Mountjoy Prison

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Mountjoy Prison (founded as Mountjoy Gaol) is a closed medium security prison located in Phibsboro in Dublin city centre, Ireland.

It was designed by military engineer Joshua Jebb and opened in 1850. Mountjoy was originally intended as the first stop for men sentenced to transportation where they would spend a period in separate confinement and then be transferred to Spike Island before where they would be transported to Van Diemen's land.

The prison was built with in-cell sanitation but this was removed in 1939 at the instigation of a civil servant who deemed that 'prisoners were using too much water'. Convicts use chamber pots and empty milk cartons and other receptacles for 'overflow'. The Inspector-General of Prisons and Places of Detention has stated that prisoners in Mounjoy are existing in most inhumane and degrading and overcrowded conditions and that many slept on the floor in filthy conditions. he recommended that it be closed and demolished. The Inspector-General has described the attitude of the Minister towards reform as "frightening and fascist"^[1].

Some Irish leaders during the Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War were held there. Kevin Barry was among those executed at the prison.

On October 31, 1973 it was the scene of a spectacular escape by helicopter by three Provisional IRA prisoners, including Seamus Twomey^[2]

The current prison governor is John Lonergan.

1 Visiting Committee
2 Prison overcrowding, violence and deaths
3 Replacement of Mountjoy Prison
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Visiting Committee

The Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee acknowledged the competence and cooperation of the Governor 2005^[3]. Their general observations include:

No in-cell sanitation, except in medical unit
Excellent library and educational facilities
Staff shortages put restrictions on work shops
Inbound mobile phone signals may curtail drug use
In-cell television has alleviated tendency towards self-mutilation
Kitchen and catering service operates to highest standard of hygiene

[edit] Prison overcrowding, violence and deaths

Persistent and recurring incidents of violence, suicide and killings occur in the frequently overcrowded prison, a facility that is designed to cater for 470 persons but which accommodates well over 500. A black prisoner, convicted of killing his wife, was stabbed in the eye during a fracas involving over 30 prisoners in July 2006.

A convict who requested protective custody 24 hours before his death was kept in a cell overnight with six other prisoners and was battered to death in the prison cell on August 1, 2006 by a deranged thug, one of six cell mates. The perpetrator rubbed excrement on the torso and head of the deceased victim and is reported to have threatened witnesses.

On August 24, 2006 a convict, who a day previously had sought protection and was accommodated in a single cell, was found dead following threats from a baying mob. He had hung himself in his cell within a half hour of being checked on. Another prisoner was found in his bed deceased the next day at 14:30 possibly from overdose.

[edit] Replacement of Mountjoy Prison

A 150-acre site has been acquired at a cost of €30 million at Thornton Hall, County Dublin on which a replacement for Mountjoy is to be constructed. The new facility will accommodate 1,200 convicts. The site will include court facilities, video-conference links, medical and therapeutic facilities ^[4]