I START WORK at Wicklow’s Historic Gaol at 9.30am. I spend the first half-hour getting into costume, ready for the doors to open at 10am. On a busy day, there could be four busloads waiting in the car park. The “gaoler” lets them in and gives them a little history of the jail before bringing them down to me in the schoolroom.
My character is Mary Morris, a real person who ran a schoolroom in Wicklow Gaol for women and children inmates, teaching basic literacy and maths. The men were taught tailoring and shoemaking.
She started work in 1857, and when I tell groups I’ve been here since then, nine times out of 10 someone will tell me I’m looking well for my age. I tell them it’s all the poítín I take: some to drink, some to rub on my face.
Mary was a very stern woman but a great protector of the women and children, all of whom were incarcerated in one large room with the men – 100 people in all. It meant someone who stole food would be in with murderers, and it was an awful place for children to be.
There are three wax characters in my schoolroom, all based on real people, so I tell visitors the story of each before they move on to the next part of the tour. Ten minutes later, my next group will arrive.
I never tire of it, because each audience is new and their interest keeps me interested. I usually select one person in each group and pick on them, asking them to answer a maths question.
Lunch is at 12.30pm. I eat in the coffee shop here, which is lovely. Then in the afternoon I might be playing a crazy lady, which is great fun. I get to lurk upstairs and freak out visitors. With my costume and my hair standing on end, they’re never quite sure if I’m acting or not.
In the old days, you really would go crazy in jail. In 1798, for example, prisoners were only fed on average once every four days.
Since Ghost Hunters International came and found our ghosts, interest in the jail has grown to the point that we’re now open all year round. People come to us from the US and say they’ve seen us on YouTube, and it all adds to the atmosphere.
At the moment, we’re getting ready for a particularly scary Halloween. but we also run paranormal night tours now, up until 3am.
Most days, though, the last tour is at 4.30pm. Doors close an hour later, and I head home. I’ve been doing this job eight years, and I still love it, not just because I love acting but because I love this building. There must have been a lot of sadness here, but I find it has a lovely sense of peace about it.
Marie Comerford is an actor at Wicklow’s Historic Gaol, wicklowshistoricgaol.com
In conversation with Sandra O’Connell