A Crowded Market and a Closed Jail

Friday night was Culture Night in Cork.  There were a lot of cool things all around the city, a lot to do with film as that appeared to be the theme this year.  I wasn't really in the mood for a movie though, but there was still very cool stuff.

The English Market

Me and my friends went to a pub to check out some traditional music (one of the coolest things about pubs honestly).  After that we headed to the English Market to see what was there.  It was insanely crowded, but we got a free sample of some tasty, warm, cake or pudding type thing.  It was kinda cool to see the place that busy at night, but soon we grew tired of the crowds and headed to where I really wanted to go: the old jail.

The Old Jail

The old jail is a tourist attraction already, but Friday night it was open until 11.  We got to go on what I believe was the last tour (even though we were apparently supposed to book it before...oops).  The old jail was pretty creepy, but really cool.  The wings were originally divided into men's and women's, but since only the men's side of the jail was open for viewing they told us stories of both male and female prisoners.

Our poor tour guide had been doing tours all day so she had a little trouble projecting her voice so I didn't catch everything that was said, but here is what I remember.  The jail was open for only about 100 years (1824-1923).  There was a nine year old inmate as that was the age you could be tried as an adult.  I believe he was sentenced to two months in the jail and to be whipped twice everyday.  Apparently the idea was that if a child had a really bad experience in the jail that he would remember it and thus not commit more crimes.  For the nine year old it seemed to work because he did not come back to the jail.  Two notorious repeat offenders were mentioned.  One was a man who kept getting arrested for drunk and disorderly (one time he got re-arrested the same night he was released).  The other was a woman who got in trouble for drunk and disorderly as well as abandoning her children.  Her children had to go to an orphanage each time she was in jail.  Jail records show that her children ended up becoming offenders themselves.

While the conditions in the jail seemed severe, it was sadly true that many people preferred to be in jail because they got food, shelter, and a bed.  Two of the cells had original graffiti in them, which was cool to see but also kind of strange as most of the jail that we were seeing had been remodeled.

A Guard and the Jail's Doctor

We also learned about the staff at the jail.  The doctor (one for the whole jail) was often not given enough money for supplies so he had to buy them himself.  The guards were required to live in the jail with their families.  They were never supposed to leave (at least that's what I heard).  Children were given the choice to leave at age 16, but they often stayed.

BAH!

Throughout the jail there were a ton of creepy mannequins, which I did not appreciate.

My Zoom is so Cool

As we left the jail, the moon took on the mood of the evening.