Dundalk Gaol was built in 1853. The granite building had a central administrative block and two wings of cells. It was designed to hold prisoners across its 125 cells. By the time of the Easter Rising the Gaol was underused and contained only 39 men in 1917. Dundalk was not used in the wake of the Rising, but came into use in 1917 for men held under the Defence of the Realm Act because of their political activity. In November 1917 64 men were moved from the overcrowded Mountjoy in Dublin to Dundalk. By the end of the year all the prisoners were released. It now houses the Louth Archives and a cultural centre.
Related books: Dundalk & Mountjoy prisons 1917
