Home : Prisons
Location of Prisons and Places of Detention
Ireland’s Prisons
There are 14 institutions in the Irish Prison System consisting of 11 traditional "closed" institutions, two open centres, which operate with minimal internal and perimeter security, and one “semi-open" facility with traditional perimeter security but minimal internal security (the Training Unit). The majority of female prisoners are accommodated in the purpose built "Dóchas Centre" and the remainder are located in a separate part of Limerick Prison.
| Name |
Description and Location |
Bed Capacity |
| Mountjoy |
Committal prison for adult male prisoners, at North Circular Road, Dublin 7. |
630 |
| Dóchas |
Committal prison for female prisoners aged 17 years and over at North Circular Road, Dublin 7 |
|
| Limerick |
Committal prison for adult male and female prisoners, at Mulgrave Street, Limerick. |
(M) 290
(F) 20 |
| Cork |
Committal prison for adult male prisoners, at Rathmore Road, Cork. |
272 |
| Castlerea |
Committal prison for adult male prisoners, at Harristown, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. |
351 |
| Cloverhill |
Committal prison for remand adult male prisoners, at Cloverhill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 |
431 |
| Arbour Hill |
Prison for adult male prisoners, at Arbour Hill, Dublin 7. |
148 |
| Midlands |
Prison for adult male prisoners, at Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. |
566 |
| Portlaoise |
Prison for adult male prisoners, including the detention of high security prisoners, at Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois |
359 |
| Wheatfield |
Prison for adult male prisoners, at Cloverhill Road, Clondalkin. |
470 |
| Shelton Abbey |
An open centre for male prisoners aged 19 years and over, at Arklow, Co. Wicklow |
110 |
| St. Patricks Institution |
An institution for male juveniles aged 16 to 21 years, at North Circular Road, Dublin 7. |
217 |
| Loughan House |
An open centre for the detention of male prisoners aged 18 years and over, at Blacklion, Co. Cavan |
160 |
| Training Unit |
A semi-open place of detention for male prisoners aged 18 years and over, at Glengarriff Parade, Dublin 7, for industrial training. |
107 |
For further information on the individual prisons please click on the links at the bottom of the page.
A guiding principle in the placement of prisoners is that they are detained in an institution as near to their homes as possible to facilitate visits from relatives and friends. However, accommodation near home is not always possible for certain categories of offenders who must be detained in high security prison.
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