Spike Island After Dark

16/01/2023

Have you seen the infamous tunnels that run beneath Spike Island? These are strictly off limits to regular visitors and are only seen by those brave enough to come and visit After Dark!!

https://spikeislandcork.digitickets.co.uk/category/10809

12/01/2023

They're back! The After Dark Tours return this February and March.
Walk an abandoned prison, sit in a solitary cell and experience a place of punishment once called 'Ireland's Hell" on an access all areas tour.

Our tours take you to areas of the island usually off limits to the public where our tour guides will share the harrowing history and chilling stories of Ireland's most notorious murders and deviants. Expect eerie tunnels, abandoned prison cells and dark tales of murder and mystery on this candlelit tour.

Will you escape from Spike Island? There's only one way to find out, book your tickets now 👉 https://bit.ly/AfterDarkSpikeIsland

A remote monastery in the Celtic Sea. A fortress, built to defend an empire. An island prison that held a nation. Centuries of Irish social life. Discover 1,300 years of Irish History.

25/01/2022

WE’RE BACK! Spike Island After Dark tours return, giving you the chance to learn our dark history. You can walk an abandoned prison, sit in a solitary cell, and experience a place of punishment, once known as Ireland’s hell.

Our day tours relay our vast history, but by night we focus on the dark stories of murderers, their crimes and strange occurrences. There are many tales to delight and chill that we can’t share with any day tour.

You will also see areas off limits by day on this fully guided experience. Join us and deep dive in our incredible past and atmospheric spaces.

https://spikeislandcork.digitickets.ie/availability/

13/08/2021

Go all 'dark history' or 'behind the scenes' at Spike Island Cork! Right now we have tickets to our amazing 'After Dark' tours on sale for August and September. While it wont be completely dark, you will still hear all the amazing dark history tales from our island.

Expect the tales of murderers, awful crimes and difficult punishment, that we cannot tell to any day tour. You can walk an abandoned prison, sit in a solitary cell, and experience a place of punishment, once known as Ireland's hell.
Booking at https://spikeislandcork.digitickets.ie/event-tickets/12111

For those looking for an unforgettable experience, go behind the scenes at Spike Island Cork! As well as the amazing areas and content on the after dark tours, you get to explore the Spike Island tunnels, a dark warren of passageways deep under our forts walls. Grab a hard hat, hi-vis and torch and let your guide lead the way.
The tunnels done, you get to relax in the exclusive 'Captains bar', the old officers mess room on the island. Join us in a toast to the old forts commanders and prison governors, in this history steeped location. Smaller group sizes than other tours.
Booking at https://spikeislandcork.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/34885?catID=35093&

05/08/2021

NEW DATES ADDED! Our exclusive new ‘behind the scenes’ tours are on sale now for Saturdays in August and September, allowing you to enjoy never before seen areas in smaller group sizes.

This exclusive tour lets you explore the Spike Island tunnels, off limits for over a century. Built in 1804 to hold the forts gunpowder, unbelievably they held prisoners in solitary cells in 1847.
Expect dark spaces, long tunnels and amazing history on this torchlight tour.

You also get to see the private Captains bar, where the forts officers raised a glass to toast the week. Enjoy a complementary Spike Island rum in this history soaked area.
Behind the scenes visitors also get to see the ‘abandoned jail’, an area full of spooky stories, and off limits to day visitors.

Learn more here, and join us on a fascinating deep dive into our regular and dark history:

https://www.spikeislandcork.ie/behind-the-scenes-tour

We also have After Dark tours on sale, focusing on our dark history;
https://spikeislandcork.digitickets.ie/event-tickets/12111

23/04/2021

We’ll be back with After Dark nights before long, and for those who love spooky vibes, here are some Discovery channel videos and visitor pics from Spike Island Cork!
Our island home has a long history of strange sightings, going back to the 1942 when an Irish Army Lieutenant fired a shot at a mysterious figure which vanished, leaving him with some explaining to do.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VrctazefIvA

In the 1800’s the prison surgeon was performing unauthorised autopsies, giving the unfortunate prisoners no rest in life or death.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S2NdhYO5xmg

Irish Naval personnel and prisoners in the 1980’s prison reported many strange occurrences, and more recently visitors on our after dark tours have taken some striking shots.

Shea Wolfe photographed the ‘black entity’ in pic 3 in an empty cell in 2016, while Louise Bunyan snapped image number 4 thinking she was getting an empty cell block but her facial recognition triggered. Brightening of the photo by Peter Howie of ‘Photos of Cork’ revealed the distinctive shapes.

Learn more of our island history at www.spikeislandcork.ie/discover

13/04/2021

It has been a long time, but we hope to offer Spike Island 'After Dark' tours soon!

Our tours begins in Cobh with a ferry ride across Cork harbour, usually as the sun is setting. Our guides will meet you on the island and walk you past abandoned villages and former homes. Then on we go to Fortress Spike, the Fortress built to defend an empire, which was at one time the largest prison in the world.

You'll hear the harrowing history and spooky stories passed down by our former island residents and historians. While walking abandoned prisons, chilling corridors and solitary cells. There are no forced scares or actors, just the all too true stories from a fearsome prison in a unique corner of 'Ireland’s Ancient East'.

Your tour ends with a nighttime return sailing, seeing beautiful Cobh from the water. Keep an eye out for dates soon...

https://www.spikeislandcork.ie/after-dark-tours

29/01/2021

Our island held 1200 Irish republican prisoners in 1921, rebels who fought to free Ireland. There were hunger strikes, riots, prison escapes, and not all would make it out alive.
We give voice to them this year in our exhibition ‘imprisoning a Nation’, when we return...

COMING 2021: It is 100 years since Spike Island became a prison for the third time in its history, on this occasion holding over 1200 Irish War of Independence prisoners.
We will commemorate the centenary with our new ‘Imprisoning a Nation’ exhibition, which will tell the story of the rebels in their own words through dairies, writing and recordings.

Who were the individuals willing to risk their lives on the ground for Ireland? What motivated them to sustain the fight for so long? And how did they fare on Spike Island, where some endured hunger strikes, prison riots, and others would never leave.
The exhibition includes the first ever public release of a 1980’s audio recording of a former prisoner, Dan O'Donovan from The Quays, Bantry, who was just 18 when he sent to the island. He would survive the war and live to 104.

Discover more about our story, your history, at Spike Island Cork.
https://www.spikeislandcork.ie/_independence_-exhibition-1921

31/12/2020

A very happy new year to all our staff and visitors.

We cannot wait to welcome you back in 2021, a very important year for the island as we celebrate 100 years since the opening of the 1921 War of Independence prison.