Kilmainham Gaol has borne witness to many of the most important events in Irish history since it opened in 1796. Although it housed its fair share of criminals, it is most notable for holding some of the leading figures in Irish nationalism; from Henry Joy McCracken, founder of the United Irishmen, to William Smith O'Brien and Thomas Francis Meagher, leaders of the Young Irelanders rebellion of 1848.
Closed in 1910, the prison reopened in 1916 to house those who had been found guilty of taking part in the Easter Rising. The prison is particularly notorious as the scene of the execution of 14 rebel leaders. The surge in support for the Irish nationalist cause soon developed into full-blown civil war, with the prison housing a number of Irish Republican Army members. The gaol closed for good in 1924, shortly after future Taoiseach and President of Ireland, Eamon De Valera, was released.
Kilmainham Gaol is now one of the largest unoccupied prisons in Europe and home to a fantastic exhibition documenting its political and penal history, as well as the story of the development of modern Ireland.
