Crumlin Road Gaol

For 150 years the Crumlin Road Gaol held men, women and children behind its grey basalt walls. Closed in 1996 and reopened as a visitor attraction, it is now one of Belfast's most gripping guided experiences — unflinching about punishment, politics and the people who passed through.

Designed by Charles Lanyon, the architect who shaped much of Victorian Belfast, the Gaol follows the radiating-wing plan of its era. The tour takes you along the landings, into the cramped cells, down the tunnel that linked the prison to the courthouse across the road, and into the condemned man's cell beside the execution chamber where seventeen men were hanged.

Guides weave together the everyday grind of prison life and the city's turbulent twentieth century, when the Gaol held internees and paramilitary prisoners from both communities. It is sobering, well told and genuinely memorable.

The building also works as an atmospheric events venue, hosting concerts and tastings in the old wings — a strange and compelling afterlife for a Victorian jail.

Visitor tips

• Tours must be booked — you cannot wander unaccompanied.
• The stone wings stay cold; bring a jacket even in summer.