Spike Island started 1921 as a British Military base, a function it had occupied since 1779. Built to defend the important Cork Harbour from Napoleonic attack, the fort was converted into a prison in 1847,…
Spike Island went from sleepy military outpost to epic island prison in October 1847, while the Irish famine raged. An explosion in convictions led to more prisoners than the jail or transportation system could handle. …
Spike Island opened as a prison for the fourth time in 400 years in 1985, following its use as a Republican prison in 1921, the largest prison in the world in the mid-1800’s and a…
It was my pleasure and privilege to join Narration’s Stephen Ryan to discuss all things Spike Island, tourism marketing and my career to date. I shared with Stephen how I made a move to the…
Pirates have been carrying out their murderous activity ever since the first trade vessels took to the seas. The first documented instances are recorded over 3400 years ago in the Mediterranean sea. Parchments from 286AD…
Spike Island is most famously known as Ireland’s Alcatraz. This is as a result of the Island housing four prisons over the four centuries. The island fortress is well known in military circles as one…
The opening of a Spike Island prison in 1847 was completely unexpected just six months before. The enormous island fortress that dominated its center was constructed in 1804, built to defend an Empire. It enjoyed…
