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| The Courthouse
and Bridewell |
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Bailieborough Courthouse was built in
1817 by Colonel William Young a director of the East India
company and landlord of the Bailieborough Estate. At the
rear a Bridewell was built in 1833 for the use of the
inhabitants of County Cavan. It contained five cells and
two yards, with separate day rooms and yards for female
prisoners.
According to Griffiths Valuation of 1856, the Annual Valuation
of rateable property was £7 – 15 – 0 and was exempt from
rates.
In 1817, Col. William Young arranged for the building
of the Courthouse & Bridewell in Bailieborough. It was
a plain building of three bays, two stories, it had small
paned windows with painted stucco and with dentil course.
The Bridewell was a holding place for the accused to be
kept until sentencing. It was an unusual situation with
the jailer and his wife living upstairs and the prisoners
in the cells downstairs. There was one cell kept for women
offenders so it appears that there were less women offenders
than men. For the upkeep of the Bridewell Mr. Brady was
caretaker.
The name Bridewell first applied to a royal palace located
near St. Bride’s or St. Bridges’ Well in London. The Bridewell
in London was given to the city by King Edward V1 for
use as a workhouse. Rebuilt in 1668 after the great fire
of London the Bridewell was used as a prison form 1729.
By the 19th century Irish Bridewells were small local
prisons designed to hold those charged with offences until
the courts could deal with their cases. They also held
convicted prisoners until their transfer to county jails
and those serving very short sentences.
The Irish Constabulary was established by Act of Parliament
in 1836 as an armed force whose members wore the uniform
of the Rifle Brigade with a cavalry division. Small bodies
of three to five men were stationed in towns and villages
throughout the country, their principle duties being to
preserve the peace, escort prisoners and enforce government
notices and proclamations. In 1843 the strength of the
constabulary amounted to 9,043 of whom 304 were cavalry.
There were particular problems in law enforcements in
pre-famine Ireland. This was because Magistrates and Senior
police officers were perceived to be alien in political
outlook and religion to the mass of the people. Thus,
as Dr. J. Anthony Gaughan has point
“The law
did not command people’s respect and they regard it as
something against which they had to match their wits”.
The widespread crime in Ireland was also of course a product
of poverty and distress. The authorities punished what
today would be considered ‘petty offences’ with severe
prison terms or transportation. |
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The human misery of the great famine
of the 1840’s overwhelmed Irish institutions, and the
prisoners were no exception. In desperation the starving
and destitute deliberately committed offences in order
to be sent to gaol where at least they would be given
food and shelter.
The state of Irish prisons in the early 19th century was
extremely poor. The Inspector General stating that the
county gaols were ‘for the most part scenes of filth,
fraud and vice.’
The Bridewells were no exception, some being described
as ‘literally black holes or dungeons’ with ‘no registry
of inmates, on food or inspection.’
The prison act in 1826 closed a number of Bridewells and
introduced proper regulations:
‘Prisoners must
undergo medical examination upon admission. They must
be obedient and respectful at all times. They must not
gamble, swear or smoke and so on .
The Prisoner’s
Day
Outlined below is the routine of a county gaol, the regime
at Bailieborough Bridewell would have been similar but
slightly more relaxed.
6.00 a.m. - Prisoner’s day begins
(7.00 a.m. during the winter)
cleaning and other duties were performed until 9.00 a.m.
9.00 a.m. - Breakfast - 8 ounces of meal and 1 pint of
new milk.
The prisoners were exercised in the enclosed yards and
made to Perform work such as carpentry for men and needlework
for women to assist in the up keep of the Bridewell then
there was a period of relaxation for two hours during
which time all unnecessary speaking was to be avoided.
Work then continued until dinner.
4.00 p.m. - Dinner - 1 lb of bread and 1 pint of new milk.
Then work continues until 6.00 p.m.
8.00 p.m. - Prisoners locked in their cells for the night.
The day was regulated by the ringing of bells.
During the 1840’s the ideology which governed the prison
system became more rigorous, demanding that prisoners
be kept in their cells throughout their entire sentence
on the ground that this would make them docile, lonely
and amenable to religious instructions, training and improvement.
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The Keeper
No Bridewell Keeper could be appointed without a satisfactory
certificate from the Board of Superintendence of the county
gaol. To obtain this he had to be able to write sufficiently
well to keep the register of prisoners and the accounts.
He had to understand the prison rules and regulations
and both he and his family must have ‘habits of cleanliness’
. to gain experience he was required to work for a period
as a turn key in the county gaol.
Magistrates
Magistrates or Justices of the Peace were local notables
appointed by government on account of their political
reliability, wealth and status. In addition to Justices
of the Peace there were a smaller number of stipendiary
or resident magistrates in each county who presided over
the Court of Quarter Sessions. Prior to 1827 proceedings
were somewhat arbitrary and irregular, but an Act of Parliament
that year regulated magistrates’ conduct. It required
that there should be a Clerk of Petty Sessions available
to enter judgements in a register and ordained that there
should be a printed table of fees in each courthouse.
