Is Wicklow Gaol open?
Not at the moment. The gaol is closed while it prepares to reopen, and no date has been announced. Use the gaol’s website for its reopening announcement and future booking information before making a trip to the museum.
Overview
Wicklow Gaol was built in 1702 to enforce the Penal Laws, and for the next two centuries it held most of the people the state wanted out of sight: United Irishmen after the 1798 Rebellion, famine-era convicts waiting to be transported to Australia, and republicans during the War of Independence. Locals called it ‘The Gates of Hell’. It reopened in 1998 as a museum, with costumed guides working the cell blocks.
From Penal Laws to republican prisoners
The original 1702 building was small and harsh, and it first filled to bursting during the 1798 Rebellion, when United Irishmen were packed into its cells; the Wicklow rebel leader Billy Byrne was among those held. The Great Famine of the 1840s brought another surge, and many inmates were shipped from here to penal colonies in Australia.
Architect William Vitruvius Morrison extended the gaol in 1822, and a further wing followed in 1842–43 to cope with the crowding. The prison was partly demolished in 1954. Its most famous prisoner came late: Erskine Childers, the author and republican, was held here in 1922 before his execution in Dublin. The last prisoners left in the 1920s, and the building stood empty until restoration began in the 1990s.
It reopened as a museum in 1998 and drew international attention in 2009, when Ghost Hunters International filmed here and sealed its reputation with the paranormal crowd.
What to look for inside
Tours and exhibits have varied over the years, from costumed day tours through the cells, the solitary block and the gaoler’s quarters to after-dark tours built around the building’s haunted reputation. Check the gaol’s website for what will be offered once it reopens, and for any booking requirements before you plan a visit around it.
The building itself is the exhibit: narrow stairs, original cell blocks and the gaoler’s quarters give a plain, unvarnished picture of how prisoners were held from the Penal Law era through the Famine and the War of Independence.
Getting there
The gaol is at Kilmantin Hill, Wicklow, a signed walk up the hill from the town centre. Check the gaol’s website for current parking and access arrangements, and for what is accessible, as the upper and lower cell blocks are reached by narrow original stairs. Nearby, Avondale, the former home of Charles Stewart Parnell, lies south of the town, with its house, woodland and treetop walk.