Portlaoise Prison

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Portlaoise Prison is a maximum security prison located in Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Ireland. It should not be confused with the Midlands Prison, which is a newer, medium security prison situated directly beside it.

The prison was built in the 1830s, making it one of the oldest in the Irish prison system -- it still operates to this day. It is noted as the prison in which people convicted of membership of the IRA and other illegal paramilitary organisations are usually detained.

The prison has a capacity for 203 prisoners, but because of the security sensitive nature of its inmates, it operates below this capacity. A large number of well armed Irish Defence Forces soldiers are guarding the prison 24 hours a day, making it one of the most secure prisons in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

The security features include a detachment of a hundred and twenty troops, armed with rifles and anti-aircraft machine guns, who patrol the perimeter, the rooftops and man the watch towers. An air exclusion zone operates over the entire complex. The perimeter consists of high walls, cameras, sensors and acres of tank traps.

Through the years there have been various high profile attempts to spring prisoners from inside the walls. In 1974 nineteen prisoners escaped in one daring day light escape.

In November 1985 an IRA mass breakout failed when the bomb, which had been assembled within the prison itself, failed to detonate at the prison gates. ^[1]