Castlerea Prison

Castlerea Prison (Irish: Príosún an Chaisleáin Riabhach) is a closed category, medium-security prison in Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland. It houses men over 17 years of age. As of 2022, it had a bed capacity of 340 and the daily average number of resident inmates was 320.¹

Castlerea was established as part of the system of district mental hospitals in 1939. It was renamed St. Patrick's Hospital during the 1960s. Operating intermittently as a tuberculosis sanitorium, it continued to function as a hospital until 1994 when it was closed. From 1996 it opened as a prison, accepting a small intake of inmates that year. Construction work on the main cell blocks of the prison was completed in 1998.²