May 22 - Part 2 - Dublin Castle & Kilmainham Gaol

We popped into Dublin Castle for a quick peak.  The views are the tower and Chapel Royal, inside the chapel & the organ.  Instead of being built of stone, the chapel structure is wood, plaster, and a thin veneer of stone.  Apparently, the first, heavier structure sunk into the soft riverbed ground underneath.

This is the courtyard and state apartments beyond.  Used for state functions now - it was the seat of the British government 1921.








We jumped on the Jump On - Jump Off bus and headed west to the Kilmainham Gaol.  Now a museum, it was originally built in 1796, with an addition in the 1800's.  

Here's one of the original cell blocks and a cell door.  No heat, stone floor, maybe some damp straw - pretty brutal.











The new, modern cell block built in accordance with modern jailing principles:  single, separate & supervise.  Wooden cell floors (much warmer), carpets outside the cells so guards could monitor prisoners without their knowing and lots of sunlight to aid rehabilitation.
During the Potato Famine, when begging and stealing food got you thrown in here, the crowding became so bad, there were up to 5 prisoners per cell. The jail held males, females, & children (youngest was 5 years old).

One of the darkest periods for the gaol was after the 1916 uprising, when 14 of the uprising ringleaders were executed.  One, Joseph Plunkett, was married to Grace Gifford in the jail the night before his execution.  Grace stayed in prison after the execution and painted the walls of her cell, seen through the door's peephole.

This picture is of the Stone Breaking Yard, where the executions took place.  One man, James Connolly, was so sick from gangrene he couldn't stand, and was tied to a chair to be shot.  

If you were lucky enough to be released from Kilmainham, you got to exit through this door.

Kilmainham was closed in 1924, after the Irish Civil War and was left to deteriorate.  In 1960, it was decided to fix it up and turn it into a museum, using volunteer labour.  It has appeared in various movies and this video by U2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UMwpjxOV_M









To end things on a happier note, we had dinner in the oldest pub in Dublin, the Brazen Head, established in 1198.