The building of Kilmainham Gaol was inspired by the fear of French revolutionary ideals spreading to these shores.  This was a perfectly reasonable fear which ultimately found expression in the Rising of 1798.  The leaders of the United Irishmen and the participants in the insurrection soon filled the dank solitary confinement and punishment cells.  They were followed in quick succession by the losers in the revolts of 1803, 1848 and 1867. 

The repression of the prison was brought into sharper focus during the events of the early part of this century.  The leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed by firing squad in the stone breaking yard and this single act did more than anything else to swing the population against the continuance of British rule.  The War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War kept the jailers and executioners busy until the release of the final prisoner, Eamon deValera, future President of Ireland, on 16th July 1924.

The jail was abandoned and fell into decay.  A voluntary group began the Herculean task of restoration in 1960, only completed in the 1980s by the Office of Public Works.  The result is the faithful preservation of the largest decommissioned but still intact 18th-19th century prison in Europe. 

A tour around the dungeons, corridors and cells can still evoke a shudder and a sense of the building's tragic history.  The jail also has a marvellous audio-visual display on its history and a modern museum presentation.

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