{{Short description|Medium-security prison in Ireland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}} {{Use Irish English|date=September 2015}} {{Refimprove|date=July 2011}} {{Infobox prison | prison_name = Arbour Hill Prison | image = Arbour Hill Prison 2021.jpg | location = [[Dublin]] | coordinates = {{coord|53|20|58.3|N|6|17|15.8|W|type:landmark|display=title,inline}} | status = Operational | classification = Medium security | capacity = 148 | opened = 1848 (civilian 1975) | managed_by = [[Irish Prison Service]] | governor = Ms. Claire Hurley | pushpin_map = Ireland Central Dublin | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Central Dublin }}
'''Arbour Hill Prison''' ({{Langx|ga|Príosún Chnoc an Arbhair}}) is a [[prison]] located in the Arbour Hill area near [[Heuston Station]] in the centre of [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]]. The prison is the national centre for male [[sex offenders]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monitoring and treatment of sex offenders in Ireland |url=https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/criminal_law/criminal_trial/sex_offenders_register.html |work=Citizens Information |publisher=Citizens Information Board |location=Ireland |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314124539/https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/criminal_law/criminal_trial/sex_offenders_register.html |archivedate=2021-03-14 |url-status=live |accessdate=2021-03-14}}</ref>
Adjacent to the prison are the [[Church of the Sacred Heart (Dublin)|Church of the Sacred Heart]], the official church of the [[Irish Defence Forces]], and its cemetery, containing a memorial and burial place of 14 executed leaders of the [[Easter Rising|1916 Easter Rising]].
==Architecture== The prison was designed by Sir [[Joshua Jebb]] and [[Frederick Clarendon]] and opened on its present site in 1848, to house military prisoners. The church has an unusual entrance porch with stairs leading to twin galleries for visitors in the nave and transept. Another unusual feature is the Celtic round tower which erupts from a rectangular base. It opened as a civilian prison in 1975.
The adjoining Church of the Sacred Heart, which is the prison chapel for Arbour Hill prison, is maintained by the Department of Defence. At the rear of the church lies the old cemetery, where lie the remains of British military personnel who died in the Dublin area in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
An interesting feature is the tunnel which runs from [[St Bricin's Military Hospital]], via the Prison to the former Collins Barracks.
A doorway beside the 1916 memorial gives access to the Irish United Nations Veterans' Association house and memorial garden.
==Inmates== Notable former inmates include [[Ray Burke (Irish politician)|Ray Burke]] TD and former ''[[Irish Times]]'' journalist [[Tom Humphries]].<ref name="IrishTimes">{{cite web|title=Tom Humphries jailed for 2½ years for grooming and sexual abuse of girl|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/tom-humphries-jailed-for-2-years-for-grooming-and-sexual-abuse-of-girl-1.3266856|work=[[Irish Times]]|last=Gallagher|first=Conor|date=24 October 2017|accessdate=24 October 2017}}</ref>
In 1936 [[Moss Twomey]], the [[Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army]] was held in isolation in Arbour Hill before being transferred to [[Curragh Camp]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Thorne |first=Kathleen |author-link= |date=2019 |title=Echoes of Their Footsteps Volume Three |url= |location=Oregon |publisher=Generation Organization |page=25 |isbn=978-0-692-04283-0}}</ref> On April 19, 1940, Irish Republican [[Jack McNeela]] died in Arbor Hill Prison after 55 days on hunger strike. McNella had been arrested and jailed for operating a pro-republican [[pirate radio]] station.<ref> MacEoin, Uinseann (1997), ''The IRA in the twilight years 1923-1948'', Argenta Publications, Dublin, pg 614, ISBN 0951117246</ref>
Another pirate radio operator, [[Eamonn Cooke]], served time in Arbor Hill for sexual offences until shortly before his death in 2016.<ref name=ii-cookie-monster-paedophile-dies>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/cookie-monster-paedophile-dies-while-on-temporary-release-34779329.html|title='Cookie Monster' paedophile dies while on temporary release|publisher=[[Irish Independent]]|date=7 Jun 2016|access-date=10 Jun 2016|first=Robin|last=Schiller}}</ref>
==1916 leaders== [[File:1916 Arbour Hill Wreath Laying 2010 (4581357034).jpg|thumb|1916 Commemoration Wreath Laying Ceremony (2010)]] The military cemetery behind this prison is the burial place of 14 of the executed leaders of the [[Easter Rising|1916 Easter Rising]]. The leaders were executed in [[Kilmainham Gaol]] and their bodies were transported to Arbour Hill for burial. The 14 buried in Arbour Hill are:<ref name=MakingMartyrs>{{Cite book |chapter=Making Irish Martyrs: The Impact and Legacy of the Execution of the Leaders of the Easter Rising, 1916 |first=Mark |last=McCarthy |title=Secular Martyrdom in Britain and Ireland |editor1-first=Quentin |editor1-last=Outram |editor2-first=Keith |editor2-last=Laybourn | editor2-link = Keith Laybourn|page=171 |publisher=Springer Nature |date=2018 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-62905-6 |isbn=978-3-319-62905-6 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-62905-6.pdf |lccn=2017947721}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McEvoy |first=Dermot |title=Arbour Hill, Dublin's forgotten memorial to the men of 1916 |work= |publisher=Irish Central |date=18 April 2021 |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/arbour-hill-dublin-leaders-1916-easter-rising |access-date=6 November 2022 }}</ref>
* [[Patrick Pearse]] * [[Tom Clarke (Irish republican)|Tom Clarke]] * [[Thomas MacDonagh]] * [[Joseph Plunkett]] * [[Éamonn Ceannt]] * [[Seán Mac Diarmada]] * [[James Connolly]] * [[Edward Daly (Irish revolutionary)|Ned Daly]] * [[Willie Pearse]] * [[Michael O'Hanrahan]] * [[John MacBride]] * [[Michael Mallin]] * [[Con Colbert]] * [[Seán Heuston]]
The graves are located under a low mound on a terrace of Wicklow [[granite]] in what was once the old prison yard. The grave site is surrounded by a [[limestone]] wall on which the names are inscribed in Irish and English. On the prison wall opposite the grave site is a plaque with the names of other people who were killed in 1916.
==Location== [[File:Arbour Hill Prison.JPG|thumb|Arbour Hill Prison with Church of the Sacred Heart in the distance]] The prison is located on Arbour Hill at the rear of the [[National Museum of Ireland]] at [[Collins Barracks (Dublin)|Collins Barracks]], Dublin 7. The area is also the site of the Arbour Hill Military Barracks.
Bus Route(s): Nos. 37, 39, 39A and 70 from the city centre.
==See also==
* [[Prisons in Ireland]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081217080424/http://www.irishprisons.ie/prisons-arbour_hill.htm Arbour Hill Prison]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Dublin (city)]] [[Category:Prisons in the Republic of Ireland]]