Too beautiful for thieves and pickpockets: a history of the Victorian convict prison on Spike Island

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorMcCarthy, Cal
dc.contributor.authorO'Donnabhain, Barra
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-11T13:56:41Z
dc.date.available2016-05-11T13:56:41Z
dc.date.issued2016-05
dc.date.updated2016-04-25T16:36:38Z
dc.description.abstractSpike Island holds a unique place among the world’s prisons: a welcome necessity for the prison authorities of Ireland, a remote and dangerous posting for its staff, a grand hell for those convicted to stay behind its walls. For almost four decades the Victorian prison on Spike Island was home to Ireland’s most serious and notorious criminals. Established in the midst of one of the worst famines in global history, this huge facility became the largest prison in what was then the United Kingdom, dwarfing institutions like Dartmoor, Pentonville, Mountjoy and Kilmainham. High death rates during its formative years meant that many of its malnourished inmates were laid to rest beneath its sod. Yet Spike Island was to become a beacon of penal reform, influencing modern correctional systems in countries as far apart as the USA and Germany. The story told in this book is one that is, in turn, dramatic, shocking, touching and humorous. The life of the prison was vibrant, peopled by the unfortunate of the society alongside those who committed serious, sometimes gruesome, crimes. This is the story of the establishment and evolution of the prison over 36 years, the often fascinating lives of prisoners and staff and of a time when a renowned Irish fortress of British military power entered the annals of penal infamy.en
dc.description.statusNot peer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationMcCarthy, C. and O'Donnabhain, B. (2016) Too beautiful for thieves and pickpockets: a history of the Victorian convict prison on Spike Island. Cork: Cork County Library and Arts Service. isbn 9780992997014en
dc.identifier.isbn9780992997014
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/2539
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherCork County Libraryen
dc.rights© Cal McCarthy and Barra O’Donnabhain 2016en
dc.subjectSpike Islanden
dc.subjectVictorian prisonsen
dc.subjectPenal reformen
dc.subjectIrelanden
dc.subjectPenal institutionen
dc.subjectArchaeological excavationen
dc.titleToo beautiful for thieves and pickpockets: a history of the Victorian convict prison on Spike Islanden
dc.typeBooken
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Spike_Island_Final.pdf
Size:
4.12 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Author's Original
Thumbnail Image
Name:
TooBeautiful2016_CM_DOB_finalelectronicversion.pdf
Size:
4.1 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Accepted Version
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Archaeology - Books