PLAYING A PRISON is a rite of passage for many musicians, drawing on a rich history of iconic performances by the likes of The Sex Pistols, BB King and the Grateful Dead. 

There was, of course, the archetype: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, a performance which produced one of the songwriter’s most legendary albums, and prompted a follow-up at San Quentin Prison in California.

Metallica followed in Cash’s footsteps, playing in front of hundreds of inmates at San Quentin and filming the event for their St Anger music video in 2003.

In each of these examples, the gigs in question were meant as a form of release or reward for people serving time in the carceral system. Nathan Carter’s Thursday evening concert at Roscommon’s Castlerea Prison – advertised under the title ‘Nathan Carter: Locked Up’ – was not in the same spirit.

A fundraising event for three charitable causes: the Paediatric Ward in Sligo General Hospital, Roscommon Youth Services and the Mayo Roscommon Hospice, the concert was attended by Irish Prison Service staff and members of the local community, while the general prison population remained behind bars.

Carter is primarily known for his cover of the Bob Dylan/Old Crow Medicine Show wedding dancefloor-Coppers classic Wagon Wheel. During a Q&A session, one journalist asked Carter if he felt he was stepping into Cash’s shoes, a question which seemed to embarrass the Liverpudlian, who simply said: “He’s an absolute legend”.

When prompted by The Journal on the matter of prisoners being absent from the show, Carter himself confessed that he originally thought the gig would be played to an audience of inmates. 

“That’s what I thought it was going to be, but of course it’s invite-only,” said the singer.  Asked whether he felt bad that inmates would not be attending the gig, Carter said that the event would be streamed for the prison population tomorrow evening, “so they’re not being left out”. 

Carter’s tour around the prison was marked by several stops which felt needlessly intrusive, including a photo op at the gym facilities which were at the time in use by two prison inmates. At one point, Carter and his band were instructed to pose behind a set of jail bars, and Carter posed in the processing centre for a mugshot. In the chapel where the concert was set to take place, there was an elaborate cake decorated with the words “Welcome to Castlerea Prison, Nathan and Band”.

While one of the prison governors Graham Maher pointed to a greenhouse and several timber structures made and maintained by inmates and spoke of how Castlerea’s inmates were “decent, talented fellows,” those same inmates were conspicuous by their absence, with none made available for interview. One feels that, if nothing else, a better sense of the prison would be given by hearing from those for whom the stakes are highest.

Photo: Jeff Harvey Photo: Jeff Harvey

The actual impression given by the experience is a tale of two prisons. While the official prison capacity is 340, the prison population as of Wednesday night was 391. Last year, the prison’s school was closed for 36 days due to staff shortages. The prison, whose catchment area reaches as far north as Donegal and as far east as Cavan and Athlone, has a high rate of inmate turnover, with no fewer than six inmates discharged while the press pack sat in the Castlerea courtroom. 

Asked by The Journal whether a similar concert for the benefit of inmates was being considered, Governor of Castlerea Prison Theresa Beirne said: “At the moment, our focus is very much on work training and education, so our ethos is on that. This is a unique event, supporting our staff.” Beirne cited the workload of prison staff due to high prison numbers, and said her staff “do tremendous work”.

“The focus really is on the charitable organisations and the prison staff,” Beirne said. “We feel very strongly about honouring those charities.” She further noted that the inmates themselves had raised €600 for the causes benefitting from the event. That those in charge of the prison were so emphatic as to the good character of those in their care made it all the stranger that no plans appear to be in the offing to provide a similar concert for inmates. 

The absence of prisoners from the Nathan Carter audience has been criticised from several quarters, including by popular Irish country musician CMAT, who wrote on Instagram: “I would be happy to play a real concert for these prisoners (or in any Irish prison for that matter) should anyone want me.” CMAT also called the premise of the gig “dehumanising”. 

Callers into Liveline during the day voiced similar criticisms, with one former prison officer PJ McEvoy saying: “The whole purpose of concerts in prisons is prisoners participating. That’s the whole purpose. Why would you have a concert with the likes of Nathan Carter and no prisoners? The whole purpose of going to a prison is because there’s prisoners there. You could have the concert somewhere else.”

McEvoy cited his own time working in Mountjoy, saying that they had organised many concerts without any issue.

“It’s part of rehabilitation. It’s good for prisoners, it’s good for goodwill between prison staff and prisoners, and they have always behaved.”

By choosing ‘wholesome’ over Folsom, it seems that the Irish Prison Service is missing a major opportunity.