After the 1916 Rising the political landscape had changed in Ireland. There was an anti-conscription meeting in Oldcastle held on 13 April 1918. The guest speaker was Arthur Griffith a key figure in Sinn Fein. The rally was attended by thousands of people and was only 300 meters away from the camp. The speeches taking place were very Nationalist and anti-British. Prisoners watched from the roof of the camp ‘from which the meeting was visible’. Account taken from The Anglo Celt. Once the speeches had ended the crowd moved towards the prison but nothing became of this. Following this incident and the political concerns at the time the British decided to move the prisoners from Oldcastle. On 25 May 1918 a specially commissioned train left Oldcastle to go to North Wall, Dublin. The prisoners were then taken by ship to Knockaloe Camp on the Isle of Man. Oldcastle was returned to its previous owners the Oldcastle Board of Guardians and fell into disuse. During the War of Independence in May 1920 Oldcastle Workhouse was set ablaze by the local IRA to stop the British using it as a military base. The main buildings no longer stand the only thing still standing is the perimeter wall.