Dublin. September 7, 2016. Prisons, Hospitals, and More.

Greetings –

Today was our “tourist day” — but first Elizabeth and I walked with a mission to seek out a really nice Irish sweater for my aunt; but didn’t do so well, although Elizabeth bought a really nice sweater.

Met up with the guys, and headed to the Kilmainham Gaol (the prison) where revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 “Easter Rising” were held and executed by the British. The prison was built in 1796. Originally, public hangings took place at the front of the prison, but there were such large crowds that came to see the hangings (and lots of drinking and violence outside the prison) that they moved the hangings to a central court inside the prison.  Men, women and children were incarcerated up to five people in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat. Most of their time was spent in the cold and the dark, and each candle had to last for two weeks. The cells were about 28 square meters.

Kilmainham Gaol was closed in 1924. But during the years it was open it had a very sad, embarrassing, and fascinating history. The uprisings of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 ended with the leaders’ confinement here. National heroes such as Robert Emmet, Thomas Francis Meagher, Charles Stewart Parnell and the 1916 Easter Rising leaders were all residents for some time, but it was the executions in 1916 that really etched the jail’s name into the Irish consciousness.

Here we saw the cells of our friend Plunkett from Cork..

From there we walked to the Kilmainham Hospital which is now the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It was built in 1680 and is the oldest classical building in Ireland, was based on Les Invalides in Paris. The gardens were originally used for medicinal purposes but over time they became private. And then in the 1990s hospital buildings and grounds became the home to the Museum of Modern Art. The current exhibit was uninspiring, but the notion that this beautiful structure with a great courtyard was a hospital was amazing. Don’t see these hospitals in the US.

Began to rain so we hopped a taxi to get to the ‘gallery of photography where we believed they had a special exhibit of photographs of Ireland (Dublin from 1916 to 2016).. but instead we found an exhibit of contemporary Austrian photography (which was rather whimsical). As we were leaving the building, we asked about  an exhibit of photos of Dublin in 1916 and 2016… and we learned that was across the courtyard.. but the building was closed. Perhaps tomorrow.

Headed for dinner at Enoteca de le Langhe… which turned out to be quite good, albeit a bit noisy.. Following dinner, headed to the hotel for drinks… and now settling in to get to bed. Another day awaits.

Fern

PS —  a few comments about Ireland – lots of bookstores.. what have we done in the US to all of our bookstores; do we really expect everyone to read everything online?