Children of Nenagh Gaol
Ormond Historical Society lecture on December 5
The Ormond Historical Society’s third lecture of the current season takes place on Monday, December 5, in the Abbey Court Hotel at the usual time of 8pm.
The title of the lecture is: 'The First Children of Nenagh Gaol (1842-1847)'. It will be delivered by Dr Conor Reidy. All welcome. Non-members of Society: €10 admission; members free.
Dr Reidy’s talk arises from a broader study entitled 'The Children of the Famine-era Prison in Ireland'. Despite the best efforts of penal and social reformers, children were still very much a feature of the mid-nineteenth century prison system in Ireland. When Nenagh Gaol opened in 1842, children made up a small but consistent part of the inmate population.
By 1847, hundreds of young people under the age of 18 had been incarcerated for a wide array of crimes. This lecture will profile the first child prisoners of Nenagh Gaol between 1842 and 1847. It will chart their most common offences and their sentencing. It will highlight patterns of repeat offending, as well as their participation in gang or family criminality.
The lecture will also consider the broader national context of child criminality during the 1840s. It will take account of the early years of the Great Famine, particularly the impact of the notorious Vagrancy Act on prisons. The analysis will be underpinned by stories and anecdotes of the real-life child prisoners and the circumstances that led to their imprisonment in Nenagh Gaol.
The speaker, Dr Conor Reidy, holds a PhD in History from the University of Limerick, where he lectured for several years. He also taught at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and as a Distance Learning Tutor with Dublin City University. He has worked as a Senior Researcher with the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.
Conor is a specialist in Irish penal history and is the author of three books: 'Ireland’s Moral Hospital', 'Criminal Irish Drunkards', and 'Mutiny or Murder. He now works fulltime as a copy editor and indexer with Irish and international authors. He serves as a monthly history contributor on Tipp FM and has made frequent appearances on national radio and TG4.