The rooms might currently be a little on the small side - as are the windows - but Mountjoy could become one of the most exclusive places to stay in Dublin following a new proposal to turn the prison into a boutique hotel, writes Olivia Kelly.
Guests would be staying, at their own pleasure rather than the State's, in the original late 19th-century institution, the main structure of which cannot be altered by order of the Office of Public Works (OPW), once the current residents move to the new prison due to open at Thornton Hall in north Dublin in 2011.
Plans for the Mountjoy site are part of a major new development strategy from Dublin City Council for the north inner-city suburb of Phibsborough. The council intends to completely transform the area with a new village centre on the site of Dalymount Park football ground and the Phibsborough Shopping Centre, and substantial residential developments at the former Smurfit Printworks, and several other locations within a 1km radius of the village. Two new primary schools and a new secondary school will also be located within the area.
While the council plans to keep the area, which includes Georgian houses as well as 19th-century terraces, as a low-rise village at four to six storeys in some areas with a small number of buildings of up to eight storeys, two to three "landmark buildings" will be allowed. These are likely to be high rise and will be stand-alone structures rather than part of a high-rise cluster.
A draft of these plans is to be released by the council for public consultation within the next two weeks.
The OPW has proposed the use of the prison as a hotel, because of the difficulties associated with converting the building for any other use, apart perhaps from a large museum, a prospect unlikely to attract potential developers. The OPW is determined that both the 19th-century prison building, which has about 500 cells and houses male prisoners only, and its gates, known as "gate locks", be preserved.
While this preservation would apply principally to the external form of the building, some internal structures, particularly original wrought-iron features, would also have to be retained in any conversion. Other buildings on the site, including the women's prison opened in the late 1990s, could be demolished.
The council's plans propose a mainly residential complex on the rest of the site, with space for a new primary or secondary school and community/sports buildings.
The OPW's vision for the site is broadly similar, and has already been submitted to the council.
"We see it as a mixed-use urban development, but one which would be largely family-orientated with community facilities," an OPW spokesman said.
"However, the main prison building and the gate locks would have to be preserved and protected, but could be used as a hotel. An area like that, so close to the Mater hospital and the city, could be a good location for a hotel," he said.