Each offence is assigned a unique number, and key details are recorded, including the prisoners’ names, ages, and previous crimes, with the number and year noted. The records also capture the specifics of the crimes committed, the dates, the authorities involved in the committal, the locations, the trial dates, the judges, the sentences, and the discharge details. Additionally, a comprehensive description column provides insights into each prisoner’s religion, marital status, height, eye colour, hair colour, complexion, and trade. This page also includes information about the prisoners’ county or place of origin, along with their trades.
504 Bridget/Catherine Timmons – cursing and using profane language.
Catherine (or Bridget) Timmons (21) served 14 days imprisonment in May 1845 for ‘cursing and using profane language’. This was her ninth time in Kilmainham Gaol, having first been committed to the Gaol in April 1844 for breach of the peace. She was committed to Kilmainham at least 14 times between 1844 and 1848, mostly for breach of the peace, or disorderly, but also for assault on a constable on more than one occasion.
511 Isabella Hartley – maliciously breaking 2 panes glass
By the time Isabella Hartley (26) was committed to Kilmainham in May 1847, she had already been in prison nine times – both in Kilmainham and Grangegorman. She would be committed to Kilmainham twice more in 1847. She was generally charged with breaking glass, but was also committed for breach of the peace, being a ‘Common Night Walker’ and assault of the police. She used an alias several times – Elizabeth Hartley, Mary Ann Shields, and Eliza Thorton – but the authorities seem to have recognised her either way and linked her previous committals.
513 Catherine Masterson – a quantity of cabbage in her possession supposed to be stolen
Catherine Masterson (36) was committed to Kilmainham Gaol on 12 May 1847 for the crime of having a quantity of cabbage in her possession which was presumed to be stolen. She was sentenced to one month imprisonment or to pay of fine of 5 shillings. She was released from the Gaol on 9 June 1847. Though this was her first conviction, she was to be committed to Kilmainham Gaol a further two times that year – once in June for using threatening language and once in July for having stolen potatoes in her possession.
516,517,518 Charles Perry, George Pasley and James Meath – burglary and robbery
Charles Perry (17), George Pasley (or Pearson) (17) and James Meath (18), were committed to Kilmainham Gaol on 12 May 1847, on a charge of burglary and robbery. They were tried on 22 June 1847, and a newspaper report from The Freeman’s Journal, 23 June 1847, states that they were found guilty of ‘stealing several articles from the house of Mr. McCann, Kingstown’ (now Dún Laoghaire). All three were sentenced to 10 years’ transportation.
While it was Perry’s first conviction, both Pasley/Pearson and Meath had been imprisoned several times before in Kilmainham, Newgate and Richmond. George Pasley/Pearson was first imprisoned in June 1845, at the age of 14. His committal to Kilmainham Gaol in May 1847 marked his seventh time in prison, generally on suspicion of burglary and robbery. James Meath, similarly, was convicted six times between his first committal to Kilmainham Gaol in September 1845, at the age of 16, and his sentence of transportation in May 1847.
George Pasley/Pearson and James Meath actually appear to have known each other well, having been arrested and convicted together on several occasions. Their longest sentence was 6 months’ imprisonment with hard labour, which they served in Kilmainham Gaol between February and September 1846 (the sentence beginning at their conviction in April of that year). In fact, they had committed this particular crime only two days after being released from 3 months’ imprisonment in Richmond.
After their conviction, Perry, Pasley/Pearson and Meath, were moved from the County Gaol section of Kilmainham Gaol to the convict depot within the Gaol. They were held in Kilmainham until November 1847, when they were put aboard the convict ship the ‘Medway’ which was to sail to Bermuda. Charles Perry, for some reason, was removed from the ‘Medway’ and recommitted to Kilmainham Gaol before it sailed.
In 1846, the transportation of Irish male convicts to Australia had been suspended, forcing the authorities to find alternative destinations to send convicts. Convicts were sent to Bermuda and Gibraltar, where they would work on Government works. The ‘Medway’ arrived in Bermuda around January 1848, and was converted to a prison hulk. Both George Pasley/Pearson and James Meath were to live on the ‘Medway’ while in Bermuda, where their conduct was reported variously as ‘good’ and ‘very good’.
In April 1849, George Pasley/Pearson was transferred from the ‘Medway’ on a ‘ticket of leave’ to the ‘Neptune’, which was bound for the colony at the Cape of Good Hope, in present day South Africa. The colony at the Cape strongly opposed the landing of the convicts, so when the ship arrived in September 1849, it was blockaded and no one was permitted to disembark. In February 1850, the ‘Neptune’ was ordered to sail to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania, Australia) instead. The ship arrived in Van Diemen’s Land on 5 April 1850, and like most of the convicts aboard, George Pasley/Pearson was given a conditional pardon on arrival, effectively his freedom. It is unknown what became of him in Australia.
James Meath was to remain in Bermuda on the prison hulk the ‘Medway’ until January 1854, when he is listed as having been ‘Discharged to Chapman 27th Jan 1854’ – though it cannot be established what happened to him after this.
As mentioned above, Charles Perry was also initially put aboard the ‘Medway’ in November 1847, but was recommitted from the ship to Kilmainham before it sailed. He was later sent to Bermuda aboard the convict ship the ‘Bangalore’ in February 1848, and appears on the prisoner lists for the ‘Medway’ hulk. He was to remain on the ‘Medway’ until August 1851 when he is listed as having been ‘Discharged to pardon 20 Aug 1851 To Brig “James” for England’, which suggests that he was pardoned, and possibly returned home!
524 Michael McCabe – stolen bread in his possession
Michael McCabe (18) was released from Kilmainham Gaol on 27 May 1847, having served 14 days in prison for having stolen potatoes in his possession. He was to be committed to the Gaol again only a few days later on 1 June 1847, for stealing 3 baskets of bread. He was released on 27 June 1847.
526 Mary Curley or Hanley – Common Prostitute annoying the Public in the Park
Mary Curley (21) was one of several women committed for the crime of being a ‘Common Prostitute annoying the Public in the Park’ (Phoenix Park) on 14 May 1847. It was her second time in Kilmainham Gaol, having served a month in prison in 1846 for the same crime, and she had also served 48 hours in Grangegorman from 22 May 1845 for being a ‘Common Night Walker’. She appears in the Kilmainham Gaol registers at least another nine times, generally on charges relating to prostitution, but also for breach of the peace, fighting, assault and conveying stolen flowers. The last register entry that can be found for her is in November 1852, when she was sentenced to one month imprisonment for attempting to commit suicide.
