Spike Island was biggest prison in British Isles, new book reveals

A new book on Spike Island reveals, in the Victorian era, it was the biggest prison in the whole of Ireland and the British Isles.

It’s the culmination of a number of years’ research by Cal McCarthy and Barra Ó Donnabháin on the history of the convict prison in Cork harbour which constitutes a major addition to the body of knowledge about the institution and the prevailing social, political, and economic conditions of the period.

The pair compiled the book through informed official historical records and on-site archaeological excavations, and it provides a comprehensive overview of the lives and times of an infamous penal institution.