Where Silence Settlesis the result of this year’s artist residency at Spike Island, presented in the atmospheric Punishment Block as part of Culture Night this September. Developed by Cork-based artist Barbara Diener, the exhibition continues a five-year partnership between Spike Island and Sample-Studios, supporting site-responsive work that engages with the island’s layered history.
Diener brings a contemplative lens to Spike Island’s complex legacy. Her practice explores memory, time and obsolescence—qualities echoed in the island’s crumbling walls and overlooked narratives. Working with archival materials, installations, and both still and moving images, she constructs a visual narrative that traces what remains after silence has settled.
The exhibition draws from pivotal moments in the island’s past, including the story of The Aud and its connection to the Easter Rising. Diener’s haunting underwater video work and photographs of abandoned, overgrown architecture—often in areas not normally accessible to the public—reflect how nature slowly reclaims places marked by human ambition and conflict, offering a quiet meditation on loss, transformation and renewal.
Visitors are invited to engage during an artist talk accompanying the exhibition, providing further insight into the process and work on display. A short guided tour will take place at the beginning of the event.
Price per ticket: €27.95 Boat in: 5pm | Return: 8pm
Unsettled States
Tom Casey with PJ Coogan
The 2025 Spike Island Literary Festival opens with a gripping conversation between acclaimed author Tom Casey and Cork’s own PJ Coogan of 96FM.
Travelling from New York especially for the festival, Casey delves into the dark heart of international crime fiction with Unsettled States—his bold third novel exploring voyeurism, infidelity, murder, and moral decay. With a sharp eye for social commentary and unexpected flashes of humour, Casey draws on a lifetime of global experience as a former airline pilot and documentary co-producer to craft stories that are as thrilling as they are thought-provoking.
Described by Kurt Andersen as “as thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is fun,” Unsettled States promises to be the centre of a compelling discussion to open this year’s festival.
Tom Casey
Tom Casey’s unconventional exploration of voyeurism, infidelity, murder, and spiritual corruption is shot through with flashes of social commentary and humour.
Tom spent decades traversing the world as a professional airline pilot. In addition to flying passenger jets and writing fiction, he also co-produced a recent film documentary ‘Flying Boat’. Casey lives in Connecticut with his partner, Silvia Erskine, and Phoebe, their rescue dog. ‘Unsettled States‘ is his third novel.
“Unsettled States is as thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is fun.”— Kurt Andersen, author of Heyday
This project is the result of a unique collaboration between Crawford Art Gallery and Cork Prison, featuring workshops led by historian-curator Matt Ryan and artist-educator Daniel Sexton since November 2024. The initiative goes beyond simply displaying finished artworks, it reveals the powerful transformation that occurs when creativity crosses boundaries.
Inspired by the Crawford Art Gallery’s collection, the workshops encourage participants to explore new forms of expression and connect their inner lives with the outside world. Through expert guidance—combining artistic skill and historical context—the men develop creative confidence, self-worth and a meaningful way to share their stories beyond prison walls.
The With // Out exhibition showcases these works, highlighting themes of identity, freedom and connection. It invites visitors to witness how art can transcend barriers and reveal the resilience of the human spirit, even within confinement.
For over a decade, Spike Island has worked closely with the Cork Prison Education Unit, resulting in a series of exhibitions uniquely presented within its preserved prison spaces. As a former place of incarceration, Spike Island provides an authentic and powerful backdrop that deepens the impact of the work on display. This year’s initiative marks another compelling chapter in this ongoing collaboration.
Spike Island is proud to host RECCE, an exhibition created by students and art teachers from the Education Unit in Cork Prison (Cork ETB). This exhibition continues a meaningful collaboration between Spike Island and the Cork Prison Education Unit, now in its eleventh year.
The word recce, derived from military slang for reconnaissance, evokes close observation and exploration. True to its name, this exhibition unfolds in two reciprocal parts, offering a visual narrative shaped by close inspection, memory and interpretation. It showcases the remarkable depth and diversity of creativity nurtured within the prison’s educational programmes.
