Gallows Green

Gallows Green, 1759

A section of John Rocque's map of Cork from 1759, showing the Gallows Green area. Criminals condemned to death were executed at Gallows Green from the middle of the eighteenth century until the early nineteenth century. The area was renamed Greenmount in 1852, when the building of Greenmount National School began.

© Cork City Libraries.

Gallows Green, 1759
© Cork City Libraries.

Gallows Green, 1759

A section of John Rocque's map of Cork from 1759, showing the Gallows Green area. Criminals condemned to death were executed at Gallows Green from the middle of the eighteenth century until the early nineteenth century. The area was renamed Greenmount in 1852, when the building of Greenmount National School began.

© Cork City Libraries.

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In 1852, Cork Corporation leased a plot of land at Gallows Green for the building of a school.

The area got its name because public hangings had once been carried out there. A 'gallows' is the structure used to hang people.

Click on the image to read in more detail about some of the executions that took place at Gallows Green.

Gallows Green and the 1798 Rebellion

The 1798 Rebellion was planned by the United Irishmen. Cork city was not deeply affected by the rebellion. However, the United Irishmen were active in the city. After the rebellion, many of those found guilty of membership of the organisation were executed. Some were shot in a field on the western edges of the city, while others were hanged at Gallows Green.