Reforming society’s wicked, housing political revolutionaries, executing nationalistic radicals, Kilmainham Gaol offers a rich history that reflects the struggles within Ireland since the 18th century. As one makes their way through this jail, you feel the presence of history under your feet. Walking through the threshold of the jail, you notice five intertwined serpents chained together. Tour guides are not certain of the meaning of these snakes, but they speculate the serpents represent the notion that law will always restrain evil. Another theory suggests each serpent represents an evil act that would lead to execution: treason, murder, larcany, rape, and areson; furthermore, hanging was a form of execution employed to kill prisoners above the front door of the prison to the eyes of the public. This method of public execution was carried out until 1821when hanging was moved inside the prison and carried out in the courtyards (The Office of Public Works). Here, the serpents served as a background to the bodies of the prisoners left hanging after their execution. Regardless of the meaning of the serpents, the sight of chained snakes behind the hanging bodies of prisoners served as a warning sign to citizens walking by the prison.
Kilmainham jail was a revolutionary institute during the late 18th century and early 19th century for its focus on reforming prisoners rather than simply punishing them for their crimes. In order to reform the corrupt, the jail needed to prevent the prisoners from conspiring with one another; therefore, each cell was meant to house only one prisoner. Prisoners held in Kilmainham jail during this time mostly committed smaller crimes and were released in a few years or sent to Australia. During the first half of the 19th century, around 4,000 Kilmainham prisoners were sent to the colonies of Australia (CITE). However, despite the overall intentions to reform the prisoners, life within prison was gruelling. In the early years of the jail, windows were left uncovered by glass in order to prevent the spread of diseases. During this time period, it was commonly thought that stench was the cause of diseases. In hindsight, the overall thought that bad smells caused and spread diseases is partially true because poor hygiene leads to disease. However, because these windows were left uncovered it exposed prisoners to the elements like wind, rain, and snow, thus leading to prisoners catching illnesses and spreading them amongst each other. Life within Kilmainham was awful during the winter time as freezing air would whip around the hallways of the jail, creating miserable living conditions that did not reflect the progressive mission the jail promoted.
Despite horrendous winters, Kilmainham jail offered many a better standard of living than the countryside in the mid-19th century. Desperate for food and a chance for survival during the horrific potato famine that hit Ireland, ordinary citizens would commit crimes in efforts to be incarcerated. Kilmainham jail offered citizens a safe haven for easy shelter and food because thousands of Irish citizens were thrown out of their house and were forced to live on the streets and nearly a million died from starvation due to British rule exporting Irish crops to other countries in Europe rather than feeding the people of Ireland. Gradually, Kilmainham Gaol became overcrowded as children and women were thrown into jail for stealing food (The Office of Public Works). Cells that were meant for one prisoner now housed five and disease spread rapidly throughout the jail. The horrors of the famine forced the innocent to commit crimes in order to survive while the desperation of the Irish citizens and the lack of support from the British government took a major toll on Ireland.
Throughout history, the jail housed a variety of prisoners, ranging from violent drunk men to thieving children; however, Kilmaiham jail is most famous for harboring and executing the Easter Rising leaders. After the rising in 1916, 13 out of the 14 revolutionaries were held in Kilmainham until their execution date. The last revolutionary, James Connolly, was brought in from a hospital on the day of his execution and was killed sitting down. The firing squad systematically killed the rest of the revolutionaries. As one walks through the courtyard of the jail, memorial plaques and two wooden crosses pays homage to the leaders of the Easter Rising. Overall, Kilmainham Gaol represents the social and political struggles within Ireland through the housing of both innocents and criminals alike as well as political revolutionaries.