Portlaoise Prison
Portlaoise Prison is a maximum-security prison located in County Laois.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesPortlaoise Prison
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Portlaoise Prison
Portlaoise Prison is a maximum-security prison located in County Laois.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesPortlaoise Prison is a maximum security prison located in Portlaoise, Co. Laois. It is not to be confused with a new prison called the Midlands Prison, which is a medium security prison that stands directly beside it.
Having being built in the 1830s, it is one of the oldest prisons in Ireland's prison system. It has changed a lot though since then to keep up with modern changes in how prisons are run. Tank traps, security cameras and sensors are just some of the measures that are used in Portlaoise to stop inmates from escaping.
Portlaoise Prison
Portlaoise Prison is one of the most secure prisons in Europe.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesPortlaoise Prison
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Portlaoise Prison
Portlaoise Prison is one of the most secure prisons in Europe.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesAs many of the prisoners are members of illegal organisations like the IRA and the INLA, the threat of prison breaks is very high. That is why a large number of well-armed members of the Defence Forces guard the prison 24 hours a day. They carry with them rifles and anti-aircraft machine guns when they are on patrol at the watch towers and rooftops. They also have an air exclusion zone at Portlaoise Prison, which means that not a single aircraft is allowed to fly over the entire complex.
There have been a couple of notable efforts down the years of prisoners trying to escape from Portlaoise. On one occasion a helicopter was used by friends of the inmates and in another a truck was converted into a tank and they tried to smash their way through the prison gates. Neither of these attempts succeeded though and that is why Portlaoise Prison is seen as one of the most secure prisons in all of Europe .