The artworks on display in one of the cells at Spike Island are the culmination of a collaborative group project undertaken during the 2024–2025 academic year. For several years, the ceramic and textile classes in the Education Unit have worked closely together, producing mixed-media pieces—wall hangings and sculptures—that interweave personal stories and shared memory.
This year’s theme explores the natural world of Ireland. Each student selected a favourite wild animal or plant and expressed their ideas through personal sculptures or two-dimensional textile works. Using Visual Thinking Strategies, students observed and interpreted their environment—drawing on memory and imagination to create, even within the confines of prison life.
The resulting works are imaginative, often humorous and always deeply personal—blending the representational with the fantastical to form a striking exhibition.
SPIKE ISLAND TO HOST RED BULL DRIFT EVENT THIS SUMMER
This summer, we are delighted to host Red Bull Drift Pursuit as they bring some of the biggest names in motorsport to our infamous prison island on Saturday 5th July.
Prepare for one of the biggest days in the Irish motorsport calendar as 16 of the country’s top drifters will go head to head in an event which promises to exhilarate seasoned drift fans and newcomers alike.
The unique course designed for this event will challenge drivers in speed management, car control, obstacle navigation, and the art of drift itself. Each heat will feature two cars competing simultaneously, adding an extra layer of excitement and suspense to the already thrilling event.
Emerging talent from the Irish drift scene will be rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in motorsport in Red Bull athletes Conor Shanahan and Josh McErlean. Both drivers will perform on the day, alongside Conor’s brother Jack, delivering explosive demos.
The event kicks off at 6.45pm, finishing at 8.30pm. Tickets are on sale now on the Red Bull website, priced at €45 for a standing ticket and €55 for a seated ticket. Ferry transfers from Ringaskiddy or Cobh are included in the ticket, with ferries running throughout the day.
Please note, tickets for this event are only available via the Red Bull website
Since 2021, Spike Island has partnered with Sample-Studios and, more recently, Sirius Arts Centre to support a series of thoughtful, site-responsive exhibitions. These collaborations have brought contemporary artists into dialogue with the island’s charged history and unique landscape, with the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Cork city serving as a key presenting venue.
Barbara Diener is the ninth artist to participate in this ongoing programme. During her residency, she will immerse herself in the layered histories of Spike Island. Her work will bring together archival artefacts, sculpture and both still and moving images created on and around the island.
Diener’s approach is deeply responsive to place. On Spike Island, she has been especially drawn to its complex architecture and the traces left behind by those who once lived or were held there. One story in particular, the covert 1916 voyage of The Aud, a German ship sent to aid the Easter Rising, resonated strongly, bridging her ongoing interest in German history and hidden military operations. This thread connects with her earlier project The Rocket’s Red Glare, which examined the life and legacy of Wernher von Braun, revealing the moral ambiguities in how history is told and remembered.
A recurring theme throughout Diener’s practice is the quiet persistence of nature in the face of abandonment. On Spike Island, overgrown barracks, crumbling walls, and plant life forcing its way through cracks become metaphors for endurance and transformation. These confined yet living spaces feel simultaneously claustrophobic and resilient suggesting that even in places built for control, something wild and quietly hopeful, endures.
This partnership is supported by the Arts Council, Cork County Council and Cork City Council.
‘Each name, a story…’ is a powerful exhibition that brings to light the names of hundreds of men and boys who died on Spike Island between 1847 and 1883—a period defined by the devastation of the Great Famine and its aftermath. Established as a convict depot at the height of the crisis, Spike Island rapidly became one of the largest prisons in Britain, housing individuals, many driven to crime by poverty and desperation, in overcrowded conditions.
Drawing from archival sources and first-hand accounts, the exhibition offers a deeply human perspective on incarceration, exploring themes of survival, injustice and loss. It acknowledges the staggering death toll—over a thousand men are believed to have died while imprisoned on the island. Through carefully compiled data from transportation records in the Irish National Archives, ‘Each name, a story…’ presents one of the most comprehensive public lists to date of those who perished—many of whose names had long been lost to history.
