The Irish Shawshank: True story of the daring escape from Kilkenny Jail

A system of parole had been introduced for republican internees after the signing of the Truce in July 1921.

When John Grehan, interned in the Rath Camp at the Curragh, applied for parole on the death of his father, also named John, he was refused. Unperturbed, Grehan decided to escape.

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On the night of October 18, 1921, Grehan and ten other internees made an unsuccessful attempt to cut through the barbed wire of the Rath Camp. For their efforts, they were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.

The men were transferred to Kilkenny Jail, where Grehan and Tommy McCarrick of Sligo approached the O/C (Officer Commanding) of the republican prisoners, Martin Healy, and suggested they should tunnel out.

The escapees decided to begin their escape from an unused solitary confinement cell below A Wing, which was out of bounds.

The confinement cell provided the perfect place to start digging — about 50 yards to the perimeter wall.

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They used a trowel, pokers, knives and sharpened spoons to dig the tunnel.

Earth from the tunnel was dumped into pillowcases and pulled up to the punishment cell, where it was disposed of in adjoining cells.

In total, eight tonnes of earth were removed.

A friendly prison officer, Tom Power, turned a blind eye to the digging and the disposal of the earth.

The tunnellers worked by candlelight, in three shifts, when Power was on duty. Conditions were far from ideal. The tunnel, three feet high by two feet wide, was not ventilated, and the cramped conditions made it unbearably hot.

The tunnel had to be shored up frequently to prevent collapse.

Meanwhile, outside the prison, the escape plan was being coordinated.

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A letter attached to a stone was thrown over the wall by a prisoner, informing contacts that the breakout would take place at 6:30 p.m. the following evening.

Denis Tracey of Dunnamaggin arranged for six of his men to be in Patrick Street with six ponies and traps to receive the escapees.

The tunnel, on completion, exited along the foundation of the outer prison wall, with the three-foot-wide exit emerging in the middle of St Rioch’s Street — a public thoroughfare.

When Tom Power noticed several men entering the cell that accessed the tunnel, he became suspicious.

Realising what was happening, he complained that they should have picked another time to escape — and not when he was on duty!

To protect him from suspicion, the prisoners gagged and bound Power to conceal his collusion. In the meantime, dozens of prisoners had entered the tunnel and made their escape.

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Larry Condon was in command of the escape party. He entered the tunnel at 6:40 p.m. and remained at the entrance until all the men were safely away. The escape took one hour and 40 minutes in total.

Denis Tracey’s volunteers were ready with their ponies and traps to pick up some of the prisoners. Groups of men, in threes and fours, jumped into each trap as the driver headed out along the Waterford Road and towards the countryside as fast as he could.

As prisoners emerged from the tunnel, two local men guided them out towards Ballycallan.

Warder Power was discovered trussed up at around 8 p.m. The military guard rushed to the entrance of the tunnel, but there were so many prisoners passing through that the tunnel was probably damaged by the sheer volume of men. Falling debris soon blocked it.

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Maurice Walsh, the last man to attempt escape, crawled through the tunnel as a portion collapsed in front of him, forcing him back. When he returned to the entrance, armed soldiers and warders met him and took him back to his cell.

In total, 43 prisoners escaped. Despite a huge manhunt, all escapees successfully returned to their units.

The IRA remained on alert in case the peace negotiations failed, but weeks later the Irish plenipotentiaries and Lloyd George’s government signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty in London, thereby ending the War of Independence.

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The tunnel escape from Kilkenny Jail in 1921 is one of the most remarkable episodes of Irish revolutionary history — vividly recounted in James Durney’s book “Jailbreak: Great Irish Republican Escapes 1865–1983.”

The book provides factual, action-packed accounts of incredible escapes that boosted morale among Irish nationalists and inspired future generations.