HM Prison Belfast facts for kids
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| Location | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
|---|---|
| Status | Museum |
| Security class | High |
| Capacity | Variable |
| Opened | 1846 |
| Closed | 31 March 1996 |
HM Prison Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a famous old building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It used to be a prison. People sometimes call it the Crum. It is the only old Victorian era prison left in Northern Ireland.
This historic building is very important for its design and history. It has a special status as a Grade A listed building. Across the road from the Gaol is the Crumlin Road Courthouse. There's even a secret tunnel under the road that connected the two buildings. Prisoners used this tunnel to go between the prison and the courthouse.
Building the Prison
A famous architect named Sir Charles Lanyon designed the prison. It was built between 1843 and 1845. The building cost about £60,000, which was a lot of money back then! It was made to replace an older prison in Carrickfergus.
The prison was built from dark basalt rock on a large piece of land. It was one of the most modern prisons of its time. The design was partly based on HM Prison Pentonville in England. The prison has a five-sided outer wall. Inside, four wings spread out from a central area called The Circle.
The prison was first built to hold about 500 to 550 prisoners. Each cell was about 12 by 7 feet (365 cm x 213 cm). It was the first prison in Northern Ireland to use "The Separate System." This system aimed to keep prisoners apart so they couldn't talk to each other.
Life Inside the Prison
The first 106 prisoners arrived in 1846. They had to walk in chains from the old Carrickfergus Prison. These early prisoners included men, women, and even children. In the past, children from poor families were sometimes sent to prison for small things, like stealing food.
Women prisoners were kept in a special block until the early 1900s. Some women who fought for women's right to vote, called suffragettes, were held here in 1914. These included Dorothy Evans and Madge Muir.
At first, the prison didn't have a place for executions. These events happened in public until 1901. After that, a special execution room was built inside the prison walls. The last execution happened in 1961. The bodies of those executed were buried inside the prison grounds.
In the early 1970s, the prison became very crowded. Sometimes, three prisoners were kept in one cell. In 1971, the International Red Cross visited. They found 864 people in a building meant for only 475.
Even though it was a tough prison, some people managed to escape. The first recorded escape was in 1866. In May 1941, five prisoners got over the wall to freedom. During a difficult time in Northern Ireland's history, called The Troubles, some people like Martin Meehan also escaped from Crumlin Road.
Many famous people were held in the prison during its 150 years. These included Éamon de Valera, Dáithí Ó Conaill, Martin McGuinness, and Bobby Sands.
After the Prison Closed
The Crumlin Road Gaol stopped being a prison in 1996. It was empty for many years. Then, in 2010, plans were made to fix it up. In November 2012, the prison opened again as a place for tourists to visit. It also became a conference center and hosts concerts. Queen Elizabeth II even visited the museum in 2014.
In 2024, a new business called McConnell's Distillery and Visitor Experience opened in one part of the old prison.
The Gaol is also known for being a place where strange things are said to happen. They even offer guided ghost walks and special investigations for visitors. In 2020, the prison grounds hosted the UK's Strongest Man competition. The prison was also used as a filming location for a BBC children's TV show called The Sparticle Mystery.
