Kilmainham Gaol is one of the largest unoccupied prisons in Europe. It opened in 1796 as the new county gaol for Dublin. A prison for common criminals and a place of detention for convicts awaiting transportation to Australia, the building also reflected developing ideas in prison reform and architecture

that emerged throughout the 19th Century. During its128-year history, the Gaol witnessed some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s emergence as a modern nation.

It was at the centre of many of the main historical events in 19th and early 20th century Ireland. Kilmainham Gaol is closely associated with the Irish struggle for independence, with a large number of leading revolutionary figures and political activists imprisoned within its walls.