Guns & chiffon: Women revolutionaries and Kilmainham Gaol, 1916-1923

Kilmainham Gaol (1796-1924) (Irish: Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed in the prison by the British. At Kilmainham the poor conditions in which women prisoners were kept provided the spur for the next stage of development. As early as his 1809 report the Inspector had observed that male prisoners were supplied with iron bedsteads while females 'lay on straw on the flags in the cells and common halls.' Half a century later there was little improvement. The women's section, located in the west wing, remained overcrowded. In an attempt to relieve the overcrowding 30 female cells were added to the Gaol in 1840. These improvements had not been made long before the Great Famine occurred, and Kilmainham was overwhelmed with the increase of prisoners. Kilmainham Gaol is one of the biggest unoccupied prisons in Europe. Now empty of prisoners, it is filled with history. This book, published by the Government of Ireland, specifically covers the women revolutionaries that were incarcerated here between 1916 - 1923.