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Can a former women's jail unlock this city's potential?

Eimear FlanaganBBC News NI
BBC The front view of Armagh Gaol on a sunny spring evening. The three-story, 14-bay Georgian building is surrounded by a low perimeter wall, topped by a decorative, spiked iron fence. The windows and doorways are arched. The ground floor windows are boarded up, while upper floor windows are secured by white metal bars. There are two hatchback cars parked on the pavement in front of the gaol. BBC
Armagh Gaol is a Georgian-era building which dates back to about 1780

Four decades after Armagh Gaol closed there is a fresh bid to renovate what was once the main women's prison in Northern Ireland.

The imposing Georgian structure is almost 250 years old and is one of the most historically significant buildings in the city.

It is currently owned by Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Council, which recently invited the public inside the prison to gather ideas for future uses.

It is not the first attempt to transform the gaol, but this time the council hopes new government funding could unlock the site's potential.

"People want to see this site developed, it's been sitting vacant for far too long," said planning consultant Kieran Carlin.

His firm, Carlin Planning Ltd, was commissioned to host public engagement sessions inside the prison in March.

A view of an empty prison landing inside Armagh Gaol. A large, black metal staircase dominates the centre of a prison corridor, with several cell entrances lining either wall. Swathes of black plastic sheeting have been used to block off access to the cells. Large Georgian windows at the end of the corridor are letting in bright sunlight. A number of red plastic chairs and a table covered in white cloth are partially visible behind the staircase.
Armagh Gaol has been vacant for 40 years and parts of it are currently inaccessible

Almost 700 people, including local residents, went behind bars to view the possibilities for themselves.

Some participants suggested turning it into a boutique hotel, echoing a previous plan for the landmark building.

Others proposed a visitor attraction that would showcase the gaol's history.

"The feeling is that the heritage of the site needs to be retained and told through the story of the site in whatever happens," Carlin said.

Escape room challenge?

Prison tours have become a popular attraction, with people paying to get into the likes of Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, Kilmainham in Dublin and Spike Island in Cork.

But Carlin warned history tours alone may not be enough to sustain the Armagh site, adding an "anchor tenant" may be necessary to ensure long-term viability.

Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council A group of adults attend a public information session in a prison corridor inside Armagh Gaol. The visitors are all wearing yellow high-vis vests and hard hats. A woman is addressing the group, gesturing with her hands. She has long, blonde hair and is also wearing yellow protective gear. There is a black metal staircase in the background leading up to a prison landing. Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council
Members of the public were invited into the prison to discuss renovation options

Other ideas raised by visitors included an escape room activity centre, a bowling alley or a space for young people to set up creative businesses.

Carlin said some of the suggestions might not be "realistic for this site" but organisers were pleased with the level of public interest.

A 'priority project' for funding

There have been several previous attempts to transform the site.

In 2004, Armagh Gaol featured in the BBC's Restoration series, which showcased UK heritage sites at risk of dereliction.

At that time, a gaol museum with guided tours was proposed, as well as moving Armagh Tourist Office into the site.

Then in 2013, planning permission was granted for a four-star hotel and apartments on the site, but that development ran into funding problems.

A view into a cell in Armagh Gaol. A heavy metallic door opens into a very narrow, plain room with a arched ceiling. Bright sunlight is shining through a small arched window, secured by metal bars. Paint is pealing off the walls and the door.
The council has been urged to protect the heritage of the listed building

So what, if anything, is different this time?

"We have been keen to do things with the gaol in the past, but the timing hasn't been right and the funding hasn't been there," said ABC Council's deputy chief executive Charlene Stoops.

She explained there was now a new opportunity to "breathe life back into this historic building" if they can secure funding from the Mid South West Growth Deal.

The deal is one of four major government investment schemes in Northern Ireland aimed at stimulating economic growth by regenerating neighbourhoods.

"We are working in partnership with Fermanagh and Omagh and with Mid Ulster Council, government bodies and other partners to bring forward a number of projects, but the jail is very much seen as one of those priority projects," Stoops said.

Tourists 'always interested' in gaol stories

Among those keen for progress is Armagh tour guide Donna Fox.

"I would like to see it open, the way that Crumlin Road and Kilmainham are open, that people can go on tours and hear the history of the building," she said.

Fox said her customers were "always interested" in the gaol and wanted to know about the people who ended up there.

Donna Fox Donna Fox, a woman with shoulder-length curly black hair, smiling at the camera. She has blue eyes and is wearing earrings and a white suit jacket. Donna Fox
Donna Fox has been hosting walking tours of Armagh for almost 30 years

She recalled touring the site during a previous European Heritage Open Day.

"It was very poignant because there were photographs of former prisoners outside cells and some of them were old ladies."

A short history of Armagh Gaol

A rear view of Armagh Gaol in 2004, showing one of the two prison wings which extend diagonally into the walled prison yard. The wing is a grey, three-storey stone structure with a pitched slate roof. Each floor has 11 small arched windows. The ground floor windows are boarded up while the windows in the two upper floors are protected by prison bars.
Armagh Gaol was featured in the BBC's UK-wide BBC series Restoration in 2004

Armagh Gaol was constructed around 1780 on the site of a former Army barracks.

It was among the last few buildings designed by Thomas Cooley, a London-born architect who moved to Ireland in the 1760s.

Cooley was commissioned by the then Archbishop of Armagh Richard Robinson to design several landmark buildings in the vicinity.

The gaol expanded after Cooley's death, with a prison hospital added in 1817.

Two new wings opened in 1848 and 1855 to accommodate a significant rise in incarcerations during the Irish famine.

Armagh Gaol originally housed both male and female inmates, but after the partition of Ireland in 1921 it was mainly used as a women's prison.

During the Troubles it held high-profile republican prisoners, including Belfast sisters Dolours and Marian Price who were jailed for their roles in the Old Bailey bombing.

The gaol closed in 1986, when remaining inmates moved to HMP Maghaberry.

What is the timeline for redevelopment?

Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council Kieran Carlin addressing members of the public inside Armagh Gaol during a public engagement session. He is wearing a white hard hat and a yellow high-viz vest over dark trousers and dark jacket. He is gesturing with both hands as he talks. A large TV screen behind him shows a sign which reads "Armagh Gaol Transformation" on a bright blue background.Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council
Kieran Carlin says he is "hopeful" construction could begin within three years

Carlin's firm was hired to collate public suggestions and advise on feasible options.

"We will be giving our findings from the engagement process back to the council within the next couple of weeks," he explained.

The council is expected to complete its business case by this summer.

If funding is secured, they would have to appoint a design team and obtain planning permission, so it is a lengthy process.

However, Carlin is optimistic it will succeed this time.

A courtyard at the rear of Armagh Gaol. A tall, plain grey building towers over a small, grassed yard, behind a larger, three-storey Georgian prison. The grey building is sealed shut apart from an arched doorway at its base, flanked by two arched windows. The windows are covered with white metal bars. Ivy is climbing up parts of the courtyard walls.
ABC Council has already begun working on a business case for the redevelopment