The Kilmainham Gaol

Hi readers,

With the help of the touristic guide book “Le guide du routard” we saw that the Kilmainham Gaol is an interesting place to visit in Dublin. For this reason, Antonin, Delphine and I decided to visit the gaol located in Dublin East and at the South of Phoenix Park two weeks ago.

It was built in 1796, its history is intimately linked with the story of Irish nationalism, and it is a symbol of the civil war period.

When we arrived at 10:45 AM, the receptionist explained to us that one part of the goal was momentarily unattainable (photo above). Therefore, we got a reduction for the admission ticket. The gaol agent registered us at the next guided tour (11:20 AM). That enabled us to visit the museum part of the prison.

The museum is a building where lots of objects in relation with the prisoner’s life are shown like prisoner’s clothes, old picture, old handwritten letters…

When the guided tour started, our face was flogged by the constant wind. The guide explains the entire prisoner’s life in the Kilmainham Gaol. There was no segregation of prisoners; men, women and children were incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat, most of their time was spent in the cold and the dark. She also explained how this condition evolved through years (Kilmainham Gaol was decommissioned as a prison by the Irish Free State government in 1924). We saw that famous people was imprisoned in this gaol like the Phoenix Park Murders (imprisoned in 1883) or Charles Stewart Parnell (nationalist political leader imprisoned in 1881).

To finish, we saw the place where the prisoners were killed. A special place surrounded by high rock walls where the wind is cold and strong. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed in the prison by the British government and in 1923 by the Irish Free State.

This gaol is an important symbol for Dublin and his history and I think you must visit it if you have the opportunity. More photos HERE!

See U, Antoine