Graffiti revelations and the changing meanings of Kilmainham Gaol, Ireland

Summary

Kilmainham Gaol was built in 1796 with the intention of being the new jail for Dublin County. In reality it swiftly became the de facto holding centre for many of the most difficult and recalcitrant prisoners for the colonial powers to control from this time until its closure in 1924. Mainly due to its association with so many major figures of Ireland’s struggle to gain independence from Britain the prison has transitioned from being a British colonial bastion to being a nationalist heritage icon. However, one needs only reveal that the prison lay abandoned for over 40 years before being opened by volunteers in 1966 (the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising) and was only taken into state protection in 1986 to note a less than smooth transformation from one state of being to the other. Using graffiti assemblages that predominantly date from 1920 through to contemporary times this paper will explore the ‘imperial debris’ of contested narratives of meaning, ownership, and identity that the prison walls contain and continue to reveal from the tumultous post-abandonment period..

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Colonial Institutions and Their Enduring Material Aftermaths   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-12,11