Research in Ireland and internationally has documented a strong association between homelessness and incarceration. Nonetheless, the dynamics of this relationship are poorly understood. Although research suggests that the experience of incarceration among the homeless may have gender-specific dimensions, women have been largely ignored in the literature, which has tended to focus on the male experience. This paper examines the incarceration experiences of a sub-sample of women who are participants in a larger biographical study of women’s homelessness in Ireland. It charts their paths to incarceration and explores women’s perspectives on prison as well as their experiences post release. Rather than a discrete life event, incarceration emerged as an extension of an institutional circuit that served to exacerbate their marginalisation and diminish their prospects of securing stable housing.