Cork Prison

Cork Prison is an Irish penal institution on Rathmore Road, Cork City, Ireland. It is a closed, medium security prison for males over 17 years of age, with capacity for 275 prisoners. It is immediately adjacent to Collins Barracks and near the Glen area of the city.While the current prison facility was built and opened as a €45m development in 2016, it replaced an existing 19th century prison facility on the same road.HistoryDetention Barracks (1806)In 1806 a military barracks was opened by the British Government on Rathmore Road, Cork City, the new complex included a Detention Barracks for use by the military.In 1916, during a round-up following the Easter Rising, the nationalist Kent family resisted arrest at their home in Castleyons, County Cork. In an ensuing shoot-out, Richard Kent and Constable William Rowe were killed. The following week Thomas Kent was convicted of the murder of Constable Rowe, and executed and buried at the prison.Following independence in 1922 the barracks and the associated prison were taken over by the Irish Government and the complex was renamed Collins Army Barracks.The Detention Barracks remained in the possession of the Irish Army until 1972.Cork Prison (1972)The military prison buildings, previously part of the broader barracks, were handed over to the Department of Justice for use as a civil prison. Collins Barracks itself remained in the control of the Irish Army, with the prison facility serviced with separate access via Rathmore Road.