The Debtors’ Prison, Green Street, Dublin, originally known as the Sherriff’s Prison, was built in 1794 and
ceased to function as a prison in the mid-nineteenth century. In the late 1860s, the property
transferred to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland (CPW) to manage and was converted
into a barracks for the Dublin Metropolitan Police and subsequently became a Garda station. An
Garda Síochána vacated the property in 1962.
It was subsequently leased to Dublin Corporation and was used by them for the provision of
emergency housing until 1987. In 1992 a lease was granted to the Green Street Trust however, due to difficulties with funding the lease was surrendered in 2006.
The OPW has over the years consulted with several agencies including Dublin City Council, to
examine possible future uses for the property. A variety of uses have been explored, however as
the property would require extensive refurbishment works, including fire safety works to comply
with current regulations, and given the development limitations due to the property’s protected
structure status, the level of substantial investment required has prevented its redevelopment.
The Debtors Prison is the last of the original debtor’s prisons in Dublin and is significant from an
architectural and heritage point of view. The OPW is currently exploring the future uses of the property within the OPW heritage estate and as such has engaged the services of an Architectural firm from the ‘Framework for the Provision of Grade 1 Conservation Architect Services’ to carry out work on the building and provide a Building Condition, Repair Methodology and Feasibility Report for the property.
