Women Who Escaped From Prison

Limerick Gaol

The little-known story of the Limerick Gaol in 1830 is incredible, not only because nine women managed to escape but because one was also with an infant. The nine women escaped from the Ireland facility just hours before they were to be transferred to another prison.Days before they broke out, someone secretly provided them with a file, aqua fortis (nitric acid), and a short iron bar to help facilitate their escape. They also gained the help of two men outside the prison. These men scaled the outside walls using ladders that were used by repairmen at the prison, and they easily gained access to the women’s ward. They were there to break the cell locks, which would be an extremely noisy job. The men waited until the evening, though, when the prison would always join together in singing at night, and the prisoners were particularly loud and excited on this night.During the loud singing, the men broke the locks, and the women began their escape. One by one, they climbed down the ladders and escaped over three sets of walls. After they all safely made it over the third wall, they made their way to a nearby street, where they all went unnoticed.