Crumlin Road Prison
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HMP Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former
prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
situated on the
Crumlin Road The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road which leads out of Belfast to t ...
in north
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Since 1996 it is the only remaining
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known as ''the Crum''. The
Northern Ireland Environment Agency The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is an executive agency within the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). It is responsible for conservation of Northern Ireland's environment and natural heritage. Origi ...
has given it a grade A
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
status because of its architectural and historical significance. The
Crumlin Road Courthouse The Crumlin Road Courthouse is a former judicial facility on Crumlin Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a Grade B+ listed building. History The building, which was designed by Charles Lanyon in the Neoclassical style, was completed in 185 ...
, derelict since its closure, stands opposite the Gaol with a tunnel under the main road connecting the two buildings and used previously to transport the prisoners between both buildings.


Early history

Designed by
Sir Charles Lanyon Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP (6 January 1813 – 31 May 1889) was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland. Biography Lanyon was born in Eastbourne, Sussex (now East Sussex) in ...
, the prison was built between 1843 and 1845 and cost £60,000. Built as a replacement for the County
Gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...
on Antrim Street in
Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
, and known as the County Gaol for Antrim, it was constructed of black basalt rock on ten acres at the bottom of the Crumlin Road. Partly based on
HM Prison His Majesty's Prisons (Her Majesty's Prisons in the case of a female monarch) is the name given to prisons in the United Kingdom, as well as some in Australia and a small number in Canada, Grenada, Jersey, The Bahamas and Barbados. The title make ...
Pentonville Pentonville is an area on the northern fringe of Central London, in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient parish o ...
, it was one of the most advanced prisons of its day. Built within a five-sided wall, the four wings are up to four storeys in height and fan off from the central area which was known as The Circle. The prison was originally built to hold between 500 and 550 prisoners in cells that measured 12 x 7 feet, (365 cm x 213 cm) It was the first prison in Northern Ireland to be built according to "The Separate System", intended to separate prisoners from each other with no communication between them. Later, especially in the early 1970s, as many as three prisoners were placed in each cell. The first 106 inmates, who were forced to walk from Carrickfergus Prison in chains, arrived in 1846. These inmates, who were men, women and children, completed the changeover of the two prisons. Children from impoverished working-class families were often imprisoned at the gaol in the early years for offences such as stealing food or clothing. Thirteen-year-old Patrick Magee, who had been sentenced to three months in prison, hanged himself in his cell in 1858. Women inmates were kept in the prison block house until the early 1900s. Ulster
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
s, among them
Dorothy Evans Dorothy Elizabeth Evans (6 May 1888 – 28 August 1944) was a British feminist activist and suffragette. On the eve of World War I she was a militant organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union twice arrested in Belfast on explosiv ...
and Madge Muir, were imprisoned in the gaol during 1914.


Executions

When originally designed by Lanyon, the prison did not contain a gallows and the executions were carried out in public view until 1901, when an execution chamber was constructed within the prison walls and used until the last of the hangings in 1961. Seventeen prisoners were
executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
in the prison, the last being
Robert McGladdery Robert Andrew McGladdery (18 October 193520 December 1961) was the last person to be executed in Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland. He was convicted of the murder of Pearl Gamble, aged 19, whom he had battered, strangled and stabbed ...
who was
hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...
in 1961 for the murder of Pearl Gamble. The condemned would live in a cell, large enough for two guards to live in as well. The bodies of the executed were buried inside the prison in unconsecrated ground, against the back wall beside the prison hospital. The execution of Tom Williams, a nineteen-year-old member of the
IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
, took place on 2 September 1942; he was hanged for the slaying of an RUC officer. The hangman in charge was
Thomas Pierrepoint Thomas William Pierrepoint (6 October 1870 – 11 February 1954) was an English executioner from 1906 until 1946. He was the brother of Henry Pierrepoint and uncle of Albert Pierrepoint. Personal life Pierrepoint was born in Sutton Bonington, ...
, the gaol's most regular hangman, who carried out six executions in the gaol between 1928 and 1942. Williams was one of two executed prisoners whose remains were disinterred and buried elsewhere.


Escapes and later history

Despite being known as Europe's Alcatraz, there were a number of successful escape attempts at the Gaol. The first recorded escape was in 1866. In May 1941, five
Irish Republican Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...
prisoners made their escape over the wall to freedom. During its 150-year history the gaol had many prisoners pass through its doors. Some of the more well known prisoners included
Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...
,
Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( ga, Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman from Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during ...
, Michael Stone and
Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands ( ga, Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member (and leader in the Maze prison) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze ...
. On 24 November 1991, during the last stages of
the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
, the Loyalist wing of the prison became the target of a
Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
bomb that killed a UVF and a UDA prisoner. The gaol closed its doors as a prison in 1996 and it was empty for many years. A restoration project was announced in August 2010. In November 2012, the prison opened as a tourist attraction and conference centre and now hosts concerts. The museum welcomed a visit by Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
in 2014. The grounds played host to the 2020
UK's Strongest Man The United Kingdom Strength Council was founded by Glenn Ross, the famed strongman and also founder and promoter of the Irish Strength Association. The UKSC, as it is commonly termed, was promoted by Bob Daglish's Elite Strongman Promotions until ...
competition.


Use as filming location

The prison was used as a location for the third series of the BBC children's TV series ''
The Sparticle Mystery ''The Sparticle Mystery'' is a British science fiction television series written and created by Alison Hume Alison Hume is a British television writer, known for her work as creator and executive producer of the CBBC series ''The Sparticle ...
''.


References


External links


Crumlin Road Gaol

Northern Ireland Prison Service

North Belfast Community Action Unit websiteA Brief History of the Crumlin Road Gaol at CultureNorthernIreland.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crumlin Road (Hm Prison) Government buildings completed in 1845 1846 establishments in Ireland Buildings and structures in Belfast Grade A listed buildings Prison museums in the United Kingdom Prison museums in Northern Ireland Museums in Belfast Defunct prisons in Northern Ireland