Prison

The National Monuments Service's description

On top of a broad hill within Roscommon town. A tower of two storeys but of unknown function is marked here on a map of 1736 by Francis Plunket (copy in Roscommon County Museum). The jail was reputedly designed by Richard Cassels, was built by 1745, and had the distinction of employing a hangwoman, lady Betty. It closed as a jail c. 1819 when the new jail (RO039-043003-) was built. From 1820 until 1833 it became an asylum (Weld 1832, 423-5). Thereafter it served as a market house, but by 1918 it had been converted into a dwelling called Tudor House. In 1985 most of the cell block, which had three storeys, was demolished, and only the administrative block of four storeys attached to its S survives. Excavation (97E0419) revealed no evidence of an earlier structure but the outline of the cell block (ext. dims c. 14m N-S; 10.5m E-W) with 8 cells (dims c. 2.5m x 2.5m) in all, four on either side of a N-S corridor (Wth 1.3m) was uncovered. There was a latrine chute at N with a drain running off to the NW. (Higgins 1998a)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 24 August 2010

References

Higgins, J. 1998a Roscommon jail, The Market/Castle St./Main St., Roscommon: urban. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 1997: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 153, No. 458. Bray, Wordwell

Weld, I. 1832 Statistical survey of the county Roscommon. Dublin, Royal Dublin Society