‘The Prisoners’ Lens: Secret photography in Kilmainham Gaol, 1921’ Exhibition.

Price

Free of charge

Dates

24/10/2025 - 28/10/2026
10:30 am - 5:45 pm

Location

Kilmainham Gaol Museum

A man sits in a prison cell.

"The Prisoners' Lens: Secret photography in Kilmainham Gaol, 1921" Exhibition.

"The Prisoners' Lens: Secret photography in Kilmainham Gaol, 1921" refers to a unique collection of photographs taken by Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol during the Irish War of Independence. A camera was smuggled into the prison, and the photos were taken between May and December 1921, specifically capturing the prisoners from the burning of Dublin's Customs House. The images, often found in an autograph book, are now held by the Kilmainham Gaol Museum.
Admission to the exhibition from 24 October 2025 is free.

The museum is open to the public seven days a week.

Men standing at the bottom of a stairs. — The East Wing of Kilmainham Gaol in 1921 with tables set up on the bottom floor for communal activities. Image Courtesy OPW Kilmainham Gaol Museum

A group of prisoners posturing at the top of the spiral staircase in the East Wing of Kilmainham Goal in 1921. — A group of prisoners posturing at the top of the spiral staircase in the East Wing of Kilmainham Goal in 1921. Image Courtesy OPW Kilmainham Gaol Museum.

A group of men and a dog. — The prisoners in 1921 shared Kilmainham Gaol with not one, but two, small dogs. This particular dog, white with brown spots over the eyes and ears, was known as ‘The Fanner’s Dog’. Image courtesy OPW Kilmainham Gaol Museum

Two men sitting in a prison cell — Tommy O’Reilly and Leo Fox relaxing in one of their cells in Kilmainham Gaol which they have personalised with pictures cut out from magazines. Image Courtesy OPW Kilmainham Gaol Museum.

A man sits in a prison cell. — Thomas Wall sits in front of laundry drying in a yard of Kilmainham Gaol. Wall was only 16 when imprisoned in Kilmainham and was killed the following year during the Civil War.

Contact

Inchicore Road,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8
D08 T2X5

01 453 5984

kilmainhamgaol@opw.ie

Getting Here

3.5km from centre of Dublin.

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Event Tags

Heritage Card

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