Cork City Gaol, Cork

A short walk from the city center will take you up to the restored and atmospheric City Gaol, complete with furnished cells. Both the exhibition and multimedia display, trace the lives of individual inmates imprisoned here during the 19th and 20th centuries. Conditions were miserable: as one punishment, for example, prisoners were made to run on a human treadmill that was used to grind grain. There is also a cafe in the Gaol which employs a somewhat amusing gimmick: visitors are "free" to choose between sampling a Victorian prisoner's fare or the prison governor's menu. Which one would you choose? Hours change seasonally, so make sure to call ahead.