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Week 19 – Material Culture - Humanities

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Across the bay is the toy-town of Cobh. Rows of colourful houses stacked on top of each other like a scene from a Roald Dahl movie.

“Do you know why each house is a different colour?” the guide asks us.

There are about 12 of us standing on the dock and none of us have a clue.

“Drunken sailors,” the guide explains.

We are told that after a long stint at sea, sailors would often get inebriated in the seafront taverns and forget where they lived. To assure they found their way home each house was painted a different colour.

It seems like a tall tale, but we are suitably amused, nonetheless.

I’ve come to check out Spike Island in Cork harbour. Just a quick ferry ride from Cobh, the place is jam-packed with legends and history. You might even say it’s got a history more colourful than the houses across the water. At one time or another the island served as a Christian monastery, a bustling town, and a military fortress. But it’s remembered most famously for being a notorious prison that housed revolutionaries, gangland criminals and joyriders.

The main structure on the island is a military base originally built by the British. It sits atop a man-made hill. This steep slope was constructed by some of the first prisoners who came here to await transport. They toiled the earth and hammered at rocks until they were eventually shipped off to Van Demons land for crimes against the crown.

In 1779 the extra fortification around the base was commissioned due to rising tensions in the world. The high walls were erected due to fear of attack from the French or the Americans, who were in the mist of gaining independence. Back then, Britain had a special knack for annoying other countries and attracting war. Cork harbour and Spike Island were locations of strategic importance. If breached, invaders could lay siege to colonial Ireland and on to the British mainland.

These attacks never materialized but all the hard work didn’t go to waste. The tall walls and deep moats meant the complex could make an equally decent prison.

Walking through the main gate there’s a massive military style courtyard. In front are the remains of the old prison block and an army quarters that burned down in 1916. The tour moves through the aptly named punishment block and towards the barracks. Along the way the vivid history is articulated through video, exhibitions, and the helpful tour guides.

Tackling the area on foot you get a real appreciation of the scale. Spike island is often compared to Alcatraz but in reality, it is much bigger. At one point in history the prison had the unwelcome record of being the largest in the world.

This did not translate into comfortable living conditions for the inmates, however. Prisoners were packed into the cells like sardines, sometimes 50 to a room. It was so crowded that prisoners in solitary confinement had to share with 6 or 5 others. Under these conditions it was no wonder then there were so many escape attempts.

One such daring escape was undertaken by three IRA terrorists at the turn of the 20th century. While working in the fields they got the jump on the guards and made their way to the waters edge. The plan was to swim out to a boat moored offshore, cut the rope and sail to freedom. Things went awry however when the prisoner swimming out dropped the knife. So determined was he to escape he spent the next two hours in the water gnawing through the rope with his teeth until the boat was freed. The three men got away and were never seen again.

Every inch of the island seems to have a story. Stories of murderers, thieves and shipwrecks. What’s so compelling about these tales is their relationship with major events from Irish history. From the brutal Cromwell campaigns to the famine, Spike Island was used to incarcerate revolutionaries and those who stole Trevelyan’s corn.

During the Easter Rising and the War of Independence the island was used to house political prisoners. It was also one of the last pieces of land returned to Ireland after independence. In 1938 DeValera came here to witness the first raising of the Irish flag to the island.

For the next 50 years the place remained a military base, but in 1980s it was acquired again by the department of corrections. A prison was needed to tackle the rising crimes and Spike Island fit the bill. Things got off to a rocky start however, when six months after the reopening a riot broke out. In fear of their life prison officers fled on a boat. For the next 72 hours the prisoners had the run of the island. Buildings burnt and destroyed. During one comical episode a group of convicts got trapped outside the walls and had to use a JCB digger to break the gates down, making it one of the few times in history that prisoners broke into a prison.

After years of overhauls and repairs the prison finally closed in 2004. Not many people shed a tear. For another 10 years it lay dormant until a bright spark had the idea to turn it into a museum. Spike island is a fascinating visit and a remarkable lens in which to view the history of Ireland.

 


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