Ireland’s Female Prisons: Researching Confinement in These ‘Institutions of Hope’

• In Event: PWG - Women in prison: Characteristics, experiences, and relationships

Abstract

Women in prison have been recognised as particularly complex and vulnerable internationally, yet they continue to be marginalised in criminology, penal policy, and prison systems. In Ireland, female imprisonment is a significantly under-researched area and previous empirical studies are now outdated. However, the female prison landscape continually receives much attention, particularly due to its current state of development. Ireland’s first gender-informed, female-only prison, the Dóchas Centre – ‘Dóchas’ meaning ‘hope’ in the Irish language - was recently joined by a new female prison in Limerick in October 2023. This has been said to exemplify international best practice, constitute a trauma-informed environment and continues the legacy of an institution of ‘hope’. Nevertheless, Ireland’s female prisons continue to be subject to criticism, and there are concerns pertaining to recent reforms in practice. This highlights the critical need for comprehensive research on female imprisonment in Ireland.

This paper will provide an introduction to female imprisonment in Ireland, including the new ‘state of the art’ prison and its context within a challenging penal landscape. It will highlight the need for in-depth research on the lived experiences, power relations and cultures within female prisons in Ireland. It will present how, and why this research project employs the ethnographic method within both female institutions, as well as some initial findings from the field. This research will have significant findings for prison research and penal policy internationally.

Author

• Maria Cleary, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland