Oileán: Faoi Ghlas

Spike, a beautiful pearl lying in the middle of Cobh Harbour off the coast of Cork stands out among Ireland's many islands. Ireland's Alcatraz has many tales to tell.

A small number of unmarked graves represent seven hundred bodies buried under the ground on the west end of Spike Island. Long before the island became infamous as a prison in the recent past, Spike's history includes it's time as a penal colony in the 19th century and one of the worst mortality rates on record.

"..the actual mortality rates at that time were worse than what they would have been in Stalin's worst periods of the Russian terror. 44.7% of convicts who went on to Spike Island during this period died there."
Michael Martin - local historian

This programme looks at the island's history as Ireland's Alcatraz and returns to the island with a recent inhabitant of the prison who has turned his world around since being incarcerated there.

Séamas O'Brien spent three terms on Spike Island. He is one of the success stories of the Irish prison system. He talks about how something about the structure on Spike, a small amount of inhabitants and a good education service, inspired him to leave his past behind and move on. For the first time in his troubled life it seemed as though there were people that believed in his potential.

".I came in here with zero..when I came out them gates I was a completely different person." - Séamas O'Brien (former prisoner)

 John Spillane, acclaimed songwriter, spent time as prison teacher on Spike Island. He remembers his time on the island with great fondness but no little amount of regret for those who have to go through the system. John's song "the prison teacher", manages to punctuate our programme with a first hand account of life on the island prison."

"When I was a prison teacher, teaching in a prison school
I taught a load of young fellas, how to play guitar, music behind bars.
.There was nobody there from Bishopstown
There was nobody there from Rochestown."

Oileán: Faoi Ghlas is the story of a remarkable island, it's history and the people it has affected. More than just an island of joyriders in the 80's, it's also the story of one man's redemption, as he journeys back to Spike.

Oileán: Faoi Ghlas - Spike! Ireland's answer to Alcatraz

Produced & Directed by:  Michael McCormack
Reporter : Pat Butler