The Crumlin Road Gaol

It’s funny how you never visit the places in your own city you’d visit if you were on holiday. This is probably why it took so long for me to visit Crumlin Rd Gaol. I’m glad I did, it was fascinating.
Our guide was really informative, saying his father had actually served time in the gaol, which gave a good personal account. The tour was well organised, taking us from where we would have been taken as inmates just arriving in the gaol to the end– if the death penalty was being carried out. That bit was quite dramatic, and before going into it (and not to spoil it for visitors) you are given the option to opt out of this part, but it is worth seeing. I was surprised at the size of the place, and it will be interesting to see how the museum develops if they get to restore the courts across the road.
They also do night tours and special concerts which I might try next time. In all it was a great way to spend a morning in the local history I didn’t know about, and not at all gloomy!

Have been on this tour twice already, took my dad for the second time. A really informative tour round the old prison where you can see typical cells, the tunnel between the jail and the courthouse and where the prisoners were hanged.
A really interesting tour for Belfast, and at £5.00 per head for an hour and a half you couldnt ask for better!