Kilkenny's own 'Great Escape' of 1921 rivals any film plot

The Great Escape is an enduringly popular Christmas movie that is a film classic but Kilkenny once had a 'great escape' of its own. On November 11, 1921, 44 prisoners escaped from the old Kilkenny Gaol in an audacious and daring escape that gives the celluloid version a run for its money. 

The escapees were political prisoners from the War of Independence incarcerated in the old Kilkenny Gaol  whose numbers had swelled due to an influx of new prisoners from Cork’s infamous Spike Island. The prison population at the time of the escape featured men from across Ireland, some of whom were facing the death penalty. Amongst these were an Edward Punch and a Tim Murphy from Limerick. One of the escapees was a priest, Fr. PH Delahunty 

The legend of the jail break still lives on today primarily in family memory but the wider population can still learn about it courtesy of a pamphlet written by local historian Fergal Donoghue and published by Kilkenny Library.  

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The first escape from Kilkenny jail was in 1770 when a single prisoner escaped from the County Jail. At that time the jail was under the courthouse now on the modern Parliament Street, then known as Coalmarket. In 1801, a new jail, a distance removed from the centre of the city, was constructed by  William Roberston. This prison had nine yards, 48 separate cells and six day rooms. This large, secure and very imposing building from 1808 became known as the County Jail to distinguish it from  the City Jail in Coalmarket. 

In the 1840s it was decided that a new jail was needed due to a rising crime rate in KIlkenny combined with a growing population. Plans were approved in 1842 and William Deane Butler designed the new building with the addition of three new multi-storey wings at the front. It was from one of these that the 1921 escape was launched. This  jail closed in 1929 but it stood until 1948, when it was demolished and the rubble from it used in the construction of a stand at Nowlan Park. 

Back in November 1921, Ireland was in a highly volatile state as the War of Independence had been raging for 2 years. There had been a ceasefire since July 11, 1921 and the Treaty negotiations in early October followed by its signing in December but these events had resulted in the fall of the UK government. There were hundreds of IRA prisoners in jails across Ireland, with Kilkenny Jail just one such place of incarceration. At any given time in Kilkenny Jail there were  usually 30 prisoners. 

Reports of conditions within the prison varied.. One prisoner, William McNamara said: “Conditions in Kilkenny were very bad. The military guards there were a bad lot and gave us a tough time.” While another prisoner, Martin Kealy gave a different version saying that conditions were modified for prisoners as requested.

Whatever the actual conditions, security within the prison seems to have been lax. Items smuggled into the prison included messages and articles. Evidence of these smuggled items possibly remain in the form of three autograph books that still survive intact and are in the possession of Kilkenny Archaeological Society today. These contain sketches, limericks and short poems written by prisoners while they were in the jail and offer a fascinating insight into life within the prison walls. 

Kilkenny during the Civil War autumn 1922

One hundred years ago in September 1922, Kilkenny was in the throes of the Civil War

By the end of the summer of 1921, the number of prisoners had risen with an additional 80 to 85 prisoners from Spike Island on November 18.  Plans to escape via a tunnel were already well in place in the prison since August/September. Obviously the shorter the tunnel the better to avoid collapse and possible detection. Access to unused solitary confinement cells which were below ground level provided the perfect place to start digging: from these to the outside was about 40 to 50 yards. This section of the jail was also cut off by rows of barbed wire across the stairway to the cells.

The prisoners pried up the floors of the room above to get access to the solitary cell using a hacksaw given to them by a sympathetic warder. They had only very basic tools to hand but this didn’t deter them - they managed to loosen the stone walls using tools made from pokers, cutlery and a trowel taken from prison stores. They then disposed of the earth, using blankets as bags tied to a rope to pull the earth up from the cell they were tunnelling from.  

This earth was then disposed of in adjoining cells which were rarely entered. 

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The tunnel because of its depth had to be shored up to prevent it collapsing and trapping the escapees. The prisoners were very resourceful: they used bed boards as props to strengthen the tunnel while they dug by candle-light. They worked in  long shifts over weeks to gradually and painstakingly move closer and closer to freedom. 

A lot of the tunnelling was reportedly done when a friendly Warder Power was on duty. The work was largely done at night with 8 tons of earth removed in total. The tunnel was 50 yards long and six feet deep underground. Prisoners exited along the foundation of the outer  prison wall with the three feet exit coming out in Rioch Street.  This final stage of the tunnel was positioned at a 45 degree angle to make the exit for prisoners easier.   

On November 22, the prisoners after much long and arduous work, finally  put their plan to escape into action. The friendly Warder Power was invited to play draughts and was then gagged and tied to conceal his collusion. Those serving the longest and those facing the death sentence were allowed out first. 

Larry Condon entered the tunnel at 6.40pm on November 22, and got out remaining outside to help each successive escapee out of the hole. They must have been some site - all muddied and dishevelled, and not wearing much clothing as they emerged from the tunnel in the dark winter night. 

Initially it was thought that 27 or 28 men escaped but others later calculated the number at 43 or 44 escapees. Twenty four  names appeared in the Kilkenny Moderator the Saturday after the escape under the headline “Stone walls do not a prison make” and later “Forty four pass free”. 

Later in 1955, there was a list of 43 escapes in an article in the Kilkenny People about Fr Delahunty who was incorrectly reported as first through the tunnel. Apparently he refused that offer, to let men who were facing the death penalty out before him. 

Those first out, took up watch outside the warder's house until the escapees dispersed through the streets and lanes of Kilkenny. The event had been well planned as the Dunamaggin IRA had  ponies and traps waiting to pick up some prisoners. There was a letter tied around a stone with all the details thrown over the wall in advance of the escape. Two locals in Rioch Street also helped escapees;  they were Paddy Donoghue and Matty Power, both later Kilkenny hurling stars. 

There was a colourful story that one prisoner tried to bring his suitcase through the tunnel and then blocked it, alerting the guards who apprehended some escapees as a result. This may however be a creative recollection as there were so many prisoners passing through the tunnel that it  was probably damaged by the sheer volume of men. The last man into the tunnel was a Maurice of Limerick: unluckily for him it collapsed ahead of him, forcing him back. On his return he was met by armed soldiers.   

One of the most interesting facts about prison life was provided by Edward Balfe in his later testimony to the Bureau of  Military History who said he had access to a camera while in the prison. Some of his unique photos now remain in private collections, with the Brennan family in Waterford owning nine historical prison shots.

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Developing photos in prison was difficult but again the inventive prisoners found a way around this using window glass and pieces of bed-board as developing tools. When Reverend P Holland was transferred to Ballyfoyle, he was given a sheet of paper with head and shoulder images of 28 prisoners on it alongside Fr Delahunty.  This photographic collage, created by Edward Balfe, was also decorated with artwork by Peter Quinlan and Sean Quilter. The original is now in Rothe House.

These grainy images offer a  glimpse of the brave men who risked all of a winter night to enter into Irish history and Kilkenny legend.