A grim Victorian-era relic
By Lisa Smyth
January 29, 2007
Beyond the dark imposing structure of the Crumlin Road jail lies 150 years of history - including some of the most haunting episodes of Northern Ireland’s bloody past
The bleak stone structure opened in 1845 during the Famine and remained in use throughout the Troubles before officially closing in 1996.
When it opened, Crumlin Road jail with its radial wings and underground link to the courthouse was a model of Victorian excellence.
But little changed over the years and when it finally shuts its doors the primitive conditions under which prisoners were housed were widely held to be unacceptable.
Inmates complained bitterly of the squalor, in which the smell of urine and human excrement was overpowering and mice and cockroaches rife in the cells.
Speaking at the time the jail closed, one its most famous inmates, former UVF commander Gusty Spence, told the Belfast Telegraph of his joy at its demise.
He said: “I’ll dance on its grave. I always promised myself I would do that one day - and I will.
“Shutting it is not enough. I want it razed completely to the ground.”
During its lifetime as Northern Ireland’s best-known prison, 17 men were executed within the walls of the building between 1854 and 1961.
The last person to be executed at the jail was 26-year-old Newry man Robert McGladdery who was convicted of murdering Co Down girl Pearl Gamble.
She was killed after a dance at Newry Orange Hall in a case that caused sensation at the time.
