By Brendan Carroll 

A cruel form of punishment that left people who broke the law subject to ridicule and being pelted with eggs (and worse!) has made a return to Galway after several hundred years.

But it’s unlikely that anyone who neglects to pay their taxes or is caught stealing apples will end up with a court sentence that leaves them enduring the shame of the pillory this time around.

Instead, it is set to become a big visitor attraction for people undertaking a tour of St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church in the heart of the city, situated on the church grounds.

The pillory is a device made of wood, with holes in which an offender’s hands and head are trapped and they are left immobilised.

It was a common form of punishment in medieval times – Galway had its own pillory, located at the junction of Shop Street and Church Lane, just a stone’s throw away from the new addition to the city’s tourist offering.

Transgressors were often sentenced to spend a number of hours in the pillory, where they would be subject to public humiliation, with people taking delight in mocking them, pelting them with eggs, rotten fruit and even excrement (though there is no record of the latter happening in Galway!).

Sometimes, to add insult to injury, people were carted off to serve a prison sentence after doing their time in the pillory. The term “pilloried” stems from the humiliation suffered in the pillory – not to be confused with ‘stocks’, which served a similar purpose, but only restrained the person’s feet.

Now, the pillory has made a return to Galway – and already it’s a big hit with people undertaking tours of St Nicholas’, keen to take selfies and record Instagram stories of the experience.

Pictured:  Hendrik Joe Burke with the pillory outside St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church. Photos: Joe O’Shaughnessy.