Crumlin Road courthouse, linked to the gaol by underground passage

Crumlin Road Gaol is a former prison situated in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the only Victorian era prison remaining in Northern Ireland and has been derelict since 1996. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 525 KB) Summary my own photo, taken March 2006 by digital camera Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 525 KB) Summary my own photo, taken March 2006 by digital camera Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Official Languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th UK 13,843... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of Great Britain is considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

Because of its architectural and historical significance the Environment and Heritage Service have given it a grade A listed building status. The Crumlin Road Courthouse, also derelict, stands opposite the Gaol. An infamous tunnel under the main road connects the two buildings. The Environment and Heritage Service is the United Kingdom Governments conservation agency for Northern Ireland. ... Buckingham Palace, a Grade I listed building. ...

History

Designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, the gaol was built between 1843 and 1845. Partly based on HM Prison Pentonville, it was one of the most advanced prisons of its day. Comprising four wings which are up to four stories in height, the gaol had 640 cells. The first inmates, who were forced to walk from Carrickfergus Prison in chains, arrived in 1846. Seventeen prisoners were executed in the gaol, the last being hanged in 1961. Portrait of Charles Lanyon Sir Charles Lanyon (1813 to 1889) was an English architect of the 19th Century. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Her Majestys Prison Service is the British Executive Agency reporting to the Home Office tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Prison Services). ... HM Prison Pentonville is a prison built in 1842 in North London. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Suicide by hanging. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

For the last thirty years of its working life, Crumlin road prison served as a remand centre for suspected terrorist and paramilitary prisoners awaiting trial. A prisoner who is denied, refused or unable to meet the conditions of bail, or who is unable to post bail, may be held in a prison on remand until their criminal trial. ... A terrorist is one who promotes widespread feelings of overwhelming imminent danger in order to change the mindset of the general populous, usually for political purposes. ... A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organised in a military fashion. ...

During The Troubles several prison officers from the Crumlin Road Gaol were killed by prisoners from both the republican and loyalist sides. The Troubles is a generic and euphemistic term used to describe a period of sporadic communal violence involving paramilitary organisations, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the British Army and others in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s with the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998. ... Irish Republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Unionists (Ireland). ...

The interior of Crumlin Road Gaol

Image File history File links Crumlin_Road_Gaol_Interior. ... Image File history File links Crumlin_Road_Gaol_Interior. ...

Past inmates

Past inmates at the prison include:

• Séanna Breathnach, IRA leader
• Hugh McAteer, IRA leader
• Lenny Murphy, leader of the Shankill Butchers
• Sean O'Callaghan, IRA informer
• Michael Stone, UVF gunman

Séanna Breathnach (English: Séanna Walsh; born 1957) is an Irish republican and a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lenny Murphy Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy, who commonly went by the name Lenny Murphy (March 2, 1952 - November 16, 1982), was a loyalist terrorist from Belfast, Northern Ireland who was the leader of the Shankill Butchers. ... The Shankill Butchers were a group of Ulster Volunteer Force members in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who abducted Catholics, usually walking home from a night out, tortured and/or savagely beat them, and killed them, usually by cutting the throat. ... Sean OCallaghan is a former senior member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who turned informer for the Garda Síochána (the Irish police) and who was later debriefed by the UKs MI5 in the Netherlands. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the RA) is an Irish Republican paramilitary organization dedicated to the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and to a United Ireland. ... An Informant is someone who provides information to law enforcement agencies. ... For other people called Michael Stone, please see Michael Stone (disambiguation) Michael Stone (born 1925) was a U.S. (English-born) administrator. ... The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. ...

Future plans

There are plans to develop the prison as a museum and film set. It opens to the public occasionally, the last time being September 2005. It is used for cultural events from time to time, including the screening of Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption in 2001. The National Gallery in London, a famous museum. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Frank Darabont (born on January 28, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. ... The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 movie, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

The North Belfast Community Action Unit has been charged with developing the site. £3.8m has been allocated from the sale of a former British Army base on the Malone Road. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

External links

• Northern Ireland Prison Service
• North Belfast Community Action Unit website