Heritage Sites
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-16
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Máire Devine (SF), Dublin South-Central

I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity. This matter is obviously about Kilmainham Gaol and the board of visitors. I am not sure if the Minister of State knows the back story to all this, but Kilmainham Gaol itself has witnessed so much of modern Irish politics and history. It has covered everything from the United Irishmen to the Fenians, the Invincibles, the Famine and the Land League. It has a place in all our hearts and in hearts abroad.
A committee of trustees and voluntary workers, including my uncle Charlie, aka the suicide roofer, broke down the gates in 1960 and restored the prison from a state of complete ruin between the years 1960 and 1986. At that time, the then Minister of State, Brian Hayes, set up a board of visitors to take over from the trustees. There were a lot of politics going on at the time but he decided to establish it to represent the interests of the trustees and voluntary workers who had restored the prison.
As a member of the board, having been appointed for two consecutive terms - it is a five-year term - I and the board have approached the Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, and the OPW for an event, which is what we are tasked with and is in our terms of reference, to honour those volunteers and their families. We reprinted the book, Ghosts of Kilmainham , which details the activities from 1963 onwards - and the prisoners - within the walls of that at-times fairly scary place.
However, I feel we have been treated quite disrespectfully. We have had no communication from either party. This has gone on for almost over two years, and we are trying to gather the families. As the Minister of State can imagine, there are very few volunteers left. There is only one I can think of, who is the chair, and that is Damien Cassidy.
I ask the Minister of State to please give a nudge to the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, and the OPW.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-16