Detail from Sinéad Barrett’s artwork
‘Each Name, A Story…’ was curated by Dorota Gubbins, whose work brings together archival investigation, interpretive storytelling and curatorial sensitivity to recover these long-overlooked lives.
Combining historical research, artistic interpretation and commemorative intention, this exhibition invites reflection on the human cost of institutional systems, the fragility of memory and the importance of bearing witness. It does not seek to rewrite history, but to give space and voice to those who endured its harshest realities.
The exhibition is enriched by the work of artist Sinéad Barrett, who served as artist-in-residence on Spike Island in 2023. Sinéad’s series of evocative paintings responds to the psychological effects of isolation and imprisonment, using cold, desaturated tones and recurring motifs—windows, locks, chains—to reflect the mental weight of confinement. Her work serves as a contemporary response to historical trauma, creating a poignant bridge between past and present.
The names were sourced from the Transportation Register (1836–1857) held in the National Archives of Ireland, while the design was inspired by prison ledgers from that period, including those from Spike Island.
This year’s exhibition is proudly presented as part of the 2025 Cork Harbour Festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary from 24 May to 2 June. As one of over 100 events spanning the city and harbour, the exhibition contributes to Ireland’s largest celebration of maritime culture, storytelling and art by spotlighting a significant chapter in our shared history—one rooted in the harbour’s own island prison.
Price per ticket: €27.95
Boat in: 12.30pm | Return: 5pm
Meet the Detectives
Patricia Gibney & Gill Perdue with Michelle Dunne
Join two of Ireland’s bestselling crime fiction authors, Patricia Gibney and Gill Perdue, in conversation with fellow author and festival curator Michelle Dunne for an unmissable discussion on mystery, suspense, and intrigue.
As part of the Spike Island Literary Festival, this gripping event delves into the minds behind some of the country’s most compelling crime fiction.
Expect lively discussion, behind-the-scenes insights into crafting crime fiction, and a chance to ask your own burning questions. Perfect for fans of twisty plots, gritty characters, and page-turning drama.
Secrets and Lies
Amanda Cassidy, Michelle McDonagh with Catherine Kirwan
Dive into the dark, twisting worlds of contemporary crime fiction with three gripping voices at Spike Island Literary Festival.
Amanda Cassidy, Michelle McDonagh, and Catherine Kirwan explore the hidden truths, tangled secrets, and the lies that define their characters.
Join this compelling conversation to uncover how deception drives narrative tension and reveals the human condition in thrilling, unforgettable ways.
Amanda Cassidy
Amanda Cassidy is an Irish Times bestselling author, commissioning editor and former Sky News reporter.
Her debut novel, Breaking, was shortlisted for the 2023 CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award, while her second novel, The Returned received widespread critical praise. The Perfect Place, Amanda’s third novel, published last year and was an instant Irish Times bestseller. She is a frequent contributor to national radio, print, and television, and holds a BA in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin.
When she’s not on a plane, you’ll find her in her cottage in Dublin where she lives with her family. The Stranger Inside, Amanda’s latest novel, will be published in August 2025.
Michelle Dunne
Michelle Dunne is a bestselling psychological thriller writer from Cork whose new thriller, A GOOD MOTHER, came out to rave reviews in April 25.
Michelle also wrote The Hotel Maid and The Good Girl, which saw its Czech language edition chosen as one of the 12 most exciting books to publish in Czech Republic in 2025. It launched in March at the annual Big Book Thursday event in Prague.
Michelle also wrote the Lindsey Ryan series of psychological thrillers, While Nobody is Watching and The Invisible. The series is currently in development for television and is inspired by Michelle’s own experiences as an infantry soldier and United Nations Peacekeeper.
Michelle is organiser and programmer of the Spike Island Literary Festival – a crime-themed festival set in Ireland’s very own Alcatraz. In 2024 she also joined the team at Dublin’s international crime writing festival, Murder One.
Patricia Gibney
Patricia Gibney is a crime fiction author from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.
Her debut novel, The Missing Ones, was published by London based digital publisher, Bookouture, in March 2017.
