A new app brings Spike Island's long and storied history to life on your smartphone

Visitors on the island can now use an augmented-reality app to see the historic facility's stories in context - from riots and Treaty discussions, to squalid conditions and child prisoners

An animated child prisoner interacts with the real-life surroundings of Spike Island in a new app

At a time when history’s impact on Ireland’s present is in sharp relief amid a decade of centenaries, one enterprising group has worked on placing the history of Cork’s Spike Island, and the people that have recorded it, in a new light.

Augmented-reality developers Imvizar have worked with the Spike Island committee to photograph and map the island, and use 3D animation to bring some of its historic characters and stories to life - in a newly-launched smartphone app that uses your camera to mix animation with the surroundings in real-time.