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Our History |
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The site was originally known as Grimswoods Nurseries. The first buildings on the site were those of a Remand Prison or Bridewell in 1813. On the reorganisation of the government following Thomas Drummonds appointment in 1835 as Under Secretary, it became a male penitentiary ‘The Richmond Pen‘.
In 1844, it was linked with Catholic Emancipation and the subsequent movement for Repeal of the Act of Union. One of its most famous occupants was the Liberator Daniel O‘Connell together with his son John. James Stephens (Young Ireland) and ‘Honest‘ Tom Steele, were amongst its many famous historical prisoners.
In 1887 it was transferred to the War Department. The additions and extensions were completed by 11th November 1893 but prior to that, in summer 1892 a battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers was in occupation. In this era it was known as Wellington Barracks after the Duke of Wellington.
During the First World War it was used as a recruiting and training centre for many of the Irish soldiers who fought in that war.
In 1916, the Barracks was attacked during the rising. Eamonn De Valera was imprisoned there while the other 1916 leaders were court-martialled and executed in Kilmainham Jail. The change from Wellington Barracks to Griffith Barracks occurred on 15th April 1922 when it became one of the first to be handed over to the Irish Free State and was renamed by the Army Council after Arthur Griffith, following his death. |
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