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Co Down
- Places of Interest
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Down County Museum
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The Mall, English Street, Downpatrick, County Down BT30 6AH
Tel: 028 4461 5218 Fax: 028 4461 5590
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Down County Museum which is located
in the restored buildings of the eighteenth century County Gaol of Down offers a
lively and interesting day out for all the family.
The County Gaol of Down was opened in 1796. It was built with 18 cells, all of them
small, yet up to 130 prisoners were accommodated at once. They were fed on a diet of potatoes,
oatmeal and water, with some bread. The water supply was poor, the
cells unheated and unglazed. Discipline was very bad, breakouts
were common with at least three transportees making a successful
bid for freedom! Although the majority of inmates were held here
for petty crimes including debt and vagrancy, the gaol was a
genuine convict gaol from which people were transported to Australia
in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A
complete floor of the original cells has been preserved including one
which presents a life size diorama of an actual case from 1820 in
which two women and their children were transported for
fourteen years, never to return.
In addition to displays on the old gaol, the museum
has exhibitions on the history of County Down and an extensive
and lively events and educational programme.The museum is
open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and lpm to 5pm
Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. The museum tearoom and
shop are open daily. Guided tours of the cells and old gaol can
be arranged.
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