Wicklow Photographs

These are some photographs from a new installation

I created for Wicklow Gaol (jail), they depict some historical figures

from the jail.

RICHARD HOEY - GAOLER
A tough and strict disciplinarian who worked in Wicklow Gaol both before and after the rebellion of 1798, Hoey lived through momentous times and may have been one of the gaolers who let prisoners out of the gaol to rob and plunder the neighbourhood in 1805. He would have had to pay for the upkeep of the prisoners in his charge, which he disliked doing, and was a man who used the ‘Garnish’ payments system to great effect. (Prisoners had to pay money to him for hay, candles, food and to leave the gaol after their sentence was finished.)

MARY MORRIS
Mary Morris was the Matron in Wicklow Gaol Infirmary and also filled a role as a teacher of basic reading writing and arithmetic. During her time working in Wicklow Gaol she fell in love with Gaoler Edward Storey who later was promoted to Governor of the gaol. The couple married and spent the remainder of their time working together in the gaol. She died in 1885.

LUCKIAN BETTES

A tough and uncompromising ships Captain, he was employed by the authorities to transport prisoners from Irish prisons, including Wicklow Gaol, to New Holland. (Australia) Captain Bettes would bend the rules as regards conditions for prisoners aboard his ship. He would store extra cargo below decks to trade along the route to New Holland. This led to cramped conditions below decks for the transported rebels and felons.

JOHN FOWLER
Fowler was a Wicklow Gaol prisoner who was under a sentence of transportation for being a rebel outstanding in arms against the King.
During his time as a rebel Fowler was known to be a very keen arsonist and had to be stopped on a few occasions from burning the houses of those who stood against the rebels of 1798. He was finally captured, tried and sentenced to transportation for life. Some prisoners were sent into the army of the King of Prussia from Wicklow Gaol. The King had stated he did not want arsonists.

JAMES KING
James King was not a very successful burglar or robber and was taken into custody when he was 19 years old. He was lodged in Wicklow Gaol. King was tried before Judge Perrin who had no hesitation in sentencing King to a transportation sentence of ten years. Henry King, 21 years, was also tried on the same date for the same crimes, and received the same sentence.

JAMES ASKINS
James Askins was adopted into a wealthy family of traders in Wicklow Town known as Haskins. As he grew to adulthood it became noticeable that he was getting himself into trouble and became the black sheep of the family. He was out of control and running foul of the law. His family thought it better to move him to Rathdrum where he committed a murder. He was tried for this, found guilty and hanged within the precincts of the Gaol, earning the distinction of being the last man hanged there in 1843.

CROPPY ‘BIDDY’ DOLAN/BID THE POINTER
Infamous paid perjurer and government spy who testified at a large number of trials of members of the United Irishmen and rebels outstanding in arms against the King. Exposed as a perjurer and a liar, her usefulness to the authorities began to wane and her evidence was not accepted the Lord Lieutenant at Dublin Castle unless backed up by other witnesses. She remained on the Secret Service payments list until the 1820s and she survived until her death on church charity. One of those she gave false evidence against was William ’Billy’ Byrne of Ballymanus.

WILLIAM ‘BILLY’ BYRNE OF BALLYMANUS
Son of a noted landed Catholic gentleman, William was educated on his family estate and in Wicklow Town. He joined the Wicklow Yeoman Cavalry Corp but refused the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown when it was introduced. He went on the run and was a hunted man. On the outbreak of rebellion in 1798 he went to Wexford and became Captain of the Ballymanus Corps of the rebel army. Granted a pardon he went to live in Dublin, where he was arrested. He was tried in Wicklow, found guilty, sentenced to death and hanged at Gallows Lane in September 1799.

BETTY CRITCHLEY
A woman who according to folklore, fell in love with William ‘Billy’ Byrne of Ballymanus. Betty was a member of the Anglo-Irish Critchley family who were avowed enemies of William Byrne. It is said that shortly before he was executed, she visited him for the last time, in Wicklow Gaol, disguised as an apple seller