COVID-19 CLOSURE NOTICE

Following  government guidelines, Kilmainham Gaol Museum is  currently closed.  We are working  towards partially re-opening to visitors later this month, in line with public health advice. Tickets will be available to purchase online the week before opening. Updates will be posted on our website and social media once we have a confirmed opening date.

Further information can be also be found on OPW Heritage Sites and COVID-19.

Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796 as the new County Gaol for Dublin. It closed its doors in 1924.

Today the building symbolises the tradition of militant and constitutional nationalism from the rebellion of 1798 to the Irish Civil War of 1922-23. Leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848,1867 and 1916 were detained and in some cases executed here. Many members of the Irish Republican movement during the Anglo-Irish War (1919-21) were also detained in Kilmainham Gaol, guarded by British troops. Names such as Henry Joy McCracken, Robert Emmet, Anne Devlin, Charles Stewart Parnell and the leaders of 1916 will always be associated with the building. It should not be forgotten however that, as a county gaol, Kilmainham held thousands of ordinary men, women and children. Their crimes ranged from petty offences such as stealing food to more serious crimes such as murder or rape. Convicts from many parts of Ireland were held here for long periods waiting to be transported to Australia. Kilmainham Gaol Museum is operated and managed by the Office of Public Works.

Digitial Pride Festival 2020

We are delighted to be taking part in the ‘Older Than Pride’ strand by providing a ‘virtual’ queer History Tour of Kilmainham Gaol at 2pm on 24 June. For further information and to  book your place  please visit the events section of our Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/events/644751909720650/

Kilmainham Gaol on Lockdown 

Explore the Gaol through our series of Kilmainham Gaol on Lockdown videos.

Learn more about the gaol’s political graffiti, walk through the basement, visit the prison yards and discover a hidden corridor.