Kilkenny County gaol

Hi Barbara, 

we do not appear to have a volunteer in Kilkenny and I can only offer some info, I am not attached to Kilkenny and know little about it, however your query caught my attention re Grangegorman as it was better know as a mental hospital or psychiatric hospital, however you are correct as it appears to have been used as a penitentiary but I see also it was a fever hospital in 1850, see http://ggda.ie/grangegorman/a-brief-history (it has recently reopened after redevelopment as a campus for Dublin Institute of Technology) It is possible she was referred there as she was ill.

You could try Kilkenny Library Local studies for queries about gaols there, I have used the library service in other counties by email and found them very helpful. http://www.kilkennylibrary.ie/eng/Our_Services/Local_Studies/ 

I searched on Find My Past for Margaret Cullen and found a Margaret Cullen on the Laois (Queens County then) prison register in 1850, it is just a list and no exact date, this would be about 30 miles or less from Kilkenny, there are a lot of Post 1850 hits for a Margaret Cullen in Thomastown, Kilkenny, she appears to have been a single lady of means, she applied for a license to sell sell alcohol at one point. This is in the 1850s.

I would think most major towns would have had a proper prison back than so surprised if there were none in Kilkenny (a lovely place by the way). I searched Griffiths Valuation and found that there is a Gaol Street and a New Gaol Street there prior to 1850, date printed 1849 so there must be a gaol there then, see http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameS…

Hope you find somethin useful there, ask more if you think we can assist,

Good Hunting,
Pat

Thank you Pat for your reply to my post.    Margaret Cullen's crime was to ' kill sheep', so she certainly was a convict.  I will be in Kilkenny in just a little over a months time.  I have been researching information on prisons, there was a prison in Kilkenny.  So now think after the court case she stayed there until moving to Grangegorman Womans prison for 3 months to improve her skills before being shipped off the Australia.

I will contact the Kilkenny Library and see if they can be of any help prior to me arriving in Kilkenny.

Thanks once again.

Barbara

Hi Barbara, firstly enjoy your visit, it is an interesting place and an impressive castle. Feel sympathy for poor Margaret, that was just coming our of the famine so food was probably not too plentiful but that is good farming country there. 

I had assisted (a bit better than this time) another lady in Australia whose ancestor lady was convicted in County Down, north end of country and transported from Cork, south end of country over 200 miles away, discovered that there was a central prison for transportation in Cork so went looking for my sources and found these two articles, one gave link for the other, there are records of family letters sent requesting leniency if any were sent in our National Archive in Dublin, the second article is on their site, http://www.historyireland.com/volume-25/transportation-records/ and also http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/Ireland_Australia_… Realise you could find these yourself but in case you missed them they add to the broader knowledge.

The Margaret Cullen I located in Queensboro prison is now in Portlaoise and stil in use as a high security prison, if you go in that direction you can see in on the Dublin Road out of Portlaoise, fairly imposing stone building.

As regards Margaret sentence, I came across a chap who got 7 years transportation for conspiracy to steal a cushion, there were no soft sentences in those times. There was also a book written a few years ago about a lady who was transported and the ship sunk near or in sight of Tasmania I think, cannot remember the title but if I do will revert.

Enjoy your visit,
Pat

Thanks Pat, I found the second website you supplied had a lot of very interesting information.  Times were very hard, to be so desperate to commit a crime and be placed in a god for saken place just to get food, with the possiblity of transportation to somewhere unknown to escape the poverty.......   We have to be thankful our ancestors were strong enough to survive.

Barbara

Dear Barbara:  Your question might be best answered via the National Archives Transportation Database which I believe Pat has given you the link to.  There are several books about transportation and I will follow up on this thread with some of them.  You might also check out the website:  kilkennyheritage.ie.

The best of luck with your research.  If there is anything further that we can do, please let me know.  

Kind regards,  

Jane.

Hi Barbara:

Pat has given me another link about a documentary that was done on the radio.  If you are interested in hearing this link, please email me at:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com and I can share it with you

I hope that your travel plans are coming along well.

All the best,

Jane.