The act was designed to ensure that justice was uniformly,
speedily and cheaply administered.
The Courts
The Irish legal and judicial system was based upon that
of England. The Supreme Courts were the Court of Chancery
(presided over by the Lord Chancellor), the Court of Exchequer
(presided over by the Chief Baron of Exchequer), the Court
of King’s Bench and the Court of Common Pleas (both presided
over by Chief Justices). Together they were known as the
four courts and sat in Dublin in the fine building, which
still bears this name. Beneath these courts were Circuit
Courts as Assizes that were held twice a year (spring
and summer) in every county presided over by two judges
of the High Courts. For the purpose of the Assizes Ireland
was divided into six districts: the Home Circuit, the
Leinster Circuit, the North-East Circuit , the North-West
Circuit, the Connaght Circuit and the Munster Circuit.
Next in the hierarchy were the courts of Quarter Sessions,
held four times a year in each county by the resident
magistrates. Towns and boroughs possessing royal charters
could also hold special courts both civil and criminal.
Finally there were the courts of Petty Sessions over which
magistrates presided which were held more frequently and
in a greater number of locations than the higher courts
in order to deal with committals, minor civil and criminal
cases, applications for licenses and similar matters.
Procedure
The following matters were considered to be within the
jurisdiction of the Court of Petty Sessions: Disputes
between masters and servants and apprentices, trespass
of cattle, coinage of fences, burning land, preservation
of game, smuggling, sale of alcohol, certain injuries
to property and offences against a person. More serious
offences such as murder, theft of property and livestock
and the many agrarian outrages common in 19th century
Ireland were the responsibility of the Superior Courts.
Before an individual could be convicted at Petty Sessions
certain procedures had to be fulfilled. First an information
or complaint had to be drawn up, second a summons had
to be issued requiring the accused to appear before the
court on a specified date, third evidence had to be presented
to the court and supported by witnesses and the accused
had to be given the opportunity of defending himself,
fourth, once both sides had been heard the magistrate
would deliver his judgement, finally the ‘distraint’ (i.e.
seizure of goods to a certain value) or imprisonment.
Outlined below are some typical crimes and the fine or
sentence imposed
To give you an idea of the severity of the punishment
the average person’s wage before the famine was 6d a day.
- Drunkenness 2 shillings
- Breaking gas lamps £5 or 2 months imprisonment
- Assault 1 shilling or 21 hours imprisonment
- Selling spirituous liquors without a licence £2
- Keeping fierce dogs without restraint 10 shillings
- Theft 3 months imprisonment
- Sheep stealing Transported for life
- Embezzlement 7 years transportation
- Stabbing and wounding Transported for life
- Riot 3 days imprisonment
- Robbery from a person 7 years transportation
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By this time transportation to the British
penal colonies mainly in Australia was a common sentence.
In these cases even once the sentence had been completed
the unfortunate convicts were not allowed to return home
and had to begin a new life in Australia.
Two main cases
“The Nolagh Murders in 1898”
This case was known as the Nolagh murders because it occurred
at Nolagh cross on 2nd February 1898. the bodies of Mrs.
King, her mother and two children were discovered by neighbours
in their beds. The wife of Philip King had been residing
in the house of her mother when the incident occurred.
The skulls of the tow adults had been battered inwards,
and the babyhad been smothered by the mother during the
struggle. The older daughter died due to exposure and
starvation. The obvious suspect was the father Philip
King. He was arrested and held in the Bridewell in Bailieborough.
He was then taken to a higher court in Dundalk and finally
taken and hanged in Belfast on January 13th 1899 almost
twelve months later.
“The horrid murder of Mrs
Hinds, by the Ribbon men”
Took place in 1851, trial took place in Bailieborough
during a quarter session where eight men, John Reilly,
Patrick Markey, John McAllen, Andrew and Hugh Martin,
Bernard Callaghan, Bernard Neil and a man called Nelson.
The Barrister addressed the prisoners commenting on the
enormity of the offence, which they were convicted of
and deploring the fact that these men of respectable standing
in society should be placed in this terrible position
by secret societies which continue to be the bane and
curse of this unfortunate country. Reilly, Markey, McAllen
and Andrew Martin were each sentenced to 10 years transportation
to Australia and Hugh martin to two years imprisonment
and hard labour.
Bailieborough Bridewell probably assisted the authorities
35 years after 1798 had occurred, in mopping up sympathisers
of the revolution and arranging their transport to Australia.
The building was closed on 31st December 1900 |
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The Courthouse & Bridewell
