Introduction : 'another generation of jail-birds'
Case Study 1. 'The terrible temptation' : Mary Enright
'A powerful engine in reforming the prisoner' : the prison framework and the convict body and mind
Case Study 2. 'A gang of coiners' : the Carroll family
'A strange medley of character do these prisoners' friends present' : family ties
Case Study 3. 'The workhouse girls' : arson in the South Dublin Union

'Even in prison, they have those extreme friendships, antipathies, and jealousies' : convict relationships
Case Study 4. 'A person of very superior attainments' : Delia Lidwill
'At first she refused to say how she got it' : networks of acquisition
Case Study 5. 'A most remote part of the country' : suspected murder in Mayo
'I will be very desolate leaving prison' : liberation
Conclusion : 'I think of the time that you and myself ust [used] to be to gether'.