction
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8155.jpg
Cell
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8161.jpg
Cell
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8162.jpg
Upper floor corridor
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8163.jpg
The same corridor, done in a B/W-funny-angle-stylee...
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8164_1.jpg
The slightly ominous "Hospital".....
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8169.jpg
This is one of the cell numbers. Inmates had a handle on the inside of their cells that could turn the numbers in and out, thus attracting the attention of a warder.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8175.jpg
Another corridor. It looks like an HDR attempt, but it's all natural lighting, and very little PS messing...
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8176.jpg
Looking out the door of one of the cells.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8178.jpg
An attempt to give a scale to the cells...my camera was on a tripod in the opposite corner, with the legs folded in as far as they would go without falling over, and an 18-55mm lens wound right out to 18mm. They're pretty small cells!
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8185.jpg
One of the great big hasps on a cell door in what was (I think) a lunatic wing of the gaol.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8186.jpg
Another B/W shot looking out of one of the upper level cells.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8194_2.jpg
A corridor on the top level (the building is 3 stories).
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8199.jpg
Thank you for viewing.
The jail sat on an 8-acre (32,000 m2) site and was designed to hold 200 inmates in a polygon-shaped building, with the Governor's residence situated in the centre of the prison. Construction of the jail began in 1818 and it was opened in 1823 at a cost of £30,000.
The jail provided its own hospital wing, surgery, dispensary, cookhouse, furnace, clothing store and school.
Gas was introduced to the jail in 1879. This allowed the provision of heating via hot water pipes and earned it the nickname of the "Cranmore Hotel".
Male inmates in the prison were forced to undertake hard labour. This labour included the picking of oakum, rock breaking and wood chopping. Other forms of male labour included shoemaking, tailoring, carpentry, glazing, and painting, whilst female inmates were employed to sew, knit and wash clothes.
During the 20th century the jail was self-sufficient and produced its own food, the surplus of which was sold outside the prison at stalls in Sligo.
The final public hanging at Sligo jail occurred on 19 August 1861 when 26 year old Ballymote native Mathew Phibbs, also known as the "Ballymote Slasher", was hung for murdering William and Fanny Callaghan and a servant girl Anne Mooney in January of the same year. The last person to be hanged within the prison was a Mr. Doherty of Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim in 1903 who was convicted of murdering his son.
The jail isn't open to the public and what's left of it is now within the confines of the County Council yard. I managed to gain quick access this time last year as I'm a member of our local mountain rescue team and we had just converted an unused garage/shed in the yard into our vehicle base.
One of the several stone staircases
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8148.jpg
Ground floor corridor
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8152.jpg
Ground floor corridor from the other direction
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8155.jpg
Cell
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8161.jpg
Cell
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8162.jpg
Upper floor corridor
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8163.jpg
The same corridor, done in a B/W-funny-angle-stylee...
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8164_1.jpg
The slightly ominous "Hospital".....
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8169.jpg
This is one of the cell numbers. Inmates had a handle on the inside of their cells that could turn the numbers in and out, thus attracting the attention of a warder.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8175.jpg
Another corridor. It looks like an HDR attempt, but it's all natural lighting, and very little PS messing...
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8176.jpg
Looking out the door of one of the cells.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8178.jpg
An attempt to give a scale to the cells...my camera was on a tripod in the opposite corner, with the legs folded in as far as they would go without falling over, and an 18-55mm lens wound right out to 18mm. They're pretty small cells!
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8185.jpg
One of the great big hasps on a cell door in what was (I think) a lunatic wing of the gaol.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8186.jpg
Another B/W shot looking out of one of the upper level cells.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8194_2.jpg
A corridor on the top level (the building is 3 stories).
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/rossespoint/Sligo%20Gaol/DSC_8199.jpg
Thank you for viewing.