Remand prison and Richmond Bridewell The site, which had been known as Grimswoods Nurseries, was developed as a remand prison, designed by
Francis Johnston to relieve pressure on the
Newgate Prison, Dublin and completed in 1813. On the reorganisation of the government following
Thomas Drummond's appointment in 1835 as
Under-Secretary for Ireland, it became a male penitentiary known as the Richmond Bridewell. The motto above the door read
Cease to do evil; learn to do well. In 1844 it was linked with
Catholic emancipation and the subsequent movement for Repeal of the Act of Union: one of its most famous occupants was the Liberator,
Daniel O'Connell.
Wellington Barracks In 1877 it was transferred to the
War Office. The additions and extensions were completed by 11 November 1893 but prior to that, in summer 1892 a battalion of the
Royal Munster Fusiliers was in occupation. In this era it was known as Wellington Barracks after the
Duke of Wellington. The barracks was not attacked during the 1916 rising. The British garrison of fewer than 100 men, who were under strength and poorly armed, dispatched one patrol and lost one soldier in the action. During the subsequent
Irish Civil War (1922-1923), the barracks was attacked by the
Anti-Treaty IRA, in an incident in which five people were killed. On 8 November 1922, Anti-Treaty fighters fired on troops drilling in the main square at the barracks from positions across the Grand Canal, using
Lewis and
Thompson machine guns and rifles. One soldier was killed and fourteen injured (seven seriously), two civilians were also killed and many injured. Free State reinforcements were rushed from
Portobello Barracks (now Cathal Brugha), and two of the IRA attackers were killed and six captured, along with a machine gun. In reprisal for the attack, a Republican, James Spain, was killed. He may have taken part in the attack on the barracks and was wounded in the leg. Two hours after the action, he was pursued by Free State troops, taken out of a nearby house on nearby Donore Avenue and summarily executed.
Griffith barracks The barracks was later renamed by the Army Council in honour of
Arthur Griffith. In 1937 part of the barracks was leased to the
Irish Athletic Boxing Association as the site for the
National Stadium which was opened by
Frank Aiken. The last soldiers left the barracks and transferred to
Cathal Brugha Barracks in September 1988. The refurbishment of buildings for educational use as
Griffith College Dublin began in Summer 1991. The Griffith Barracks Multi-Denominational School was officially opened by President
Mary McAleese in April 1998. ==References==