To date fifteen Detective Lottie Parker books have been published in the series. More than 2.5 million Lottie Parker books have sold to date and has been translated into multiple languages.
Catherine Kirwan
Catherine Kirwan grew up in the parish of Fews, County Waterford.
She studied law at University College Cork and lives in Cork where she works as a solicitor. She is the author of three legal thrillers featuring Cork solicitor Finn Fitzpatrick.
‘The Seventh Body‘ is Catherine’s fourth book.
Michelle McDonagh
Michelle McDonagh is the author of three rural noir novels. Her bestselling debut There’s Something I Have To Tell You was published in 2023, and her second bestseller Somebody Knows was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2024. Her third book Some of This Is True was published in June 2025.
A journalist by trade and a native of Galway, Michelle now lives in Blarney, where she is married with three children and a very cute cavapoo.
Gill Perdue
Gill Perdue is the author of bestselling crime novel If I Tell which was nominated for Crime Novel of the Year in the An Post Book Awards 2022. If I Tell is the first in the Shaw and Darmody series of crime thrillers published by Penguin, set in the fictional Dublin suburb of Clonchapel, followed by, When They See Me.
Her hotly-anticipated third novel, The Night I Killed Him, came out in July 2025 with Marian Keys declaring it: ‘utterly UTTERLY magnificent!’
Gill lives in Rathfarnham with two rescue cats, one of which walks over her laptop when she’s working, and a mostly genial husband who makes good coffee.
Price per ticket: €27.95
Boat in: 12.30pm | Return: 5pm
In Cold Blood
Nadine Matheson, Amy Jordan & Stuart Neville with Edel Coffey
Join three masters of crime fiction — Nadine Matheson, Amy Jordan, and Stuart Neville — for a gripping exploration of murder, morality, and the minds behind the mayhem.
In conversation with journalist and author Edel Coffey, this panel delves into the dark heart of crime writing: what draws us to the genre, how real-world violence influences fiction, and why we can’t look away.
Expect insight, intrigue, and a few chills as these acclaimed writers discuss the art of crafting compelling thrillers that hold up a mirror to society’s most unsettling truths.
Close to Home
Andrea Mara, Michelle Dunne & C.L. Taylor with Sam Blake
Join bestselling crime writers Andrea Mara, Michelle Dunne, and C.L. Taylor for an unmissable conversation exploring the darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of everyday life.
From domestic suspense to psychological thrillers, these acclaimed authors delve into the secrets, fears, and tensions that unfold close to home.
Chaired by fellow author Sam Blake, this gripping panel will uncover how ordinary settings can become the backdrop for extraordinary crimes—and why the most chilling stories are often the ones that hit closest to home.
Expect thrilling insights and a behind the scenes look at building suspense.
Sam Blake
Sam Blake is a multiple No 1 bestselling Irish crime writer and has been shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year three times, and twice for Irish Teen and YA Novel of the Year.
Her second YA novel, Something’s About to Blow Up was Winner of the International Education Services Teen & YA Novel of the Year 2024. Her latest adult thriller, The Killing Sense, came out in January 2025 and is a No 1 bestseller.
Follow Sam on social @samblakebooks or find out more at www.samblakebooks.com, where you can join her Reader’s Club and receive her adult thriller High Pressure for free. Sam is the founder of Ireland’s International Crime Writing Festival, Murder One.
She is currently Chair of the board of the Society of Authors, and previously was Chair of Irish PEN and a board member of the Crime Writers Association.
Edel Coffey
Edel Coffey is an Irish novelist and journalist.
She has worked as an editor with the Irish Independent, and as a reporter and presenter with RTE Radio. She is a regular contributor to The Irish Times, and Books Editor with The Gloss magazine. Both of her novels have been number one bestsellers in Ireland and her debut novel Breaking Point won the An Post Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction Book Of The Year in 2022. Her third novel will be published next year.
Michelle Dunne
Michelle Dunne is a bestselling psychological thriller writer from Cork whose new thriller, A GOOD MOTHER, came out to rave reviews in April 25.
