The Grangegorman Depot and the transportation of Irish convict women to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) 1840-1852 Saturday 5th October in the Cobblestone, Smithfield Grangegorman Depot, the first exclusively female prison in Ireland or Britain, opened in 1836. The Depot's dark past saw women awaiting transportation to spend their final days in Ireland. Between 1787 and 1868 a total of 162,110 convicts were transported from Ireland and Britain to Australia. Between 1836 and 1853 a total of 3,196 of those forcibly exiled were women who had been held in the Grangegorman Depot. But who were these women and what was life for them like in this prison colony? Dr Bláthnaid Nolan, who recently completed a PhD in UCD Women's Studies, told the story of the women convicts of Grangegorman. After being convicted, of what were often petty crimes, they were transported to Australia. This natural prison, 14,000 miles from Ireland, became known as the 'Fatal Shore' due to the brutal conditions. Prisoners were forced to work in gruelling and inhumane conditions.

• published: 06 Oct 2013
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