‘Ireland’s Alcatraz’ or Spike Island, off the coast of Cork, has had a storied history with many thousands of people coming to spend time in one of the toughest prisons this country has ever had.

But while most of us might connect the prison to the IRA, its story begins much earlier, centuries earlier in fact, and was used as a prison facility right up until 2004.

Today a popular tourist attraction, Spike Island’s future development is very different from its troubled past.

Gavan Reilly is joined by Donal Fallon for another episode of Hidden Histories to discuss.

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