Michelle also wrote The Hotel Maid and The Good Girl, which saw its Czech language edition chosen as one of the 12 most exciting books to publish in Czech Republic in 2025. It launched in March at the annual Big Book Thursday event in Prague.
Michelle also wrote the Lindsey Ryan series of psychological thrillers, While Nobody is Watching and The Invisible. The series is currently in development for television and is inspired by Michelle’s own experiences as an infantry soldier and United Nations Peacekeeper.
Michelle is organiser and programmer of the Spike Island Literary Festival – a crime-themed festival set in Ireland’s very own Alcatraz. In 2024 she also joined the team at Dublin’s international crime writing festival, Murder One.
Amy Jordan
Amy Jordan lives with her husband and young children in Cork, Ireland. The Dark Hours is her international debut with HQ Stories, HarperCollins. It was also released in North America and Canada with Mira Books, and reviewed by The New York Times, who said “Jordan…writes Julia with particular fire, bringing us a woman who has chosen invisibility but who cannot escape what once made her visible.” Soon to be published in Germany with Piper Verlag, The Dark Hours was an instant Irish Times bestseller.
Previously writing as Amy Cronin, she released three crime thrillers with Irish publisher Poolbeg Press. Amy is a former civil servant and tutor at MTU, who now writes full time.
Andrea Mara
Andrea Mara is a number one Sunday Times, Irish Times and Kindle bestselling author, whose books have sold more than 750,000 copies across all formats.
Her most recent novel, Someone in the Attic, was a Sunday Times, Irish Times and Kindle bestseller. Her previous book, No One Saw a Thing, was a Sunday Times number one bestseller. She has been shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year for five of her books.
The TV adaptation of her 2021 book, All Her Fault, is in production, with Sarah Snook (Succession) playing the lead. Andrea lives in Dublin with her husband and three children.
Nadine Matheson
Nadine Matheson was born and raised in Deptford and now practises as a criminal defence lawyer. She won the City University Crime Writing competition, and she has an MA in Creative Writing.
The Jigsaw Man was her first crime novel and was loved by readers around the world. It was shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader and the Adult Diverse Book Awards in 2022 and it has been translated into fifteen languages.
Nadine is also the host of the podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson.
Stuart Neville
Stuart Neville’s debut novel, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST (published in the UK and Ireland as THE TWELVE), won the Mystery/Thriller category of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was picked as one of the top crime novels of 2009 by both the New York Times and the LA Times. He has been shortlisted for various awards, including the MWA Edgar, CWA Dagger, Theakstons Old Peculier Novel of the Year, Barry, Macavity, Dilys awards, as well as the Irish Book Awards Crime Novel of the Year.
He has since published eleven more critically acclaimed books, two of which were under the pen name Haylen Beck. In 2020, he published his first short story collection, THE TRAVELLER AND OTHER STORIES. BLOOD LIKE MINE, the first in a new horror series, was published in 2024 and choses as one of the best horror novels of the year by the New York Times, and has also been long- and short-listed for multiple awards. The sequel, BLOOD LIKE OURS, will publish in 2025.
C.L. Taylor
C.L. Taylor is an award winning Sunday Times bestselling author of ten gripping psychological thrillers including EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick for autumn 2024, THE GUILTY COUPLE, (Richard and Judy Book Club 2023) and SLEEP (Richard and Judy Book Club 2019).
Her books have sold over two million copies in the UK alone, hit number one on Amazon Kindle, Audible, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play, and have been translated into over 30 languages and optioned for TV.
Tom Casey
PJ Coogan
Barbara Diener is the ninth artist to participate in this ongoing programme. During her residency, she will immerse herself in the layered histories of Spike Island. Her work will bring together archival artefacts, sculpture and both still and moving images created on and around the island.
Amanda Cassidy
Michelle Dunne
Patricia Gibney
Catherine Kirwan
Michelle McDonagh
Gill Perdue
Sam Blake
Edel Coffey
Amy Jordan
Andrea Mara
Nadine Matheson
Stuart Neville
C.L. Taylor